A Culture of Truth

“The truth is…”

SO how do you finish that sentence? What is the truth of your life right now? Maybe it’s something really great. Maybe the truth is that right now you’re better than you have been for a long time. You’re sober, your marriage is good, your kid is an honor student, you got a promotion at work, you’re in school and have your life plan securely in place. If that the case, we celebrate, we rejoice with you. I hope you all have some great truths in your life right now. Or maybe the truth is that you’re in a tough spot. You fell off the wagon, your marriage is on the rocks, your kid beat up the honor student, you lost your job, you have this opportunity to get an education and you have no idea what to do with it. If that’s the case, we still want to celebrate God and worship with you! But we also want to mourn with you, and pray for you. But whatever comes to the surface from the depths of your being, the point this morning is this- we want CCC to be a place where people can experience and know truth. We want to cultivate a culture where the truth isn’t covered up, but rather, the lies are cast aside, the masks are taken off, and we get real, we get honest, with get truthful.

We are three steps into our series on “Cultivating a Connecting Culture.” We want to put some necessary nutrients into the soil of our church. This means being on guard to weed out any thing that isn’t going to be helpful. More so, it means intentionally infusing our church with the kind of values God desires. We’ve talked about TRUST- cultivating a place where people who have been burned can start to trust others again, where people who are still good with trust can go deeper with God and with others, growing in faith. We talked about ACCEPTANCE- cultivating a “come as you are” culture here at CCC. Come as you are- with your hopes and fears, your joys and pains, your failures and successes. Come as you are, because we can’t come before God any other way- he see through the façade and masks we put on. So just meet us as you are.

But now we want to take the culture a little deeper. We want to take it to the TRUTH. We have to build the church on truth.

If you’re a “Churchy,” you know that Christians like to talk about the truth, We believe Christianity is true, that Jesus really lived and died and rose and that he is coming again. We believe that the bible is a source of truth to guide and direct our lives, individually and corporately. We know the Spirit’s first title given by Jesus is the “Spirit of Truth,” and he will guide into all truth. But most of all, we’re into truth because Jesus claimed to be the truth- In John 14:6 he claimed

“I am the way the truth and the life.”

Theologians have often reflected on this claim, noting that it is either absolutely false or absolutely true. If false, all of this Jesus stuff should be cast out into the pile of numerous other charlatans, false doctrines, and lies. But if what Jesus said is the truth, then there is really nothing greater than considering his claims, and calling upon Him as God.

So we could talk about relative truth verses absolute truth, practical truth and propositional truth. We could talk about the truth of Jesus subjectively experienced in our lives, and the truth of Jesus as an objective truth for all humanity. But I don’t want to go there today. Instead, I want to talk about what it looks like for us to encounter the truth of Jesus as the emobiment of truth, in our lives. To cultivate this culture here where we can seek truth- the truth of Jesus, the truth of our lives, the truth of our world.

One of the most famous encounters in the Bible is an exchange between Jesus and Pilate, the man who holds Jesus’ life in his hands. Now you can imagine the truth of this moment. Jesus can play this several ways. Pilate is getting pressure to have Jesus executed by one group of people, his own wife is saying Jesus is innocent, he has admitted he doesn’t find Jesus guilty of the charges laid before him. I believe the man is genuinely torn.

Pilate decides to ask Jesus, for himself, what he has done. Jesus says, “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” And all Pilate can say is

“What is truth?” John 18:37-38

Have you ever gotten to that place in your life where you are in so deep, so dark, that you’re not even sure of what is true anymore? It might be standing right in front of you- but your don’t have the eyes to see it, the ears to hear it, the heart to believe it? Sometimes, maybe most times, it’s hard to face up to the truth.

Experiential education is all about creating teachable moments. The way you create teachable moments is often by just letting things happen, then examining it closer. I used to take students on camping trips every Fall Break. One trip I’ll never forget. We got ready the night before, woke up before sunrise, and drove to the trail. Everyone was all excited, ready to hit the trail ready to go. They didn’t want instruction- they wanted to make time! So I handed them the map, pointed out where we were, where we were going, and off we went. We were making great time. We were cruising. These students were motivated.

