Off To A Good Start

Ephesians 2:19-22
Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Last night was very special to me.
I got to witness a birth.
I was there for the conception....
I watched as it was in the womb....
And now I have seen the birth.
"What?" you may ask.
The birth of a recovery meeting that has been in the works for months.

Seth Barber and the Catalyst Church held their first recovery meeting last night. 
Of course everyone will ask if it was successful. How can you measure such? How do you measure success of a church meeting. In America success would be measured on the number of people who showed up. Or the amount of money that was taken up as an offering. Well, in this case, I think you'd have to measure it by whether God's presence was in the room. You'd have to measure it by were there people who were touched by His Spirit. Did they come forward for prayer and ministry. Was there a feeling of intimacy in the room. Was the message relevant to someone in addiction, or just starting the journey to recovery. If those are any benchmarks to measure a meeting by, then you'd have to say that Catalyst Recovery was a success.

I saw many familiar faces there last night, working and greeting the folks who came in. Faces of people who have been redeemed and set free from addiction, now giving back to others in need. There was much laughter in the room. You want hear laughter in the lives of those trapped in the darkness. But last night laughter was the main course. Laughter with a generous helping of love to cover it all.

I loved the improvisation and spontaneous actions when "Chip" time rolled around. Usually in a recovery meeting, colored plastic chips are given out for the different levels of sobriety that has been achieved. Blue, red, green, white, black, yellow...well, the chips had not arrived in time so Elmo improvised. He passed out white napkins, saying, "Come up here and get you a white flag of surrender to your addiction."  The front filled with individuals taking a napkin and going to the altar to pray. That was cool times ten. 

Seth's message was spot on.
The introduction of sin into humanity (Genesis 3) and the downward spiral it has taken us on.
Once again, people responding to the message by coming down to pray and be prayed for.
Standing there, taking it all in, I couldn't help but wonder who, in this room, would be the next one to give birth to another meeting. God is like that you know. He reaches down into humanity and draws out those that no one else would pick. He draws them out and fills them with His Spirit and His kingdom plans. 
I should know...
He picked me.

God on you...
mb