NewChurch's 5th Birthday
Some people are very coy about their birthday. They don’t like to make a big deal out of it. I’m the opposite. I consider my birthday a national holiday, I assume everyone all over the world celebrates the arrival of the FrankChild on FrankMas. It’s a day when people of all religions can come together in peace, eat comfort food and drink beer. And it’s the same for everyone in our house: there’s KimTeenth (which is actually on June 19th), The Bob of July, Angelitus (which, I know, sounds more like a disease but it’s a glorious day of celebrating my favorite son), and Vontines Day. Because silly things are important and God wants us to enjoy our lives and be thankful.
The Saturday after Valentine's Day is NewChurch’s birthday because we could have met for the first time on Saturday, February 14th in 2015 but we didn’t want to launch a Saturday night worship service on the biggest date night of the year. So we waited until the next week.
Where we were We started small. The first time we got together there were about 20 of us. We met in a gym, we brought our own lawn chairs, we sang a few songs, read from the Gospel of Matthew and then sat around afterward drinking beer and dreaming about the future.
It was a humble beginning, but I never saw it for just what it was—I always saw the potential for what it could someday be—I still do.
“Despise not the days of small beginnings” as Zechariah (4:10) said.
Ten months later, we had raised some money, bought some gear, and our first Christmas Eve service had about 60 people. Still in lawn chairs, though. But we were so excited. We’ve slowly grown every year since then: Looking at Christmas Eve alone: 60 people in 2015, 118 in 2016, 2017 had 138, 2018 was 147 people, and this last year was our biggest yet at 151. God has been very good to us. It’s pretty amazing. While many other churches are getting smaller, we continue to grow. I’m very thankful for what God continues to do for us and through us.
I’m so grateful for everyone who’s here. I hope you’re excited about our church, too. A place where everyone is welcome, they can come as they are, no one has to leave their brain or their sense of humor at the door. That’s always been the idea.
We want to welcome anyone that God will bring us. Anyone is welcome to join us—it’s not our job to judge anyone, it’s just our job to love people and make them feel at home. Then it’s God’s job to do the same thing for them that He did for us—to slowly change their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. To slowly heal their hurts and quiet their fears. Over time to show them what He wants to change in their life. Anyone can come as they are but God loves them too much to let them stay that way. Just like He loves you too much to let you stay the way you were, or the way you are.
He loves our church too much to let it stay the way it is, too. There’s no such thing as staying the same. We’re always going somewhere.
We started in a gym, we’ve always been a little different, that’s a good thing—now we’re a popup church in a grade school, which has its blessings and its own challenges, but we’re not gonna be here forever. We had big dreams when we started this thing and we still have big ideas for where we think God’s taking us. Some of you might be so new to our church that you’ve never heard the vision for where we’re going—what we’re trying to do with this thing.
Where we’re going If someone said they wanted to meet with you to talk about something, where would you go? Like a casual business meeting. Clients, co-workers. Or where do you go with your friends when you want to hang out? In our Katy Texas culture, where do people go to hang out with someone? Probably not a gym or an elementary school. Probably not a church either.
Most likely be a restaurant, right? Or a coffee shop. Or some kind of sports bar or pub.
There’s this concept of the “third place.” Not your home, not your work, a third place—the place where you hang out with your peeps, your community. The place where everyone knows your name. It’s the Diner on Seinfeld, it’s the coffee shop on Friends, Mo’s on the Simpsons, it’s Cheers. NewChurch is almost that place for a lot of us but the problem is we only have this room on Sunday morning—it doesn’t work for hanging out the rest of the week. But what if it could?
So the big idea, since day one, when we started NewChurch was to figure out a way to really be a “third place,” somewhere that we could hang out with our friends, eat together, drink together, talk about life and faith and hope and dreams. Not just for us, the insiders who already go to church together, but a place where we could easily come into contact with other people in our community. A bridge. A connection place.
Our culture is so isolated. The houses don’t have porches anymore. We don’t know our neighbors. We don’t let our kids go outside and play with other kids. Jesus says that we’re supposed to be sharing our faith, sharing the good news of the Gospel with the people we meet as we go about our lives—but most of us don’t really meet anyone. I think we need to find a way to be intentional about making it happen.