We stopped for lunch and decided to figure out where we were and how much farther we had to go. So they start going over the map, looking back up and down the trail, thinking about markers they encountered. Then they started to put things together. The truth started to reveal itself.

We walked in the wrong direction. I’m telling you that we immediately went though the five stages of grieving-

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

One guy was adamant, no, we didn’t, we did not go in the wrong direction for the whole morning! This can’t be! One girl was furious, this is unacceptable, who was supposed to check the compass, did anyone check the compass, who is responsible for this, because there are lots of trees out here, I have rope in my backpack, and I intend to use it. She lost all trust in me as the leader. Another person was ready to make a deal, ok, we can change our plans and head in this direction if we get to this point and then… One guy just started crying, why me , why us, this is the worst thing that could ever happen, he crawled in the fetal position and was ready to die (OK, maybe not that bad). But eventually, they decided to deal with the truth of their situation, and decided to move forward. And in the big picture, it really wasn’t so bad. So we had to turn around, change our plans, change our pace, retool how the trip was going to happen. The truth was we walked in the wrong direct, and that had to be dealt with.

But the more I’ve thought about it, the truth can hit us like the grieving process. We want to deny it. I am not longer surprised by the human capacity for self deception. You know what they say, “Denial- it ain’t just a river in Egypt.” Denial is reality for many- denial of the truth of our situation in life. “I don’t have a problem, everyone else has the problem.” “I’m gonna have faith and he’s coming back to me, she coming home.” “Not my kids, never, they would never steal, they would never cheat, they would never lie, my little girl isn’t sexually active so she can’t have an STD, she can’t be pregnant.”

The truth can make us angry- angry with ourselves, with others, with the world. We might want ot bargain with the truth, try and manipulate it a bit to fit our life, our circumstances, our preferred outcome. The truth can be depressing- to face our powerlessness to change much of our life situation, to change other people, to change our world.

If it’s the truth, even if it’s painful, even if it’s inconvenient, is going to have to be dealt with. You’ve seen or heard of Al Gore’s film- what a great title. “An Inconvenient Truth.” The truth is maybe most often inconvenient to the status quo and comfort of our life.

Do you remember the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes? Many years ago, there lived an emperor who cared much about his clothes. Two swindlers named Guido and Luigi said that they could make the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they said, also had the special capability that it was invisible to anyone who was either stupid or not fit for his position.

Being a bit nervous about whether he himself would be able to see the cloth, the emperor first sent two of his trusted men to see it. Of course, neither would admit that they could not see the cloth and so praised it. The emperor then allowed himself to be dressed in the clothes for a procession through town, never admitting that he saw nothing. He was afraid that the other people would think that he was stupid. Of course, all the townspeople wildly praised the magnificent clothes of the emperor, afraid to admit that they could not see them, until a small child said: "But he has nothing on!"

This was whispered from person to person until everyone in the crowd was shouting that the emperor had no clothes on. The emperor heard it and felt that they were correct, but held his head high and finished the procession.

This morning I want us to make a giant leap in the cultivation of our Connections culture. Let’s not be afraid to say hey, the emperor has no clothes, and guess what, I’m the emperor! Let’s let the truth strip us naked before God and one another (Now I’m totally speaking metaphorically here people- I can just imagine some guy’s getting all excited and ready to rip of his shirt in the name of truth).

Here are Connections we want to create a culture where we can help one another accept the truth- the truth of our lives, the truth of our situations, the truth of our world.

Jesus said to a group of religious people, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.” OK, true enough. Then he goes a step further,

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:36

The truth will set you free. I propose that we want to be free to be truthful in three areas of our life.

First, free to be truthful with ourselves. A culture where we are free to examine our lives and be honest with ourselves. The thing about Jesus is that he gave people time and again the opportunity, and the courage, to be truthful with themselves. Jesus was walking form town to town and a big crowd was following him like an entourage. Two blind beggars along the road ask what happening and they are told that Jesus is walking by. They start yelling “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd told them to shut and not bother Jesus. But, and I love this, they start yelling all the louder, making even more of a seen. SO Jesus asks, what do you want me to do for you? And they say hey, we’d really like a new cane a cup, maybe a cool pair of sunglasses. NO! They say Jesus we want to see. Jesus more than anything else, opened people’s eyes. He opened their eyes to the truth. But he first asks these guys, what do you want, what do you need? They had to face and name the truth of their lives, of their need. And when they do, Jesus responds.

