06.21.06 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

In the INSTITUTE on Sunday we talked about Community...and Beyond... There is a word that is used to describe that thing beyond community. It is communitas. I'll leave you a little mystery and let you check out the powerpoint of the teaching here

Anyway, while I was thinking about community, I remembered an article I wrote a couple of years ago about the privilege it is to live the Christian life with other followers of Jesus. I thought I'd revisit it here: ( from June 2, 2004 thequest email UPdate )


thequest family,

Last week, I shared a little about our "wireless network" at home and the metaphor that is for thequest as well. Being in a network isn't just being connected to the Hub (GOD), but being connected with the others who are connected to the Hub. We want to connect with God...but we also want to connect with the people of God. That we are interconnected with them too!

I wanted to pass on a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his book Life Together (actually in German it was Gemeinsames Leben --that's for Mindi!) You may have heard of him, but in brief

he was a noted follower of Jesus and author who was killed by the Nazi's in 1945. (For more check out www.dbonhoeffer.org/who-was-db2.htm ).

In the first few pages of this book, Bonhoeffer references that those followers of Jesus who live in isolation--"the imprisoned, the sick, the scattered lonely, the proclaimers of the Gospel in heathen lands"*--crave community. The old adage...absence makes the heart grow fonder...is really true about those who are alone or separated from Christian community.

I'll never forget when I heard the testimony of a man from Somalia who heard the Gospel through radio broadcasts into his country and gave his life to Jesus. From that time forward, he lived out his faith through his relationship with the radio. He hadn't met another follower of Jesus in person. He continued to follow Jesus but it was VERY difficult. About 5 years later when he discovered a person who also followed Jesus, he exploded! Can you imagine that...5 years of no one to encourage you, to pray for you, to love you in Jesus???

Back to the comment that Bonhoeffer made in connection to this was:

"Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God's grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren."*

With that in mind, I am thankful to our God that we are on this quest together. I praise Him and am thankful for His Grace. Would you stop and praise Him too?

Press On,

Mike

* Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together trans. John W. Doberstein, Harper & Row: San Fransisco, 1954, p. 18. ** p. 20


06.21.06 thequest email UPdate here

House Church Involvement is Growing

Check out the latest from George Barna House Church Involvement is Growing

Thank Yous from Serving at the 2nd Ave Dinner Theater

Below are some thank you notes that we got...and I wanted to post them for you.

Check out some of the pics of the dinner theater below on the blog as well. (5/23)

toto saying thanks

from the director

Thank You notes from one of the students at 2nd Ave

06.14.06 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

Sunday's Assembly was a sweet time of people sharing to strengthen the church. You can check out more on blog below. The night was so cool. People shared songs (most of them were written by our folks), Scripture and stories. It was so cool.

I think this ties in really well with part of our logo--those paper chain links. We haven't talked about them much, but I've been using a phrase a lot lately that relates to those links. The phrase is "Everybody Plays."

It's not a real spiritual thing. I've heard it the most around sports leagues for kids--so that everyone gets in the game. Coaches yell it out to players to encourage them to keep attentive. More often, parents yell it when they think their kid ought to get in the game.

Everyone Plays. That seems like a fair thing--whether it's soccer or the church. No one wants to sit on the sideline. "Everyone Plays" was a spiritual thing to the "Reformers" who believed what the Bible said about "the priesthood of all believers." (1 Peter 2:8-9) They took heart in this Scripture and in what it said about them--there were no second class Christians. All believers were priests. The clergy and laity distinction should have never existed...but it did. The Reformers took issue with this.

They remembered that when Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn in two so that God's presence was open to people regardless of their "spiritual class" or "nearness to the temple in Jerusalem." They knew that Jesus could be worshiped anywhere because He said so to the Samaritan woman. They knew that Jesus, our great High Priest, encourages us to come boldly before His throne.

Everyone Plays. That is something we believe as the Reformers did. And it's something we attempt to live out on our quest as well. There are no second class citizens. No one has to sit on the sidelines. Everyone can play. Even the Kids. We changed that in our mission statement on purpose: connecting men, women and children....

Everyone can make a paper chain link--from the smallest to the tallest, from the youngest to the oldest. That paper chain link screams out--EVERYONE PLAYS. Nobody is a better paper link. We are all fragile and need Jesus. We are connected to Jesus and to each other...