So we want NewChurch to have our own space, the place where we worship on Sunday—but then the rest of the week it’d be some kind of restaurant or pub with great coffee, great food, local beer on tap, a safe place for kids to play, for teens to hangout, a place for mom and dad to have a nice conversation with friends. A place that’s open all week long as a cafe’ and then on Sunday morning, in the same space, it’s where we’ll gather to worship. Design it so it works for both.
I love this idea. Don’t you? There’s so many possibilities for how it could be such a good thing for the whole city of Katy. But don’t misunderstand: I’m not talking about some kind of lame churchy Christian coffee shop, but a place anyone would want to go. Anyone who likes good food and drink. A great place. Luther said the way to be a good Christian shoemaker was for the shoemaker to put their faith in Jesus and then make the best shoes he could possibly make—not shoes with little Bible verses on them and crosses stitched on the side. Quality shoes at a reasonable price. A blessing to the world. The way NewChurch could be a good Christian restaurant pub is to be the best restaurant pub we can possibly be—quality food and drinks at a reasonable price.
But we could do so much more with it: it could also be a way to provide jobs for people who might be having a hard time finding work, we could give people a second chance, we could feed hungry people who need some help, we could provide space for people to get help with eating and drinking problems. We could have concerts and events and parties and whatever makes sense.
And of course we would continue being a church that ministers to people who have been hurt by other churches and religious people—a place where they can hear God’s promises and somewhere to heal. A place that’s real and authentic and accessible. A place that prepares and equips people to live their faith out in all their vocations in life: as parents, citizens, workers, students and friends. A place that takes God’s Word and discipleship seriously. A place to worship God and love people.
That’s the vision of NewChurch Pub. It’s a bold idea. It’s different. But we think Jesus was serious about that whole eating and drinking with sinners thing that He spent so much of His ministry doing.
Sometimes people hear me talk about this and say something like, “I don’t think opening a bar sounds like something Jesus would do.” I always wonder if they’re reading the same Bible I’m reading. Jesus was never accused of being holier than thou and squeaky clean. He WAS accused of being a glutton and a wino. A party boy. A guy who hangs out with sinners too much. His first miracle was making $10,000 worth of wine and serving it to a bunch of people who had already been drinking for three days. I think NewChurch Pub sounds exactly like something He’d do. I think He’d be all about it. I think He IS all about it.
So that’s what we think NewChurch is called to do that’s radically different from all the other churches around here. That’s the vision of where we think God’s taking us.
Bible In A Year App I’ve asked us all to be reading through the whole Bible this year, cover to cover. A bunch of us are using the “Bible in a Year” plan on the YouVersion app. It’s not too late for you to jump in. It’s amazing what you notice when you just go through the Bible verse by verse and don’t skip anything.
This week I was finishing up Exodus—the part where God gives the instructions for the Tabernacle (the tent where they would come together to worship and make sacrifices to God). It’s a lot of details about how to weave the curtains and make the incense oil, what kind of wood to use and stuff like that. God’s really into details. But I was struck with the way God made it all happen:
First He gives Moses a vision for the Tabernacle. He tells him what He wants him to do—gives him a detailed description for what it’s going to be like. Then Moses assembles the people and resources to build everything—recruiting people and taking up offerings. After they have the people and resources they need, they get to work making the various parts. Then they assemble all the parts into the finished tent with all the furnishings and tools in place, finally—as the book of Leviticus begins—they start actually using it, doing ministry in the Tabernacle. The book of Leviticus is basically the instruction manual for how to use the Tabernacle.
Vision. Recruitment and resources. Building the parts. Assemble the parts. Do the ministry in the new space.
Listen to this from Exodus 31:1-11 it’s early in the process of God telling Moses how to build the Tabernacle:
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!
“And I have personally appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make:
the Tabernacle;
the Ark of the Covenant;
the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement;
all the furnishings of the Tabernacle;
the table and its utensils;
the pure gold lamp-stand with all its accessories;
the incense altar;
the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils;
the washbasin with its stand;
the beautifully stitched garments—the sacred garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to wear as they minister as priests;
the anointing oil;
the fragrant incense for the Holy Place.
