Perfect Imperfections

"I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:12-16

A new month = a new adventure! On Sunday July 8th, we began working with another church plant in Loveland, Colorado called Elevation Church; I pretty much fell in love with Elevation about 5 minutes after walking in. There is a warmth and love for Christ there that is so tangible, it kind of makes you never want to leave. The staff immediately made us feel apart of the team, and have already started to really pour into us. This month is going to be great, I can already tell! :)

One thing I have really learned from church planting thus far, is the importance of meeting people wherever they are. Too often as a church we project perfection, not purposely, but rather as an attempt to meet an inaccurate standard of what we deem as adequacy. We forget how important it is to be vulnerable, because that means stepping out and letting our guard down. But vulnerability is such an awesome tool to connect with people, because when they see the imperfections, the struggles, and the mistakes they see something they can identify with. Sometimes we forget that we really aren't suppose to have all together with the perfect job/family/home/friends/car; the fact of the matter is, if we did have it all together we would have no need for salvation because we would be capable of manufacturing it ourselves. 

Since coming to Colorado, I have seen people from some of the most broken pasts doing major things for the kingdom. They faced trials that I couldn't even comprehend conquering, and came out as fearless disciples of Christ. The reality is that we are going to hit bumps in the road, and we are going face adversity but even our lowest of lows are redeemable and useable through Christ. He makes the imperfections perfect. Romans 5:3-5 calls us to rejoice in our adversity because adversity produces perseverance, perseverance produces character and character produces hope. And hope in the Holy Spirit never fails us. God can use our nothings and our mistakes and put them out front for everyone to see to call others to Him. We just have to let go of our pride and pursue humility. We were chosen, predestined, designated and called; not just for grace through salvation but to be vessels of Christ. You know the saying..."Let Go, Let God."

I can't wait to see how God moves this week. We have several kids camps coming up for Elevation, and God has placed a few special people in my life that I'm hoping will be drawn closer to Him. Be praying for the Holy Spirit to move!