ICHEPUCKSASSA

(Curious about the word?  Worried you are going to be asked to pronounce it, or that we are going to print it on banners and post the word all over the church?  Let me tell  -later in this note-  why that particular word is at the top of this week’s article.)

Our neighbors, Kenny and Beverly, had a passion about the large vegetable garden behind their house.

In the Winter they would plan out the garden, and they would order seeds.

In the Spring they would be out there with a roto-tiller turning over that St. Joseph County clay, and then they would plant their seeds.

In the middle of the Summer you would find them in their garden (I think it was about an acre in size) weeding the garden, staking up the tomato plants, etc.

In the Fall, they would be taking things out of the garden and blessing the neighborhood.

They were into growing things.  That was just who they were.  (By the way, what they grew best were friendships…they loved God very much, and they were amazingly gracious to all who knew them!)

At our recent Leadership & Vision Retreat our leaders identified three priorities for this chapter in our life as a church.  The first is that we would offer a gracious, radical, thoughtful, comprehensive welcome to all who come here and help them connect with others (and, of course, with God).  Think Velcro…

The second priority is that we would be a community where we grow people as disciples by offering life transforming experiences with God.  These would be designed to meet the needs of people of every age and in every stage of their spiritual life.  These growing places would include new member classes, small groups, Sunday school classes, Bible studies,  spiritual retreats and other experiences (imagine fly fishing trips and whitewater rafting journeys with a spiritual component, faith in film small groups, Habitat Teams, etc).  Think plants…think spiritual formation and Christian education.

People believe God wants us to be a people who are Biblically literate, know how to pray, understand how to stay connected to God, and live out our faith.  We believe God is calling us to be a learning community!

The leaders of First said they believe God wants learning and growing to be a fundamental part of who we are.  So that 75% of the worshipping congregation (that would be around 500 persons!) would be involved in some kind of ongoing small group, class, or retreat experience each year AND that every leader in the church would be going deeper in a soul-growing kind of experience.

Called to be a learning community where people have life changing experiences with God: this is God’s call to us.

Several writers have said these kinds of discipleship opportunities need to be simple, strategic, and obvious.  All of us in the church would know how to answer the guest who says, “I want to get started with God…with First…where do I go and what is next?”  Like four year olds in their first season of T-ball, many people new to the faith  may not be sure which direction to run…where to start!

At the heart of what we do, then, is to seek to live out the call of Jesus in Matthew 28 to make disciples.  We would be serious about the work (see Colossians 1) of “teaching everyone with all wisdom” so that everyone might be “fully mature in Christ.”

Think grow.  Think of our church as God’s garden.  Where are you growing… what is your next step in our journey with God?  How will you help others have a life changing experience with God?

Now about that word: Ichepucksassa.  It is the native American name for what we now call Plant City, Florida.  I’ve never been to Plant City  -and I now know it is named after a railroad executive-  but I was thinking about God’s church as a Plant City kind of place – all about plants, and growth, and lives “rooted and built up” in Christ.  I just love that word: Ichepucksassa.  It just rolls off the tongue, don’t you think?  (Okay…maybe not…)

Remember Beverly and Kenny planning their garden?  What does your next season with God look like?  What does God want to plant in the soil that is your life?

Think plants…think grow.  This is the second priority of this chapter in our life.

Welcome to the adventure!

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark