During December, we hosted 73 adults and children for Advent Worship. It was a tremendous blessing to see and hear the stories of people converging for worship during those evenings. We sort of stumbled into an element of worship during our time of prayer. It was my goal for us to not be praying for “Grandma’s bunions” but to be earnestly lifting up needs within the community that go deeper.
As a result, we used our prayer time as a moment of Praise and Prayer, where we invited folks to respond to the question “Where have you seen God at work this week?” As different people shared during the services, it helped me see how our community is living out their faith Monday through Saturday. It invigorated me to be watching and looking for Jesus to do something spectacular throughout the week, so that I could share that when we came back together.
One of our core values is that our faith has a Daily Impact. Church is not Sunday mornings or doing church activities in a building, but it’s about intentionally living out the Gospel in the streets, the playgrounds, coffeehouses and workplaces.
After the third week of worship, people began to ask when would we do this again. In some ways I am glad we hit the pause button, so that the Trailblazers can continue praying and planning some of the details necessary for our new community to launch weekly worship. In fact, they laid down their first official marker on the trail by coming up with a name for our community….
Waypoint Community Church: we want to be a place where people come to get their Bearings for this Journey called Life.
In ultra marathon races, a waypoint is a tent where racers converge at mile 30, 60 and 80 to be nourished, mended and have their vitals assessed. After 15 minutes they are forced back onto the course; if they wait too long they will lose the energy and motivation to finish the race. Our vision is for a small, simple and genuine community where people will gather for authentic worship on a biblical foundation to be impacted daily through Jesus Christ.
We continue on the trail in faith and hope. In speaking with everyday people who have helped plant churches, they have said that it strengthened their reliance upon Jesus Christ and challenged them to move from being more than just pew-sitters.
As we look to converge once again this spring, we invite you to join us Tuesday nights at 7pm to continue this awesome adventure that will radically shape your faith life.
Wes Barry 