We need everyone to play in thequest. We hope to provide the encouragement for men, women and children to be all that Jesus wants them to be.

Everybody Plays!

Press on,

Mike

the entire 06.14.06 thequest email UPdate here

06.11.06 Assembly--Bring Something For the Strengthening of the Church

Sunday was a cool time as we gathered our house churches to assemble and STRENGTHEN each other. The Theme for this Assembly rises from 1 Cor 14:26:

When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. (NIV)

We encouraged everyone to bring something to strengthen thequest. For some it was a a song to sing, a song they wrote, a story about something God is doing in your life, a Scripture thought and more. It was very cool! Below you'll see some pictures of the gathering as well. We were strengthened by being together and hearing from each other.

Here is the "order" of sharing that we put together in the moment:

John W – Song
Larry T- Scripture Thought
Mindi, Kayla, Shanta- Song
Cheri M- Song
Andy B- Scripture Thought
Shanta & Shanna
Child/Parent Dedication
Kate W- Video
David Wachtel -Song
Mike J- Scripture Thought
Christina L- Story

Shanta, Kayla and Mindi singing

Zach & John

Reading some Scripture for the Dedication of Shanta as a parent and Shanna as a child.

praying for the family, Shanta & Shanna

speedy Katja

David & Andy

thequest KIDZ Summer Bible Club

Are you 5 - 11 years old?
Want something COOL & FREE to do this summer?
thequest KIDZ Summer Bible Club is it!

Monday - Thursday
July 17th - 21st
7:00pm - 8:30pmon the Playground at
Second Avenue Elementary School

High Energy FUN!
Bible Stories
Games & Prizes
Songs & Crafts
Cool Snacks

Plus a Huge Cookout for all ages
Wednesday, July 19th from 10:30am - 3pm!

Got questions?
E-mail: mindi@thequestcolumbus.com or Call: 614-291-8251

An Engagement

Here's Zach and Christina in the glow of their engagment! Congrats to you both and blessing on you!

06.07.06 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

I'll start with the point I want to make >> It seems like Jesus builds His Church through the common folk first, then the "big name" folks get to jump in too. I know for some of you this sounds just like how God normally works. But for me, I have recently had a reminder about this point.

I've been re-reading Acts and there were two spots where this point really grabbed me. The first is right after Stephen is murdered. Stephen was testifying in the court of the religious council. In those moments, he gave a powerful history of God's workings in the people of Israel and the fact that Jesus was their Messiah (chapter 7). But at the end, the council was so infuriated by his fact-telling, that they bum-rushed him and took him to the outskirts of Jerusalem and killed him.

Here's how the story continues:

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. 4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Acts 8:1-4 NLT (bold mine)

The big names--Peter, James, John and the rest--stayed home. But the no-names, they hit the road to spare their lives and they spread the Good News everywhere. Jesus started to build His Church into Judea & Samaria by the common folk.

Later in Acts, we come back to the story of these "nameless" people.

Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. 20 However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. 21 The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. Acts 11:19-21 NLT (bold mine)

The no-names did even more for Jesus. They took that Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) of their Savior seriously. In their going, they made disciples of all the nations...not just the Jewish peoples, but they got so excited about Jesus they told EVERYONE about Him. Beginning in Judea & Samaria (8:1) and all the way out to 300 or so miles from Jerusalem. And Jesus was with them building His Church.

Did you see that? Verse 21 says that the "power" or "hand" of the Lord was with them. That is JESUS. Jesus was with the no-names out in front of the pack building His Church.

Going backward in the text from here, the story in Acts 10-11 is explaining how Peter (a big name) realized that God didn't show partiality, but was the salvation for everyone who would believe in him (10:34-43). That is just before the spot above. The "no-names" were out doing it (with Jesus' hands), and the big-names (and the church at large) were catching up.

We need to celebrate the common, "no-name" folk who are doing the extraordinary work of Jesus on the front edges of mission. In the example in Acts, the bulk of the church is a little bit behind...trying to catch up with what is going on.

The book of Acts reminds us that it seems like Jesus builds His Church through the common folk first, then the "big name" folks get to jump in too.

And those of us like them--ordinary, broken, sinners, needing a Savior and King--there is a place on the front edge of mission for us. We don't need stories written about us or anyone to know our name. We do want more than anything for people to know His Name, the Name above All Names--Jesus!

Press on!



The rest of thequest UPdate HERE