05.17.06 thequest email UPdate

thequest family,

Last week, I shared here a little bit about the revisions to our mission statement (which you can see posted in the top left box). This week I thought I'd share a bit about the vision.


Our main picture is that of Strawberry plants reproducing into a Strawberry Patch. Many of you have heard me share about that. If you haven't you can click the link below to check out more:

Strawberry Patch Vision

To the left you can see a picture of a mature Strawberry Patch. You can see some more pics on our blog below...


We envision thequest being a network of house churches spreading throughout urban & metro Columbus and beyond.

Another picture from nature also speaks to the vision we have. Looking outside my house for the last couple of weeks, there are all kinds of these little maple seeds covering our front yard/garden. Hundreds and hundreds of these little seeds have descended upon us.


Unfortunately for my neighbors, the way God designed these little seeds is that as they fall from the tree, they take flight. They twist like a helicopter blade and the wind can carry them far from the tree.

In fact, that's what I remember calling them as a kid--"helicopters." Our whole street is littered with these seeds. Neighbors several doors down have these little guys in their yards as well.

When you get a large mature tree, these seeds can go a long way. As you can see from the picture, our tree is huge, so it's easy to see how these helicopters can get carried far away from the tree.



What a great illustration of the spreading of the church.

As the tree grows it produces the maple seeds. Actually scientists call those the "fruit" of a maple tree. The fruit of the tree is the seed of a whole new tree.

You are smart enough to get it....certainly God has given us a mission for our neighborhoods and urban Columbus. At the same time, we understand that God moves people (See Acts 17:26-27). Just like those helicopter seeds are carried by the wind, we know that people are carried to new places by the Spirit.

We want to see "maple trees" spring up wherever people go. We are centered in urban Columbus, yet we have seen people connect with us who are now all over the place. We pray that disciples will be made by these and that local expressions of the church will grow up in those new places.

God's creation grows and reproduces...so should His Church. We rejoice in the opportunity to serve the King and see His Kingdom grow in His ways.

Press On,

Mike


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