The following is a column that I wrote for the most recent City Church newsletter. I hope you find it encouraging. A good companion to this blog would be the video blog that I posted a few weeks ago. You can watch it by clicking here.
On July 18th, 2011, I will get into my family minivan and drive to Seattle, moving there until further notice. I have lived in Alaska my whole life and have never left the state for more than a few weeks at a time. I am extremely excited about this next season of my family’s life as we have been experiencing an undeniable sense of a call from God in the direction of church planting. I will be immediately plugged in and serving at Mars Hill Church in Seattle and start their seminary-level ministry school in August. We are also excited to go to Washington State as that is where my wife grew up. We are looking forward to spending more time with her family over the next few years.
However, I am also very sad. All of my immediate family is in Anchorage. I just got my sister and brother-in-law back from Georgia. I have friendships with men in this city going back twenty years. I am also going to really, really miss City Church. I have given the last four years of my life to serving this local body. (Many of you go back another ten years before that with New Direction, the church that my parents started and merged with City Church over four years ago). There are so many signs of God’s activity in this church. I am going to truly miss being a part of such a vibrant, life-filled community. In parting, I thought it only fitting to highlight some of the things that I love most about City Church.
1. I love City Church’s commitment to community involvement. This church is full of incredibly passionate, hard-working people who love Jesus and their city. I am constantly amazed when I turn on the local news and see ministries that we are involved with being heralded and praised. From the New Direction High School Program to Beacon Hill, from the Governor’s “Choose Respect” campaign to our Saturday food shelf, City Church is a church that takes Matthew 25:35-40 seriously.
2. I love City Church’s commitment to generational and ethnic diversity. I’ll be honest: it would be easier to be a part of a church where everyone looked the same, acted the same, and had the same tastes and preferences. In Revelation 7, the Apostle John sees a vision of heaven where he sees men and women from every tribe, people and language standing before the throne of God in worship. I have met people and been exposed to perspectives and wisdom that I would not have necessarily come across if not for this unique church.
3. I love City Church’s commitment to out-of- the-box methodology. City Church is unusual. It always has been and it always will be. If churches were ships, we would be an icebreaker. We are often called to go places and try things that other churches might not. This is not meant to be a prideful statement but a recognition of a unique calling on this church.
4. I love City Church’s commitment to the activity of the Holy Spirit. I’ve not spoken on this much, but a few years back I was tempted to just “be done” with the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophecy, words of knowledge, speaking tongues, praying for healing, and the like. Having grown up in mostly charismatic churches, I was tired of seeing out of balance excesses from some charismatics. I was frustrated from seeing large moral failures from self-proclaimed prophets. Long story short, God has used my time here at City Church to heal me from those hurts. Pastor Richard has spoken so encouragingly about being “naturally supernatural” as opposed to being “spooky” in our use of these gifts. I am more committed to praying for healing and praying in tongues personally than I have ever been before. I am so thankful for this church’s desire to participate in the life of the Spirit.
5. Finally, I love City Church’s commitment to the Scriptures. Throughout the Bible, we see God instructing people to write down the words that He gives them. It’s as if God knows our human proclivity to drift from truth into error. The Bible is the unchanging, authoritative written Word of God. It is not about us, it is revelation of the character and nature of God. City Church does not use the Bible to beat people over the head, but neither does City Church shy away from the bold declaration of the scriptures. I am so thankful that this church does not stand on the authority of church tradition or human reason or emotion; this church unwaveringly stands on the authority of the Word of God.
These are but a few of the reasons that I will miss City Church so greatly. I am thankful that the internet and social networking can help people stay connected somewhat. If you are on Facebook, I have an open-door Facebook friend policy (www.facebook.com/agray82). I am also on Twitter @agray82.
One final note: this is a season of change and transition for City Church. Some of you may be feeling like God is calling you into a new season of change and transition as well, but others of you may be feeling like God is calling you to step up into a new place right here at City Church. This may be your season to really serve this local body like never before. I pray that whatever call God has placed on you, you will be faithful to answer that call and follow hard all the days of your life.
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