It started a few weeks ago.
I remember waking up and feeling like it was a significant moment.
I started dreaming about Grace Collective Church.
This was different. My dreams weren’t about something far off in the distance that we hoped to be a part of one day. These dreams were the here and now, ins and outs, people with names and stories happening today.
Then last night happened.
GCC is almost seven months old and in that time we’ve experienced growth. What’s possibly more surprising and far more important is that our GCC Small Group has also experienced growth. As a matter of fact, last night’s “small group” had a higher number of people in attendance than the first Sunday morning gathering of our church.
Sure that’s measurable and significant, but it’s not even close to something else that happened.
Near the end of our spirited discussion on guardrails someone took a moment to share his experience in our group.
“I’ve been in church all my life and I’ve never experienced something so authentic, open and caring.”
Someone who wasn’t there last summer when we were dreaming about what Grace Collective Church would be like had just communicated some of the very things for which we prayed. I’m quite sure you could see my goofy ear-to-ear grin through my thick beard.
I know difficult days are ahead, but these are precious days in the life of our church. I’m so thankful to have a front row seat to the amazing things God is doing in the lives of people at GCC. If it all ended today I would feel like we’ve been faithful to the vision God has given us.
But it’s not ending today. There is much more to accomplish. Men who need to be led; marriages in need of strengthening; singles to be empowered and encouraged; families to be equipped.
We say that GCC exists to guide people in relationship with Jesus and each other. That’s exactly what we’re doing and what we’ll continue to do until our final breath.