We are moving, New City that is. And as exciting as the move is, there is also some fear.

The gospel makes us family because when we repent of our sins and believe in the good news of Jesus and what he has done, we become a child of God.

What that typically means is that we are structured differently from a lot of churches. We aren’t program driven, we don’t have a lot of classes and events at our building, and we don’t have large men’s and women’s ministries.

If our new identity is defined by who Christ is, then how do we understand what it means to be a missionary? To answer, “What does it mean to be a missionary,” we need to answer, “What is God doing in the world?”

I didn’t love God. I feared him. I didn’t see him as someone to be desired. I saw him as needing appeasement. I didn’t pursue him. I tried to hide from him, to hide my failings, my sins, myself.

So, with these two verses, not only do they deny the deity of Jesus, but they also deny the deity of the Holy Spirit. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, "The Holy Spirit is God's power in action, his active force."

Discipleship is a holistic enterprise. Any discipleship process that leads people to become more like Jesus will address the head, heart, and hands—what people know, what people feel and believe, and what people do.

Parenting is hard! But it is harder when we feel alone. If we are a family, then that means parents do not need to feel alone in their parenting. They should be supported, equipped, prayed for, checked in on.

Honestly, we’ve all been there. We’ve all had bad news hit us like a freight train. Bruised and broken from the blow, we’re left trying to make sense of it all. This was not how it was supposed to be.

When you look at the top picture from the Partners Dinner, it might not look like much. The growth is slow. The color is still very one sided. But you don’t see everything! You don’t see the hearts. They are changed.

I am known well enough that others can see when I’m down. I can’t pass off the “I’m good” answer without a follow up. I am known, and I am loved, and for that I am incredibly grateful.