The left side gallery during an Arts Incubator service.
Time for another story from the Crossroads Church KC start-up. Today’s metaphor is spicy chili (something Lindsay is the maestro of). The longer it simmers and marinates, the better it gets. You can’t throw it together quickly. It needs to stew.
Crossroads Church has been growing slowly and steadily. Like most people who start churches or businesses, my ideal scenario was a community that grew from 4 people to 100+ in a couple months, shattering records in the process. This would be something like the hot dog model of start-ups. With about five minutes notice, you can have a smoking pile of, er, food.
The reality has been different, but I’ve come around to the point of appreciating this slower growth rate. So long as people continue to encounter Jesus, I’m happy.
Over a year ago, Mark and I connected on Facebook. A downtown resident with an interest in Jesus, he was curious about Crossroads. Eventually–as in 16 months later (remember the chili metaphor?)–Mark grabbed grabbed lunch with me and Steven, another of our guys, and we swapped stories. Before our burgers were gone, we were discussing God’s love for cities, Jesus’ perspective on other religions and what the Bible says about sex.
As a theology-loving dude, I walked out thinking, This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. In the months since, we met numerous times for coffee and conversation about Jesus. Mark started hanging out with our folks, coming to Arts Incubator services, and joined a Core group, the small groups that meet weekly for Bible, prayer, and vision.
Mark has moved from placing Jesus on his roster of spiritual influences to actually joining Team Jesus. In a recent text he wrote, “I want to understand what it means to seek the Lord with all my heart…my goal as of yesterday is to seek him mind, body & soul, ultimately learn what that means.” “Absolutely,” I replied. “Awesome goal. Will do everything I can to help. My ultimate goal is to see people doing that.”
And it is. Seeing people encounter Jesus as he is–not as dysfunctional religious people have portrayed him–and thereby being changed is what keeps us going. Pray that there will be a continuous stream of friends entering the Crossroads community and meeting Jesus. We’re in it for the long haul…we want spicy chili.
News & Notes
We’ve switched our Sunday night Arts Incubator services to Sunday morning at 10:30am. Most of our friends downtown think “Sunday morning” when you say “church.”
In May, we set up our space in the Arts Incubator for First Friday with seating, coffee, and acoustic music and met dozens of people. This month (June) we had a good crowd at our place for a First Friday pre-party before people headed downtown to hit the art galleries. Great times taking advantage of KC’s First Friday atmosphere and hanging with friends.
We’re still working on remodeling the first floor of our home/groups staging area/office, and it is taking FOREVER. I’ve started threatening to learn electric and plumbing to finish this thing out, but Lindsay is smart enough to know that would be catastrophic. If you know anyone in the construction trades interested in volunteering, put us in touch…do it yesterday. Thanks!
As always, thanks for your prayers. Our prayer for you is that God will give you an appreciation for the gradual changes he’s making around you, e.g., that you’ll enjoy spicy chili.
Peace, out.
AJ Vanderhorst, pastor
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