First Word for September 2023

I’ve just returned from being with Tim and Kelsy Harms at Sanctuary Church in San Francisco. While there are huge challenges, there is also a clear sense of God’s grace and presence upon them. 

Travis Aicklen from Radiant Church in Visalia, California, drove in for a special meeting on Sunday evening where we prayed over Tim and blessed him as the primary leader of Sanctuary Church. It was such a joy and privilege to be part of the weekend.

On Sunday morning I received texts and pictures of a packed house at Lifehouse! Growth Track has started, and it is so encouraging to see God drawing people together on mission. Ephesians 2:22 says, “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” We are not after just a huge pile of stones; we are a family being fit together to be a dwelling place for God. 

All I want to do is shout this:
“Hey everybody—this is it. Don’t you see it? Can’t you feel it? The local church is what Jesus is building! It is the God-ordained, redemptive agency upon which the destiny of the entire world hangs. Stop wasting your life and don’t settle for mere church attending."

Jesus’ plan on planet earth is His church—that through the church the gospel is preached, the lost are found, the presence of God dwells, the Word is honored, relationships are real, believers are equipped, the poor are served, the lonely are brought into family, and God gets all the credit!

He wants each of us fully engaged. We will not look back in eternity and be sad that we gave our lives to the very thing God is doing on planet earth.
 
Our vision is to help people Know God, Find Family, Discover Purpose, and Make a Difference. God has placed us here, together, for such a time as this. May many come to truly know God deeply and be joined and committed to his family the church, and may they discover that God has gifted them to play a vital role in making a difference in the lives of others.

- John Privett