Tuesday, April 15, 2014
It's a party and you're invited!
We're throwing another party this Thursday, this time at Melissa's house! (Email ctrosper13@gmail for details) There's gonna be cornhole, there's gonna be ladder golf, there's gonna be pizza, there's gonna be beverage. Let's do it up right; invite your friends who may not be part of this community, and use it as a time to get connected and have a good time. Please bring a couple bucks for pizza if you can, and pretty please RSVP to this event so we know how much to get. If anybody can do a salad or a dessert, let us know. BYOB. Can't wait!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
April 10, 2014 Recap
Tonight we started with a discussion about Evangelists. What do you generally think when you hear that word? Annoying people shouting to everyone. "Traditionally terrible". It doesn't have to be bad, but, if Evangelism isn't what we thought it was, what is it?
Luke 10 1-12 10 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,[a] and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us[b] we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 But[c] I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
What stands out to you about this section? - He sent us out ahead of him instead of us following him.- All you need is God, you need nothing else. You will be taken care of. Its scary.- You have to have extreme trust to bring nothing with you.
- It's not OUR job to convert, it's OUR job to be there
- Success is not dependent on people's response
- Be a representative of the kingdom
- Sometimes we don't know what to do with rejection, sometimes we don't know what to do with acceptance
People of Peace (christian or nonchristian)
- Surround yourself with people of peace.
- Everyones relationship is different.
- Evangelism is not always "textbook", we are making disciples.
*Think about it like building a team, you don't just go around handing out jerseys, you need to build the relationship, build each other.
- Peace is not just not being at war, it is being whole, you can be at peace with yourself and at peace in your relationship with God.
Acts 16 6-15: 6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit[a] did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Luke 10 1-12 10 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,[a] and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us[b] we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 But[c] I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
What stands out to you about this section? - He sent us out ahead of him instead of us following him.- All you need is God, you need nothing else. You will be taken care of. Its scary.- You have to have extreme trust to bring nothing with you.
- It's not OUR job to convert, it's OUR job to be there
- Success is not dependent on people's response
- Be a representative of the kingdom
- Sometimes we don't know what to do with rejection, sometimes we don't know what to do with acceptance
People of Peace (christian or nonchristian)
- Surround yourself with people of peace.
- Everyones relationship is different.
- Evangelism is not always "textbook", we are making disciples.
*Think about it like building a team, you don't just go around handing out jerseys, you need to build the relationship, build each other.
- Peace is not just not being at war, it is being whole, you can be at peace with yourself and at peace in your relationship with God.
Acts 16 6-15: 6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit[a] did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next daycame to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
What stands out to you about this section?
- Reminder that God is working things out, we should not worry.
- Thats hard for many people, we want to be behind the scenes but we need to trust in God.
- He knows what path we are on and where we need to be.
- We must be patient.
- You must trust God and not force things to happen that don't need to happen.
Expand your family for the right reasons, be open to anyone and everyone. Stay aware of daily interactions that could turn into an opportunity.
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| SUNDAY NIGHT will be our first multiple community gathering! Meeting downtown Lexington. |
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Today's Rundown from Northeastern Park
Today Amy and I set out to scope out Northeastern Park in Downtown Lexington. It was a beautiful day, luckily. We made a quick list of things that we think the park would benefit from. Things such as benches and picnic tables for parents and families to sit at, trash cans so garbage doesnt end up on the ground, a fresh coat of paint on the playground, mulch, some flowers but most importantly we need a barrier that goes around about 3/4 of the park so children cant fall down that large hill into the street. We thought maybe some kind of shrub would do the trick.
We also sat down today and brain stormed about HOW we can make these happen. We went to Local Taco and ended up in a conversation with a gentleman who has organized a fundraising 5k and get this... he works for a private Landscaping company. We can only hope that something comes from this because it would be incredible. We still need to look bigger- can we get sponsors? Maybe offer an engraved stone for a certain donation amount. We just threw out some ideas.
I almost forgot! We made fliers that I'll be printing that basically explains what the park project is and how you can get involved with little tear of nubs at the end for us to post around town over the next few weeks. Amy and I are also working on bringing basically a blue print of where we want changes to happen (where bushes, trash cans and benches should be placed) to the head of the parks department.
We also sat down today and brain stormed about HOW we can make these happen. We went to Local Taco and ended up in a conversation with a gentleman who has organized a fundraising 5k and get this... he works for a private Landscaping company. We can only hope that something comes from this because it would be incredible. We still need to look bigger- can we get sponsors? Maybe offer an engraved stone for a certain donation amount. We just threw out some ideas.
I almost forgot! We made fliers that I'll be printing that basically explains what the park project is and how you can get involved with little tear of nubs at the end for us to post around town over the next few weeks. Amy and I are also working on bringing basically a blue print of where we want changes to happen (where bushes, trash cans and benches should be placed) to the head of the parks department.
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| View of Hill |
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| Playground |
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| Here is the flier concept |
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
March 27, 2014 Recap
NOTE: Sorry this weekly update is extremely late, I've been sick!
This week we wanted to reinforce what a Misisonal Community is and what our "demographic" is. This is specifically referring to our group, not the people we interact with.
