One Year Ago Last Week

About a year ago, Christy and I had an opportunity to visit a unique community in Rio De Janeiro to drop off some donations from an outside local church (there was no local church in this community). A neighborhood deep in struggle with violent drug wars, it was not a safe place to be, not necessarily because of the drug lords themselves but because the police could raid the neighborhood at any second with ensuing cross fire. It awakened us to a deep reality of sin, death, evil and suffering as we walked the streets that looked like a bomb had gone off only days before. We were able to take a tour that you can see below:

Easter Accomplished

 Jesus died with our sins.
Jesus rose without them.
Jesus is alive.

This is what we learned today in Cornerstone Kids. We worshiped our strong God together and praised Him with a loud voice for making Jesus alive again! It was an awesome time of celebration. We pray you enjoyed the same.

Galatians 2:21

If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

I NEED A SAVIOR

Why is the Cross important? I can't atone for my sin.

Oh What Wondrous Love is This

I am seriously excited to worship our crucified Savior with my church fam this evening. It will be a somber evening, I know, but I can't help but anticipate the joy that follows three days later. Oh, what wondrous love is this.

Intellectual Honesty

Our pastor recently finished a series of sermons on four common questions Seattleites have about Christianity. Topics such as hell, judgment, evil, and the Bible were covered thoroughly. If you are interested in hearing a reasoned response to those topics, click here.

One idea that stuck out to me was that of "intellectual honesty". To be intellectually honest, we must assess our own beliefs and be able to answer questions for and against our worldview. If we refuse to answer questions against our worldview, we are stubborn, and if we can't give support for our worldview, we are ignorant.

What I often see in my interactions is that people have not been intellectually honest (purposefully or not) with understanding the claims of Jesus and thus have a distorted view of Christianity. Could it be that the majority of people who are not Christians have a false belief of true Christianity? Consider what Michael Horton says in his book, The Gospel Commission,

Drink from Jesus

This has been a really busy season! We arrived here five months ago on November 9th and hit the ground running. Not long after in January we assumed responsibility for our church's Kids Ministry and began working toward the official launch of our church. God was super gracious to us in that process and Launch finally took place last Sunday the 3rd! In general it was an emotional day as we reflected over all that the Lord has done to bring us to this place.

Our next step, Lord willing, is to launch two new communities (small group/Bible studies) at the end of the month in the Pioneer Square district of downtown as well as a neighborhood right outside of downtown called West Seattle. At this point our communities have been forming around geographical locations so we'll be working to build up the Pioneer Square community. God has given us many new friendships in this neighborhood so we're expectant for the potential gospel reach this community will have. God be praised!

"Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head; it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction... Eternal life is not given to people who merely think that Jesus is the Son of God. It is given to people who drink from Jesus as the Son of God." -John Piper, Future Grace

One important lesson God has continued to teach us during this time is how utterly important it is to drink from Jesus (John 4:14). He is completely steady and true even when everything is vacillating around us. There have been times when we've wanted to throw our hands in the air and give up, but those were simply a challenge to trust in God's sovereign, good plan for us and this church. He is an eternal source of living water that will never dry up and will always satisfy; come to the well and drink from Jesus.

Take a walk with me...

This is where we live. We walk here, eat here, meet here, and LOVE it here - Pioneer Square. Throughout the week as I'm walking home I see neighbors and friends walk by that I greet with a smile. This district is condensed so it's easy to bump into the same folks during the week. I love that. God gave our church a gathering space here at Court in the Square, a beautiful venue next to an iconic coffee shop. This Sunday, April 3rd, is our official launch celebration! Please pray with us for this neighborhood - that our church would take root here and through it God would bring salvation to our neighbors and friends.

-Christy

*Note: Some shots are from Pike Place Market, not Pioneer Square - love it there too!