This past Saturday was another big day at Granger Community. Over 150 weekend attenders participated in our Core 101 experience. It's a commitment - just the class itself. 4 hours, 5 counting the meal time. And it started at 8 a.m....on a Saturday.
Mark Beeson, our senior pastor walked the early-risers through God's redemptive story and strategy for their life and the world, explored Granger's mission, vision, values and purposes and described why it is we go about church the way we do. After an impassioned morning of teaching through story-telling, Mark pretty much puts this way every core class:
- You demonstrated great courage showing up today. The weekend service can be a safe place to hear how much you matter to God. You came today curious about who we are and what we think about God and the Scriptures. You're exploring what membership looks like here. I'm proud of you.
- Everything you've experienced up to this point has been about you. The shuttles in the parking lot. The coffee in the Connection Cafe. The umbrellas at the curb. The slides for your kids' classrooms. All about you.
- But, here's the deal. If you're committing to follow Jesus today... and if you're committing to follow him here, with us, in membership, agreeing to the mission God's called us to here - well, it's not about you any more. From this point on it's about other people.
And on Saturday 145 people said, "yes" to that commitment. They said "no" to themselves and "yes" to the God who says they matter... and so does everyone around them.
That's core stuff. Kingdom stuff.
