Where do you call home?

Over this sabbatical I have had a chance to go to a few different churches and see how others "do" church. Of course in the scheme of the church the ultimate question has nothing to do with style of a worship service, style of preaching, order of a service, etc, etc,...it has to do with whether or not a church is "being" the church. But, that is a whole nother posting!!!

I went back to my roots for part of this sabbatical. Good roots that shaped and molded me into who I am today. I spent one Sunday at the church I grew up in at Clinton, Il. (http://www.clintonilnazarene.com/ ). A rural community of about 8,000 people. I grew up in a church where from the cradle to the day I left for college people of the church were constantly encouraging me and showing me love. I can't say that I remember any profound Sunday School lessons or sermons, but I do remember people who showed me Christ love in such a genuine way, God used that love to draw me to Him.

Today, the Clinton Nazarene Church is striving to reach out to its community. It was really neat to see some of the ways they are attempting to show love to those around them, not just inside the church walls, but outside of them as well. My prayer is that my home church is one that strives to reach people that don't know Jesus at any cost. That they would be used by God in their community beyond their wildest imagination.

Over the next few post I will share with you about some of the other churches we visited as well. Some of the churches I will highlight include: Granger Community Church (http://www.gccwired.com/ , Crossroads Community Church http://www.mycrossroadscommunity.com/ , and Crossbridge Community Church ( http://www.crossbridgecommunity.org/ ).