An Important Shift

I keep seeing things happen in Missio Lux that help me to recognize God at work. The significant part of these important shifts is that it is relatively unfacilitated. People are just so excited about what God is doing that they are the ones who are starting the conversation and praying for one another and celebrating how God is working in our lives.

It seems the less I do as the pastor/leader the more that the people of God feel free to step into being the Body of Christ and living the abundant full live he calls us to live.

This is the story of Healing Prayer Missio Community: Today one of the leaders Rosemary called and said that she wanted to throw a party during our regular community time to celebrate all the ways that God is working in our lives. So, when everyone arrived they were greeted by good food and drink, balloons and a fun table setting.

We stood around in our kitchen and spontaneously gave thanks to the Lord for all the ways he is at work within us. We gave testimony to bodies healed, relationships healed, supernatural encounters with the Lord, children growing closer to the Jesus, and on and on!

After we celebrated with our stories for over an hour, we processed how we wanted to walk out of our time of abide in the summer. Some wanted to keep meeting weekly, others wanted to take some off to spend more time in summer fun. We came to a good mid point of continuing our monthly worship services and having a time of fun in July and August.

Then, we moved into the living room where people began to share Scriptures and kairos moments. It wasn't really facilitated; it was a flow of God's people sharing what they are hearing God say and how we are being called to respond. One woman shared a song that the Lord had given her earlier that day.

It felt very much like 1st Corinthians 14:26 where Paul tells us that "one will sing, another will teach, another will give a word of revelation that God has given, another will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said." Everyone brings what they have to give to encourage, equip and strengthen their community to walk out Jesus' priorities of covenant: the Great Commandment and kingdom: the Great Commission.

We ended our time together with communion. Blessings are given to one another and Jesus is thanked again and again for his presence and power in our lives.

But, the night didn't end there. Those that didn't need to rush home lingered in the living room, the kitchen, the family room as more conversations took place of how God was working in us, encouragements shared, prayers given.

At 10:02 the alarm went off reminding us to pray for the harvest and the harvesters as Jesus tells us to in Luke 10:02. We are starting to set our alarms to remind us to pray for the harvest so we when it goes off, we pray with whomever we are with whereever we are! Those who were still here gathered and prayed as we dreamed about what can be and increasingly what we believe, what will be, what is starting to become.

I am grateful. The shift to relaxing and setting a loose structure that invites God's people to embrace relationship and to move as kingdom is becoming "attractive to all who see it."