Yesterday was the 12 year anniversary of Communion Church. Twelve years ago, 30ish people gathered at the Lincoln Theatre to pray, sing songs, receive communion, and hear the Word of God preached. We did the same thing again on Sunday (and will be at it again this coming Sunday). Much like birthdays, these yearly markers give a chance to look back at all of the ways that God has worked in the life of the church. Let me share 12 evidences of God’s grace that have made themselves more evident over 12 years:
- Survival
This one is not very exciting, but the fact that we are still a church is amazing. In the life span of our church, many churches have closed down or fractured. There are numerous different variables that can lead to this: finances, sin, pastor’s quitting; I know of one church that closed down because the majority of their church moved out of state at the same time. There are so many factors necessary to simply be a church. By God’s grace, we are still here.
- Peace
All churches have strife and disagreements, but we have not faced the kind of discord that causes disunity within the church family. Over the life of the church, the pastors have not lost too much sleep over infighting and power struggles (and most of it was in the first few years). This does not just happen. By God’s grace, we have peace.
- Established
When we started, the church was a set-up/tear down service. We did our best to meet during the week and in homes, but most people had no idea who we were. Years later, we have a church building, a school building, and a parsonage (which are all used to serve the community in various ways). More importantly, we have people who have taken the truth of Jesus out and invested it in their neighborhoods, jobs, schools, and families. This has made our church a vital component of the communal fabric. By God’s grace, we have an established presence.
- Fellowship
One of the things that I love hearing from people who visit our church is how tangible the fellowship is. They are not just commenting that they were welcomed, but that the whole church loves one another well. Our church does not have welcome cards and we do not give people coffee cups or gift cards when they visit. We do not program or systematize fellowship. Instead, we simply encourage people to live out the unity that they have received from God. By God’s grace, we have the joy of Christian fellowship.
- Lives changed
Every time we do baptisms, we are celebrating that God faithfully changes the hearts of His people. He takes what is dead and makes it alive. He takes the blind and makes them see. The miracle of regeneration continues, as God changes lives through His church. As we see kids raised in the church experience the Holy Spirit working in them – it is awesome. When God uses people to share the gospel and to rescue someone from the destruction of sin – it is awe-inspiring. Over the life of our church we have been able to witness this consistently. By God’s grace, lives are being changed.
- Personal maturity
As I mentioned Sunday, baptism is the beginning of the Christian walk. It is an important first step, but it is a first step. After this is the difficult work of aligning life with God’s good order. As the people of our church have committed to this work, we have seen people grow and mature in their faith. Marriages have been strengthened, people have been sanctified and God’s truth has become much more part of people’s lives. This is often a difficult thing to quantify, but when you live within a group of people, you don’t need to quantify it; it shows itself in the strength of the church as a whole (Ephesians 4). By God’s grace, we are seeing people grow in all sorts of ways.
- Kids growing
Speaking of growing, the children of the church keep getting bigger. We now have kids who were born and have been baptized in our church. We have people who came in as young people and are now married and having kids. My favorite thing is to simply watch these kids grow up together, experiencing all of the changes that come with time as a group. My children have benefited greatly from the other youth in the church, but even more from the adults who are willing to invest in the next generation. By God’s grace, our kids are growing up in the faith.
- Sending out
We are not just gathering people, we are also sending them out. One of our original elders moved back to Texas and helped plant another church (which he is an elder of). We sent another elder out to plant a church in Stanwood. We have sent out missionaries to other countries and others to do gospel work closer to home. Over the course of ten years, many have been sent out to do God’s work in other places.
Beyond those who were sent specifically to do work in other places, a lot of people have passed through our church. It is difficult to always be welcoming people and seeing them leave, but there is an inevitability to it as well. My goal is to always have people leave with a greater appreciation of God than they came in with. By God’s grace, we have seen this.
- Sanctuary
There have been a lot of people who have come to our church for a season of healing. Often, they know that this is not going to be their long term home, but just need a place to be cared for while they recover from difficulty. There are others who come here as one last chance before giving up on the Church. Over and over again, God has used this church to heal and restore. There are people in ministry today who thought that they were done. By God’s grace we have been used as a place of healing.
- Community
Much like I mentioned with the kids, we all need a group of people to share life with; to shape us into the people we become. To laugh with those who laugh and weep with those who weep. Over the course of 12 years, a lot of things have happened, and this group of people has shown up with meals, helping hands, shoulders to cry on, and words that need to be said. This church has provided many with a sense of place in a chaotic world; a family of families. This is a benefit that is easy to take for granted and for us to feel like we could simply recreate on our own. Truth is, so many who come into the church are suffering from not having a true community to support them. By God’s grace, this support continues for those who are part of the church.
- Experiences
As a church, we sometimes push back about evaluating your life through your own feelings and experiences. That said, God created our emotions and provides us with moments that confirm what we know to be true. When we sing together on Sundays, it affirms our unity. When we celebrate baptism, it reminds us of our own rebirth. When we serve others, it provides a joy of purpose. When we are served, it supports the fact that we have value. All of these experiences build up a deep confirmation of God’s truth. Our faith is built on belief, but it is strengthened through specific events. By God’s grace, we have been given a multitude of experiences to fall back on.
- Changing and staying the same
A good portion of life is knowing what needs to change and what is important to keep. In the life span of our church, we have looked a variety of ways. Every time a new person joins, it adds to the body, making it something different. This community is constantly changing, with new gifts continually adjusting who we are. With these changes, some things are always the same. We still worship the same God, who is the same: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We approach Him in the same way every week. We receive from Him each time we come together.
There is something beautiful about the pattern of: come to be filled by the church, go to pour out God’s love. A friend of mine has compared it to breathing: the continual inhale and exhale. Much like breathing, we need this spiritual pattern to be sustained. In 12 years of this church practicing this rhythm, it is amazing to see how God is faithful. He continues to give us what we need, to shape us through His means, and to use us to accomplish His will. We may not fully understand how or why we fit into God’s plan, but this does not keep Him from doing what he has promised. By God’s grace, we are His people.
This continues to be surreal to me. That God would make me: a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. | 1 Peter 2:9–10
God is gracious. May we not forget the evidence of this grace as we look forward to what He has next.