As we begin our journey as a Community we want to find out what our aim is as a group, what is it exactly that we want to represent or do in our community. On a whiteboard we wrote three words- passions (what do we love or what do we have a heart for), possessions (what do we already have, emotionally, spiritually, or physically), and problems. Here's what we came up with:
Passions- Addiction Recovery, Children, Connecting people (new to area or have hard time connecting to like minded people), Education for children in crisis, Mentoring, Our Community (be a good neighbor), Friends and Family.
Possessions- Cooks, Local establishments (easy places to invite people), Downtown homes (proximity), Extroverts, Flexibility, Service Minded, Driven,
Problems- Lack of Commitment (our demographic), Erratic Schedules, Lack of Money, Shallow Roots, Cynicism, Finding Purpose (within ourselves), Instant Gratification, Lack of Diversity.
Now that we have a long list, we wanted to narrow that list down to "who do we want to be" what will our vision be? We brought that down to the following; People, family, connection, hope, purpose, restoration.
We also wanted to come up with a phrase that describes WHY we're doing these things and WHAT drives us and our passions. Want family to be about hope, purpose, and restoration. The winning phrase was "Connecting people to a family of hope and restoration rooted in Christ."
This week we wanted to reinforce what a Misisonal Community is and what our "demographic" is. This is specifically referring to our group, not the people we interact with.
As we begin our journey as a Community we want to find out what our aim is as a group, what is it exactly that we want to represent or do in our community. On a whiteboard we wrote three words- passions (what do we love or what do we have a heart for), possessions (what do we already have, emotionally, spiritually, or physically), and problems. Here's what we came up with:
Passions- Addiction Recovery, Children, Connecting people (new to area or have hard time connecting to like minded people), Education for children in crisis, Mentoring, Our Community (be a good neighbor), Friends and Family.
Possessions- Cooks, Local establishments (easy places to invite people), Downtown homes (proximity), Extroverts, Flexibility, Service Minded, Driven,
Problems- Lack of Commitment (our demographic), Erratic Schedules, Lack of Money, Shallow Roots, Cynicism, Finding Purpose (within ourselves), Instant Gratification, Lack of Diversity.
Now that we have a long list, we wanted to narrow that list down to "who do we want to be" what will our vision be? We brought that down to the following; People, family, connection, hope, purpose, restoration.
We also wanted to come up with a phrase that describes WHY we're doing these things and WHAT drives us and our passions. Want family to be about hope, purpose, and restoration. The winning phrase was "Connecting people to a family of hope and restoration rooted in Christ."
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Join Us!
Our Missional Community meets on Thursday evenings, if you would like to join us for a week then feel free to contact us at aylesfordcommunity@gmail.com. We'll be posting weekly updates on here for those who are unable (or maybe not ready yet) to come to our weekly get togethers. We hope to see you tomorrow night!
Monday, March 10, 2014
Our Rhythms
Our Community lives in what we call Weekly Rhythms of Up, In, and Out. Here's a description on what each rhythm looks like:
In- The second week of each cycle will have a focus on becoming an extended family instead of just a collection of people. Basically we want to have fun and be together. In weeks we’ll probably be away from our Old Lafayette home base (where we usually meet).
Out- The third weeks will be used for going out into the world and somehow making it better. Whether it’s baking cookies for students during finals week, cleaning up a run-down park, or serving meals to cancer patients, we want to be a force of restoration. Unless something weird happens, we will be out tending to business and will just use the house as a meeting place.
The fourth weeks we will meet with another community or two for something that looks vaguely like a standard church service. It’s a celebration of things God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives, in our community, and in our city.
Up- Each cycle will begin with a focus on intentionally setting aside time to interact with God as a community whether it be through discussion, scripture reading, singing, praying, something we haven’t thought of yet, or some combination of them all. Up weeks we will be held in Lexington. There's always food.
In- The second week of each cycle will have a focus on becoming an extended family instead of just a collection of people. Basically we want to have fun and be together. In weeks we’ll probably be away from our Old Lafayette home base (where we usually meet).
Out- The third weeks will be used for going out into the world and somehow making it better. Whether it’s baking cookies for students during finals week, cleaning up a run-down park, or serving meals to cancer patients, we want to be a force of restoration. Unless something weird happens, we will be out tending to business and will just use the house as a meeting place.
The fourth weeks we will meet with another community or two for something that looks vaguely like a standard church service. It’s a celebration of things God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives, in our community, and in our city.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
What is a Missional Community?
"A Missional community is a group of people, about the size of an extended family, who are united through Christian community around a common service and witness to a particular neighborhood or network of relationships. The participants of missional communities find their primary identity of “church” within the missional community, rather than a larger worship service or small group. In essence, this group of people becomes a close-knit spiritual family on mission together."
-Wikipedia
Our family mission goes beyond this definition. We also want to improve our community and our surroundings. We are excited to announce our first community project coming soon! Details will be posted as soon as possible!
-Wikipedia
Our family mission goes beyond this definition. We also want to improve our community and our surroundings. We are excited to announce our first community project coming soon! Details will be posted as soon as possible!
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