What did Jesus teach his followers? Deal with the plank in your own eye before you go around pointing out the splinter in someone else’s. Jesus is saying if someone’s got a splinter in his or her eye, they know it, they know they need help. But you can’t help them if you haven’t dealt with the truth, the giant plank of denial in your own eye. So let the truth start with you. I’m blind, crippled, I feel like an outcast, I’m in a dead end situation in life- Jesus, set me free.

Second, we want a culture here where we are free to be truthful with others. A culture where we can, in love, be real with each other. The bible says (Ephesian’s 4:15) speak the truth in love to one another. That’s awesome… I just wish we could do it. If you’ve grown up in the church you’ve been in this situation. Someone comes up to you, and they say, really smoothly, I just want to speak truth into your life. Then they let it rip. I can’t think of any time where somebody said they wanted to speak truth into my life, and actually did. I always got the impression they wanted to take me down a few pegs, they had an ax to grind and I was the stone.

You now, if you want to help someone confront the truth in his or her life, and I hope you do, just do it in love. Just talk to them about it. Now this is not like a rule, but generally speaking, if you have to say, I want to speak the truth in love into your life right now, you have yet to find the right words to actually speak truth in love into someone’s life. But the point is that we want to have a culture here where we can be truthful with each other, and help each other deal with the truth of our lives.

Third, we want a culture where we will be free to be truthful with God. A culture where we can ask the hard questions, wrestle with difficult answers, and get real with God. There’s this great passage in Romans 1 where the writer says, “They (all people really) exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is praised forever. Amen.” (Rm. 1:25)

We live in a time and place where people are more willing to talk about God, to talk about spirituality, to quest for the truth, than ever before. Never has spirituality been more on the minds and lips of people. Never has Spirituality been so prominent in our culture. The world is seeking truth. We are all seeking truth. But so many are in so deep, in so dark, that they can’t see it. They still haven’t found it….

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” by U2

The world around is looking. They are looking for the real deal, they are looking for the truth, they are looking for the one that will make sense of their life, that will give purpose and meaning to their existence, strength for the moment, that will give them hope for the future, that will heal their wounds and love their souls. They are tired of the bad exchange- of worshiping their own creation, and they are looking for the truth.

I also know that some of you still haven’t found what you’re looking for. You have chased after the false hopes and dreams of this world. Maybe some of you here have achieved wealth and success, you made partner, you opened your practice, you got your cottage, you’re on track for freedom 55, but the closer to get to reaching all these goals for yourself only brings you closer to the fact that it is not satisfying your greatest needs, your deepest needs, your longing for truth. SO you simply up the stakes, you raise the bar, a little more money, a little more success, a little more acclaim and I’ll have found what I’m looking for.

Maybe some of you have looked for pure please, totally hedonism. You have numbed yourself with drink and drug, trying to find a moment of pleasure, or at least a break from the pain. Yet drink after drink, pill after pill, you are still left empty. The numbness wears off and your left feeling the pain all the more acutely, because yet again you still haven’t found what you’re for.

You have succumbed to the embrace of a stranger, hoping that for maybe one moment you can feel that you are one flesh with another human being, so that you don’t feel so alone, so empty. Only to find that as you pull yourself away from that other person, you’ve not gained anything, but lost one more part of yourself. You still haven’t found the one you’re looking for.

Some of you have chased after truth in the most noble of efforts. You have given yourself tirelessly. You have volunteered hours upon hours to the best of causes. You have shown love and mercy and compassion. You have worked for justice and peace. But in all your efforts you still have not found the peace you are looking for. All your work has only shown you how small a difference you make, how insurmountable the problems of the world are.

