What a rich weekend! This week we had our first-ever college retreat up in Ringgold, Virginia. I love seeing the passion of this generation of young people who are living into their destiny! Of course, the retreat weekend was totally made when Will and Janet McFarlane showed up and shared their heart, their experiences, and many great stories of their journey from stoner to saint!!
Obviously, Sunday was an absolute hoot as Will led us in worship and then downloaded all that God had put on his heart (no notes required)! One thing that really stood out to me - and I’m sure to many who were present - was being reminded of how rich many of the old hymns are. I have to be honest; I’ve never been much of a hymn guy myself, probably because they remind me of what I perceived as dead religion growing up. However, yesterday it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the depth and truth that our faith is built on as we sang some old classics!
Another huge truth to take away from Will being with us is how much religion really resides in most of us. The goal of the gospel was never to make us religious! The heart of God is to set us free, so that we would live from our hearts as we pursue the call to reconcile the world to the creator of the universe.
As we move forward, it is awesome to see the church Awaken City is becoming! It was never our goal to launch a church based on a man’s personality or some church model that we read in a book and wanted to copy. Our prayer all along has been that God would build His church! Over the past year, we have seen the progression of Awaken City as God’s people continue responding to his invitation, and it’s simply nothing short of beautiful! It’s not perfect, mind you...but I know that God takes great delight in the child-like heart that marks His people!
If you're new to Awaken, here are some things that you need to know:
Homeless Ministry – We have a homeless outreach every Sunday morning at Center City Park in downtown Greensboro. We would like to invite you to join us any Sunday morning at 8:00AM to see all the incredible ministry that takes place as we simply love our homeless friends by serving them breakfast.
OFY – OFY (On Fire Youth) is the name of our youth ministry here at Awaken City Church. If you have a teenager, then you know that with the God-ignoring culture that we have to raise our children in...we could use all the help we can get! OFY is a perfect opportunity for your family to take advantage of. It’s amazing what happens when God captures the heart of our teenagers! If you’re a parent, we invite you to come see for yourself all the awesome things that God is doing in the youth ministry here at Awaken! You can contact Jacob@awakencitychurch.come for more info.
Stay Tuned because next week I’ll give you more info on some of the other incredible ministries here at ACC.