The craftsmen must make everything as I have commanded you.”
God gave the vision to Moses. Then it says He specifically chose a couple men and a bunch of helpers, filled them with His Spirit, gave them wisdom and ability and expertise—to do all the things He needed them to do to make it happen. Did you know that’s what God does? He fills people like you and me to do the things He calls us to do?
I’m not saying that I’m Moses, or that you guys are the children of Israel—we’re not building the Tabernacle. Not exactly. Jesus is the fulfillment of all those sacrifices, He’s the one who makes us right with God and forgives our sin, He’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He’s the High Priest as well as the sacrifice. We’re not building NewChurch to do any of the things Jesus took care of—but there is another aspect of the Tabernacle that NewChurch is supposed to do. The Tabernacle was the presence of God in the world. It was the place that God’s people came to meet with Him and to pray and to worship. It was a place where they ate and drank together in the presence of God. There was roasted meat and baked bread and wine and beer and music. It was open every day. Worship in the Old Testament looked a lot more like a Texas BBQ than an episode of the 700 Club.
You are the presence of God in the world. You are the Tabernacle. When we come together to worship—we’re offering the promise of salvation to each other and to anyone who shows up. Oh, I want to be like In And Out Burger and have people lined up outside the door to come in and eat with us. I get pretty geeked up about all this. I want it to be now.
God does things in His own perfect timing though. We’re five years old, and if you would have asked me five years ago where we’d be today, I would have told you that we’d be the owners of someplace like Whiskey Cake or something, and we’d be cooking with fire and going on all cylinders. We wouldn’t be celebrating our birthday with crock-pots in an elementary school cafeteria—we’d be throwing a party for the whole community with a special gourmet buffet and free beer. Probably have special music by ZZ Top and give away five all expense paid trips to the Holy Land.
But God does things on His own schedule. It’s almost always at the 11th hour. He loves a cliffhanger. He never seems to be in a hurry.
When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, it wasn’t until Abraham lifted the knife to strike that God stopped him and provided the ram. A saying came out of that about God, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” At the last possible minute—on the mountain of the Lord.
When Moses was being chased by Pharaoh’s army, he was trapped between the Red Sea and Egyptians chariots. God said, “I will fight for you, you need only to be still.” Last possible minute.
Listen to these verses. Maybe God has called you to do something and you’re feeling impatient. God’s timing is never what we want it to be but it’s always perfect. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Listen to these passages NewChurch:
“The vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-4
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6
“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” 1 John 5:14-15
Despise not the day of small beginnings. Even five years later. God has done so much for us here at NewChurch and He’s done so much through us. I believe the best is yet to come.
One more from Galatians: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
So we’re in the season of assembling the people and resources to make NewChurch happen. Who is NewChurch’s Bezalel? Who is gonna play the part of Oholiab son of Ahisamach? Who are all the people that God has filled with His Spirit to do all the special things that He’s called NewChurch to do? Who’s going to invest in NewChurch Pub and make it a financial reality? Who’s going to catch a glimpse of the vision and step up? Who has He appointed to run the restaurant bar side? Where’s it going to be located? Who will be the staff, the chef, the designers? We need to be praying for all these people. Maybe you’re one of them.
I know we have a lot of work to do.
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38
We need to pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He will send the workers. We need to keep doing the things we’re doing as a church. Growing into the people that God can put to work in that “third place” when we finally have a space of our own. We have to continue growing into the kind of people who know that our church doesn’t just exist for our own comfort and convenience. It has to exist for the people who aren’t here yet, the people outside, all the people God is calling to in our community. People who need the love and grace and hope that we all find here.
Happy birthday NewChurch. We’re five years old. It seems like we’re just getting started. I’m so glad I get to do this with you all. God’s timing is perfect so I know that you showed up here exactly at the moment we needed you the most. It’s such a great honor and privilege to lead this place. I can’t wait to see all the things God has in mind for us. Thanks for being here. Let’s do this.