Friends, the truth has been revealed to us. The truth has come to us. Jesus Christ offers himself to you this day. He is the one who won’t numb your pain, but will heal it. The one who will join himself to you and will never leave you or forsake you. He is the one who will lead you in paths of righteousness, will lead you in his work, in his mission, giving you strength and hope to persevere. He is the one we are all looking for. And I believe with all my heart and with all my mind and with all my strength and with all my soul that the Church is a culture of truth because Jesus us the most truthful person that ever lived on earth.

Cultivating a Connecting Culture: A Culture of Trust

Cultivating a Connecting Culture: A Culture of Trust
September 30, 2007
Rev. George J. Saylor

During the next five services we want to be very intentional about the kind of culture that we are going to cultivate here at Connections in worship, in our home groups, and in our service to the community. We only have one chance to launch this thing for the first time- and we want to do it well. We want to do it with creativity, with authenticity, and with excellence.

And we get one shot at trying to create the DNA of this organism. One shot at infusing into the soil of this church the kinds of nutrients we think are essential. There are many many good things good nutrients, quantities, values, hopes, dreams that we can talk about. There are also many bad things, bad nutrients, attitudes and agendas that we believe could derail our vision. But we’ve narrowed it town to five major nutrients to cultivate a connecting culture; trust- acceptance- truth- healing- connection. I want to break that down for us this morning.

Cultivating- there are certain things we are powerless to do. In fact, when you really think about it, we are powerless to do or change a lot of things in life and this world. Our church has this vision, this mission, and this paradigm for doing ministry here- to see people connect with God, with people and with the world. But we are powerless to actually make you connect with God- I can’t force you into the relationship; I don’t even want to force you into the relationship. We are powerless to make you connect with people in the groups we want to keep growing. We are powerless to make you connect with the world- you might choose to stay neatly tucked in a little bubble of your own existence- we can’t make any of these connections happen- but we can, and we will cultivate the type of environment where this might happen.

The bible uses a lot of agricultural analogies. In one passage a man named Paul wanted to set straight how the church really worked- he said it wasn’t about him and what he did- he may have planted a seed, another guy might have watered it still another might actually harvest it, but none one them made it grow- only God did that. The church, this church, can only cultivate- cultivate an environment where God can do His thing- where God can make connections and make things grow.

What are we trying to cultivate- a connecting culture- that is an environment, an ecosystem, a soil where this happens- a culture where it is natural for people to find God, meet others, find purpose and meaning and direct in the world. A culture when the norm is to be growing and developing.

So we want to cultivate trust- acceptance- truth- healing- and connection. But it starts with trust. It always starts with trust. Trust is so foundational, so vital, so essential, that it is actually rather difficult to examine it. For years I was involved in campus ministry and higher education, and I taught courses on group dynamics and building community, and the way that we did this was with what we called initiative or ropes courses.

The first thing anybody ever does with the group in this kind of experiential education experiences- we talk about trust. We do this because the whole flow of the initiatives course, of the experiential education, depends on trust- cultivating an environment where the participants can trust the instructor, trust the equipment, and trust the team. If the team cannot cultivate and establish a trust, then they become stuck- they can’t move on. They can go on to the low ropes course, let alone the high elements. But if they can establish trust, then they can go on to try some amazing things. It takes work, it takes communication, it takes being intentional, it takes personal and group effort.

(Demonstrate trust fall with Andrew)

Trust is a very precious, and quite delicate thing, isn’t it? The thing sabout trust is that I could catch Andrew a thousand times, but all that trust would be gone the instant I dropped him. If one time I started to day dream, not pay attention, and let him crash to the floor and smash his head, the bond of trust would be broken. That’s the difficult nature of trust- hard to build up, easy to break. I could tell story after story of the trust issues that came out with classes that I taught and groups that I lead. Groups that never made it to the high ropes course elements because they couldn’t establish trust. People reduced to tears, people taken to the breaking point because we were trying to create a culture where trust could be established, and sometimes it would never happen.

Three areas of trust had to be established for the group to move forward. First, they had to trust the instructor. They had to have a level of confidence that the instructor knew what he or she was doing and had the group’s best interest at heart. What was consistently amazing to me was how hard it was for so many to make that simple first step- to trust the instructor.

