What’s Next This Spring?
The ROOTED initiative has launched. Easter was Easter. The Twins have had their home opener. The birds are still singing. It’s officially Spring 2021, and welcome to this next chapter of Cities Church. So what next?
As we inch ever closer to a post-pandemic reality, I have high hopes for what God might be pleased to do in and through our church this year. The top priority is for us to establish consistent discipleship rhythms. This is super non-fancy. It means getting back to normal.
Bread and Butter Exhortations
God willing, by the end of April, all of our Community Groups will have hit restart and will be meeting again. We need to dust off Life Groups as well, and build some new ones. The plan is to highlight all of these in a five-part exhortation series that is something like a 101 on discipleship. This starts tomorrow. We’ll rehearse the basics like: What is discipleship? A disciple has a three-fold identity of worshiper, servant, and missionary — and what are particular actions we’re called to in light of that identity in this season? We’ll talk about prayer, the serve rotations, and evangelism. We’ll talk what it means that we’re a sending church. Basically, it’s the bread and butter of Cities Church.
That’s what my dad called fastballs down the middle. When I pitched in Little League, I’d start throwing wild every now and then. A hit here, a walk there, the bases get full. Composure is so key in those moments. And my dad, also my coach, would say, either from the dugout or on a mound visit, “Throw the bread and butter, son.”
He meant take a deep breath. Settle down. Don’t overthink this. Throw your most reliable pitch. And throw is straight across the plate.
That’s what we’re trying to do here.
First Peter Begins
So alongside these exhortations, we’re also starting a new sermon series through the book of 1 Peter. This book is the paragon of what it means to be a Christian in this world of exile — we “elect exiles” who have born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, with God himself as our Cause and Keeper as we await, from in this world of trials, a future beyond our wildest dreams. Let’s go!
This 1 Peter series will take us into July where summer will be in full swing, covid will be but a memory, and I will be on sabbatical (more on that later).
On the Calendar
In tandem with the sermons and exhortations on Sundays, we also have some special stuff coming up. Here’s a list:
April 25: Membership Meeting
May 1: Women’s Gathering, 9:00am
May 2: First giving month of ROOTED
May 3: First Monday prayer meeting, noon
May 8: Men’s Breakfast, 9:00am
May 15: Youth group kickball tourney, 2:00pm
May 16: CGL Summit, 12noon
We also are planning a Women’s Retreat and Men’s Retreat for August and September, respectively, and we’ll get more dates and details about that out soon.
Normal church life. Wondrous normal. It’s coming. By God’s grace.
