One of the things that is fascinating about the story of Vintage, pristine “Christianity” is the way that the writer Luke struggles to come up with nouns to refer to this moving entity. Sometimes he refers to it as “ekklesia” (the word we translate church – which is odd because there is such a sense of “Call” in the Greek word). Sometimes he calls it “the Way.”
This brings me to a question: what is this thing? Sometimes you have services that make you say to yourself, o.k. I think we’re getting it, I think this is a manifestation, a living out of what the “US” is supposed to be.
On the way out of our Friday service, my buddy Ken, said, “this is what church is supposed to be – speaking the message, feeding the poor, standing with the sick and the hurting… it’s like we’re walking the walk.” Couldn’t say it better myself.
This weekend as we looked at Paul in Ephesus facing this gigantic Evil that was the Artemis cult, the worship of the reigning spirit over this great city we focused on how sometimes what is arrayed against us seems so large, daunting, foreboding and overwhelming.
It seemed like a Holy Spirit led no-brainer that we should have a time in the service in which we stood with prayed over and expected in faith for those who are facing overwhelming things – cancers, family devastation, brokenness.
Brice’s miracle story of being healed of terminal cancer seemed to break things lose and it seemed like the whole room kicked it up a notch in the faith department. I love the fact that all four of his cancer doctors had a conference call to tell him he was in full remission with no medical explanation, saying, “You’ve received your miracle.” Love it! Yeah God!
I love seeing the US rock the whole VINTAGE US look.
Here’s what I wrote in my journal on Monday morning:
Thanks for a GREAT WEEKEND in spite of the crud. I love when we stand with the sick and the struggling. I love when we act like a community, like a family, like the body of Jesus like something that You can’t get anywhere else. That’s huge that we are what you really can’t get anywhere else and even the tastes of “it” are wonderful evidence of Your Common grace and of the Imago Dei.
– I love that people come to receive prayer – that I get to actually see people seeking You!
– I LOVE (maybe more) people moved to pray for others, sometimes strangers
Thanks for getting me through the message – I love preaching in Acts, (I’ve been battling this gnarly cold / flu thing since I left Iowa – how gnarly – haven’t surfed for a week!)
Here are more pics!