Second, they had to trust the equipment. For some this was the most difficult area- to believe that ropes could hold them, the platforms, planks, high wires and ladders were reliable. They had an deep rooted inability to trust the actually physical structure of the ropes course.

Third, they had to trust the group. And here is where the learning and cultivating really came in. Here is where we always had the most difficulty. Here was where the real issues came out. The idea of trusting ones body, of trusting ones thoughts or feeling with the group.

I remember the first time I heard the question. And I want to ask the question to you this morning. And you’ve heard it before, but I’m hoping you’re at a place this morning that you’ll hear it the way I remember hearing it. That you’ll HEAR the question wash over you so that you might really begin to examine the answer. Are you ready, remember now, you’ve heard the words before, but I’m asking you to hear the question now, “What would it really take for you to trust?”

Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us this bit of wisdom. Proverbs is this collection of all these pithy, wonderful sayings in the bible. It’s the “Things that make you go hummm” section of the bible. 3:5-6 tell us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

So let me pose that question in a little different light now, what would it look like to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding? Acknowledging, or putting God first in all things, in all areas of life- work, play, your family, your future, everything- trust that God will clear, make straight, a path for you? What does this kind of trust look like?

The bible tells story after story of what trusting God looks like. Last time we gathered I explained how the bible could be seen as a book telling the story of how God was re-connecting people with himself, with others, with the world. In that process of reconnecting we can also see the role that trust plays. Time and again, story after story, in fact with nearly every story, every person, is confronted with a choice- to trust God, or go their own way. To trust God and to fall into his arms, trusting he is there, trusting he will catch, trusting in his plan. Or don’t trust, don’t take the fall, walk away and play it safe.

Noah trusted that a flood was going to come, and so he built this gigantic ark to save humanity. Moses trusted God and confronted pharaoh, saying it’s time to abolish the slavery of my people even though your entire economy depends on it. Joshua trusted God and marched around a city seven times blowing a trumpet, a rather unconventional battle strategy to say the least. David trusted God and confronted a giant with only a slingshot. The kids this morning are learning how a man named Elijah trusted Go to provide for his needs, and was fed by bunch of crows and a widow and her son.

(Pick up water bottle) You know, one of the things I love the most about being a parent is the trust. Seeing how each of my kids is born trusting. They can’t help it, they have no other choice- they trust that they will be taken care of, fed and clothed, held and loved, protected and provided for. It’s like all of us are born with the well full of trust. It’s just there, it’s just full, and it’s just the way the world is supposed to be.

But then we start to grow and we start to get a taste of the world. And things start to happen, and the well of trust starts to get drained. And for most of us it happens a little bit at a time. You know, we trust our parents for something, and they let us down, and it’s like a little knife is jabbed into our trust. We tell a friend, then they go and tell someone else, and another jab in our trust. And we open our heart to someone, and then they start to take advantage of it, and another jab. And something horrible happens, maybe we’re violated in someway someone…or we lose our job…or we lose our health…or we lose a loved one…and all the while we keep taking these jabs and the trust just keeps draining out of our lives and before we know we are empty.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding- but George, you don’t understand, my heart’s been hurt, my heart’s been broken, my heart’s been burned, and I vowed, I pledged that never again would I be such a fool- never again would a trust my parents- never again would I trust man- never again would I trust a woman- never gain would I trust my spouse- never gain would I trust myself- never again would I trust God because I just don’t know if my heart can take it. Trust in God with all my heart, and lean not on my understanding- but my understanding is all I have. My understanding is the only thing that gets me through this world, my understanding is the only thing I can trust, my understanding is the only way I know how to survive.

I will tell you this today- I understand. I so understand. And I think others here understand as well. I think others here this morning have every reason in the world to legitimately say I will never trust again- I will not trust another person with my body, with my feelings, with my soul, and I will not trust God. We could call for open mic time and person after person, each and every one of you, could come up here and tell you story, and tell how your trust has been burned.

