People of the Way of Jesus is going to rent an old firehouse in the middle of our community. We will worship there on Sundays. We will hold group meetings there. Most of all, we will offer it as a COFFEE HOUSE a few evenings a week, on Saturdays and on Sunday mornings (our Worship is at 3pm). It is a community service, partly because this community has been clamoring for a coffee shop for a while. It is also a community service because it will be here that the community will come together with People of the Way of Jesus.
For some, it will be a place to come and have a cup of coffee and have a pastry for a donation. For some, it will be a place to sit and use WiFi with their coffee. For others, it will be a place to meet with friends and chat over tea. The music will be on, the chairs comfy and there will be wisdom sayings, quotes and scriptural passages on the walls to inspire folk who wander into the place.
For some, it will be the Upper Room, where they break bread together and receive Grace. For some, it will be the house of Mary and Martha or Lydia or Priscilla, who open a place in which folk encounter Jesus. For some, it will be the place where they hear the Good News and experience the miracle of sharing more than enough. For some, it will be the kind voice, the unconditional acceptance, the prayer, the good thoughts and the encouragement, the pastoral care and advice that only Agape Love can provide through a few people who care to be available to them.
People from the community will "own" the place. They will be donating furniture, a few dollars for coffee and pastries and their time and presence for their neighbors. One young man is already planning the building of a bike rack for neighbors to use when they visit. The BEING CHRIST with one another will be felt as much as the hearing about Christ is experienced. The Radical Community of diverse peoples with common needs will be an inspiration to others who witness it, and THEY will want to be a part of it all. It is where church and community come together, as one people.
For some, it will be all about Jesus as Savior. For others, it will be about obedience to Jesus as Lord. Yet others, some of whom have had various spiritual experiences or none, will be drawn to Jesus' Way of Agape Love that they hear and see. They will strive to live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled because it makes sense for their community. It makes sense for the world around them to have THAT lived. It is the new, original way of being followers of Jesus. It is the 1st Century movement in the 21st Century. THIS is People of the Way of Jesus.
All this and COFFEE, too! Sounds like the Kingdom Come to me!
Pastor Jamie
