The best part of the day

This past Sunday was a great day. I preached at a church and had a lot of encouraging comments. We spent the afternoon with some new friends- eating lunch, bouncing on their trampoline, and sharing about our lives. That night we had our very first Design Team meeting for Connections Church. We had a full house and a great time. I really came out of it feeling good about the where we've come from, where we're at, and especially where we're going. The truth is- we are a church. We had more than 30 people attend our meetings, we had an awesome time of worship with Nathan Birtch leading on Sunday (Mike Fluit led on Monday), we ate and shared together, and even the teaching wasn't half bad.
If I told this group we were going to have our first public worship service in a month they could pull it off. The great thing is that we can wait until after the summer to start our public worship. In the mean time we grow as a mission- reaching out, serving, sharing the word. All things considered- I was ecstatic! It was a little taste of what we believe will be.
But at the end of the day, as Robin and I reflected on it all, there was something else that struck us as the best part of the day. After lunch with our friends, and before our evening meeting, we came home to find our neighbors and their kids literally sitting in our driveway with lawn chairs, riding bikes and scooters, and drawing with sidewalk chalk. As we pulled in somebody shouted,

"Where have you been?"

I knew then we were part of the neighborhood. I knew then our house was starting to become the home I pray it will be- a place where people are welcome, a place where people long to hang out, where children play, parents laugh, and everybody knows your name. I knew were were connected.
And I know we can launch a church that will multiply this connection for so many more.