Highlights from our first GLORIFY event

Open up our boxes!

This is my first post for The Network Church, and I'm so excited to be able to write about our first official celebration service that we held last night. These services are a part of our Glorify gatherings.

Wow. Worshiping together was so encouraging. When I heard all of the harmonies from across the room during the first song, I had goosebumps. I was in awe of the group that God had brought together. Everyone wanted to be there. Everyone participated. And God was very much present in our midst.

Devon spoke about how we often put God in a box. We say, "God is this," "God is that", "God is not this," or "God hates that", forgetting just how huge God really is and how there is really so much about God that we don't understand. The moment we try to define who God is, we make him less than what he really is, because God is beyond our capacity to understand. While the Bible is true, it's also just a part of the story of who God is and what he's doing. (Listen to this JJ Heller song, "Small". She sings this idea beautifully.)

In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said our faith can move mountains, but so often we don't take him at his word. It's not God who's holding us back. We create these boxes. We say, "We can't do anything about poverty. It's too big of a problem." Or we think, "How could I love that person. It's impossible." But these things aren't impossible with God.

Devon finished off by talking about the kind of church that The Network Church is going to be. It's going to be for anyone and everyone. Absolutely no limits. If you've been following Christ for years--great! The Network Church is for you. If you're not so sure you buy the whole Jesus thing--no problem! If you make mistakes, hey, who doesn't? If you want to be a part of something that's exciting and limitless, the Network Church is for you. We're not going to let our boxes limit what God can do.

It's funny, when I was designing the logo for our church, I added the tagline "church without limits". At first I thought it was kind of cheesy, but Devon liked it. More and more, I'm struck by how fitting it is. As we trust God to give us those "impossible" dreams and to work through us to see those dreams become reality, the scope of what we can do truly is limitless.

In case you can't tell, I was deeply inspired by the service and by everyone who came over last night. If you were there, please comment below on what inspired you during our time together.