Not baby steps...

It was a simple step, actually...a fairly insignificant occasion. But last week, our daughter(Eva Kate) moved from the two-year-old class at Hope Community Church(the church we attend for Sunday worship gatherings) to the three-year-old class. Different area of the church, different teacher, different structure, different everything.

As I watched her and Kelly register for her new class, and watched her look around at her new surroundings, I got a strange feeling. I imagine it's the precursor to the feeling I'll get when I take her for her first day of Kindergarten. I didn't get emotional last week, but something inside me said that life was moving fast, and that before I can blink, she'll be a five-year-old shopping for a backpack, pencils, and rulers.

Mosaic is taking similar steps...steps that might seem fairly insignificant to a casual observer, but steps that are, in reality, major occurences in the life of our young church. We've made contact with the SBC and KBC, both of whom want to talk to us about our young church. We're looking towards a public "launch" in 2008. On Tuesday night, I had a very encouraging conversation with a team from Victory Baptist Church in Lexington about Mosaic and a possible partnership in ministry.

And just tonight, we were invited to a special service at Victory, where they celebrated the culmination of their sponsorship of Masters Church, a plant in Lexington, and the possibility of both churches sponsoring our church in Versailles. At the end of the service, we were called upon the stage, where we were prayed over by people from Victory, Masters, as well as Dr. Mackey and Larry Baker from the KBC, and Don Reed from Elkhorn Association.

And there it struck me...people BELIEVE in us. I always knew that God believed in us(hence the calling), and I knew that those involved in Mosaic believed in Mosaic, but now, people are starting to sense that God really has called us to something fresh in our community, to connect with people in a new and relevant way, to see all people come to Christ. And they not only believe in us, they want to bless us and minister to us and WITH us, and cheer us on.

How exciting it is to see established churches that "get it". Victory and Masters are just two in a wave of existing churches that see the big picture, have Kingdom mindsets, and want to invest in communities to see people won for Christ. It's exciting to consider the possibility of having them support us in ministry. Tonight was a huge boost for me, a really timely reminder of our mission and calling, and, I believe, a strong word from God that it's time to stretch ourselves to crack our community and start loving people and connecting with them.

These aren't baby steps for Mosaic. They may look that way from a distance, but up close, God is starting to connect the dots in a very real way. May we step back and see where the picture is headed, and be encouraged and empowered to continue praying for and loving Versailles, desiring to see all of Woodford County connected to Christ.