Vision
Our vision for July is to create space and a milestone for our church to rest deeply in God’s grace through changing things up a little bit and as an outflow of the study we’ve done on the ancient Hebrew festivals. We want this month to be marked by celebrating, giving, resting in grace, and slowing down.
Celebrating God’s Story — Remember how God has redeemed and restored.
Giving – Listen to the Spirit and reflect about how God is calling you to give your time, money, and resources out of an overflow of generosity.
Resting in Grace – Take stock of where you’ve been, how you’ve lived, the things you’ve believed in. Allow God to “search and know your heart” and rely on his forgiveness
Slowing + Simplifying. — Change the pace of life, get away, and experience sabbath.
With all of that in mind, we want to make shifts in our church-wide gatherings, our missional communities, and encourage individual practices during July.
Church-Wide
We’re slowing down and simplifying this month to create space for all the above. Which means we won't be gathering as we typically do on Sundays. This will give all those serving a time of rest, but also create space for different things throughout the month. We will have two gatherings around simply being together:
July 9th from 10am to noon – Brunchnic in the Park
July 30th from 10am to noon – Brunchnic at the Beach
Details will be published in the app and on our website.
Individuals & Family Practices
Overall, we want to send you into this month with a few ways you can take ownership of your personal formation and rest and so we want to encourage you in these ways:
Practice a Sabbath. This month offers a great opportunity to try a sabbath. Use this guide to help.
Practice Intentional Vacation. Are you going on vacation? How can you apply some of the principles from this teaching to your vacation this month?
Practice Hospitality. Think of someone you want to get to know better. Invite them over and enjoy welcoming them into your home.
Revisit Personal Formation Plan. Feel free to reach out to leadership for coaching.
MCs Practices for this Month
As an MC you can absolutely decide how you want to spend your time this month; however, we have a few suggestions or ideas.
Story & Being - Take a break from content and instead get together and hear each other’s stories. Could take the entire month to do that. Let it be a reminder of God’s work in your life and an encouragement of God’s work around you.
Missional Feast - Throw a party and invite others into it. Or join a party within your neighborhood (4th of July is a great opportunity)
Invitational Hike - Go on a hike on Sunday during the month where everyone feels the freedom to invite friends to join. Enjoy creation. Feel your lungs move. Have fun.
Have a meal together and take communion as a community. How do you do that? Here’s a simple article and video on how to do that.
Look over the past several months, including your MC retreat, and remember how you’ve grown this year.
Consider getting together to serve others in your neighborhood and those you’re on mission to.