Some of you here today have every reason to never trust another person again. Some of you have every reason to never trust the world again. Some of you here believe you have every reason to never trust God again. But this morning I want try and give us some reason to trust again.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, on the night that Jesus’ trust in his followers was going to be broken, on the very night when one on his best friends would set Jesus up to be captured and killed, on that night Jesus told that man, that group of friends, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me.” John 14:1

Jesus then took some jabs in his trust, in his hands, and his feet. The story of our God is that of a God who trusted his son to us, and had that trust hung on a cross. Jesus trusted us with his love, and we drove nails through it. God knows how it feels to take hit on trust. He knows what it’s like to have that well punctured and run dry. God is not a God who stands callously by us as the trust is drained from our lives, but stands with us, ready to fill us up again. The bible tells us that by his wounds, by the wounds of Jesus, we are healed. By his wounds our trust can be restored.

What would it look like for you to begin putting your trust in Jesus? What would you try to do with your life? What would you do with your education? What would you do in your job? What great things would you go for? What goals would you set? What heights would you try to climb? Or conversely, how would you change the way to do business, write reports, practice law, medicine, whatever else?

What would it look like to trust Jesus with your relationships? To trust that God has someone special for you, and that you can wait for him or her? To trust that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do to find a meaningful relationship? To trust that God’s design for men and women and our relationships really is for our best interest and blessing?

What would it look like to trust your spouse again? To start the long road of reconciliation, to take small steps of trust? What would it look like to trust God for a fresh start? If the bottom has fallen out, if the relationship has ended, if you don’t know what or who is in your future? What would it look like to start trusting God?

What would it look like to trust God with our children? To trust that He loves them more than we ever could, that he does not want to see them sacrificed on the altars of this world- to greed and money and materialism and promiscuity and addition and abuse? To trust that God will make not just our paths straight, but the paths of our children? That if we cultivate the right kind of environment for them that they will thrive? What would it look like to be in a relationship with our kids where they knew they could trust us, and we knew we could trust them?

To cultivate this culture of trust in a ropes course you need three things- you need to trust the instructor, you need to trust the equipment, you need to trust the group.

Friends, for this culture to work, to try and do what we want to do here, we need three things as well. What would it look like for you to trust the instructor, to trust God? What would it look like for you to trust him with all your heart, and lean no on you own understanding?

We also need to trust our equipment, and by that I mean, ourselves, and how we are equipped. What would it look like to trust that God has equipped you with all the gifts and the talents that you need to fulfill his plans for your life? To trust that God made you they way you are for a reason- whether you’re a detail person or a visionary, a romantic or a realist, an introvert or an extrovert, however God equipped you, can you trust that that’s exactly what God needs in you to fulfill your purpose in this world?

And finally, what would it look like to trust the team, to trust this group, to trust the church? To trust that together we can accomplish more than we could ever dream as individuals. That together we can experience more joy and meaning than we ever could alone. To trust that the church is worthy of our time, of our efforts, of our giving, of bringing our friends?

To make this happen, we have to take the fall. We have to turn out back, fold our arms, and fall into the arms of God and into the arms of other people. We won’t be foolish about it. If I’m going to fall into your arms I’m gonna check, are you ready, I might even ask again, I may even turn around just to be sure, but then I want to fall, I want to trust- because it is a rush.

Friends, there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing quite like believing in a group of people so much you’ll fall backwards off a 6 foot deck. There’s nothing like climbing 50ft over the ground and leaping from a pole, knowing that your belay is gonna catch you, your team is gonna cheer you on.

And there’s nothing like trusting God- trusting him for our eternity, trusting him for our here and now. Trusting him to lead and guide and make our paths straight.

A year ago my family heard the call of God. He used a lot of people, a lot of doors opening, a lot of doors closing, a lot of things coming together to show us a clear path. And when we felt confident that we hadn’t conjured up this dream in our minds, we took the trust fall. The bible says that Abram left his country, his land, his people, and he went where God called him to go. He believed a promise that through this action, this trust, that a nation would be born, and that the world would be blessed. He really didn’t know much anything else.

I don’t know where this is going folks, but we left our country, our land, our church, our people, and our friends. We came to London to start Connections Community Church because we wanted to listen to where God was calling, and maybe, maybe through this trust, we might be a blessing. Maybe even a blessing for the whole world. We’ll trust God, and see what happens.