This last Sunday was my kind of day.
I was encouraged to be with the church this past weekend. We almost always spend time with one of the younger and less mature groups, but this past Sunday we decided to spend time with the house church that lives and gathers in the Jardines del Valle Colonia on the northwest side of Guadalajara. This particular group goes way back relationally, but specifically began forming as a house church about 5 years ago. The core of the group are 3 families that all moved onto the same street—over time God became the center of their relationship and formed them into a family who together are now trying to flesh out the life of Christ to the people around them. As much as any group I know, they really live as a family of God.
About 20 of us gathered at Gerardo’s and Carola’s place and for the next couple of hours centered ourselves on Jesus—praise, prayer, mutual encouragement, reading of scripture, discussion, etc. After remembering Jesus specifically in a simple taking of the Lord’s Supper, everyone chipped in to buy chickens, tacos and trimmings and we spent another couple of hours laughing, playing and eating together. My kind of day!
One of the things I really liked about that day was the way God’s Word came to us. While the group was reading Acts 13, the conversation kept coming back to these verses:
“While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:2-3).
The group noticed that in a similar way as they gathered as a small church, among them were many “missionaries” who the Holy Spirit is sending out each week. It was cool to hear the group put into words what they think this looks like. Adriana is a single mom who is a “missionary” to children in a park near her home. Arturo is a single man who has been following Jesus for nearly 10 years—he is working for a microfinance business that makes small business loans available to the poor—he sees himself as a “missionary” to the poor—and to those who work among them. The Garcia family talked about the Foundation for Kid’s with Diabetes and their “missionary” work among so many families who are now lost in the same trauma they themselves were in a few years back. Hector talked about his work as a psychiatrist and his desire to be a “missionary” to those who are marginalized and abused. Martín, who began a new church a few years back among friends who worked at a factory with him, described his “missionary” desire to see this happen again soon. It was cool to hear them articulating the way they see themselves as together a family of Jesus—but each one as missionaries sent from the community to incarnate Jesus to others.
I noticed that a lot of the kids were listening to and participating in the conversation—including my three daughters. I wondered what will come of all of this.
Yep, it was my kind of day!
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