A Plea for you to Join us for Core Sundays

I wish I could personally invite every one of you to Core Sundays. They're that important to me. I still believe these two gatherings are the most important of the whole year. Core Sundays are so critical because, in a very real sense, everything else we do is built on them. This is certainly true financially — as the destiny of the years’ work is inextricably bound to the commitments we make together at this event — but I think in a less obvious way, the gathering of ourselves in one space, to be consecrated, to imagine, and to invest our hearts as a covenant community together is something almost otherworldly. It is a taste of the primal church that once was, as well as the kingdom that will be. We stand together before God and say here we are, we are yours, and we are for your work. Use us. Love us. Make your name glorious in and through us. And then we put (figuratively of course) all that we have on the table. Our gifts, our time, our money, our relationships, we commit again to participating in something that is greater than the scope and focus of our own lives. We will have to make that commitment over and over throughout the coming year, in a hundred ways by ourselves and in smaller gatherings, but this one — with all of us — has a kind of gravity. It anchors us together, holding us to the things we most hold dear.

REGROUP
In battle, when military forces engage an enemy, they are often scattered and disorganized by that engagement. Being in the fray almost always means a fragmenting and separating from the rest of the army. That is why, over time, in any battle there will be the need to regroup. This standard military maneuver means finding each other again, getting back in the same space, hearing the voice of the commander again, so that the soldiers can be redeployed.

Isn’t this what we need too? From time to time, regroup as a community, catch our breath, regather with the lost members of our company, remember our strength, hear the voice of our savior/leader, and be inspired to engage again?

I think it is.

Please, if you can, join us for at least the two Core Sundays on January 19th and 26th. Those are the most important for me. You are free also join us for one of the optional gatherings: the Awards Breakfast on January 12th, or one of the budget dinners (January 20th, 22nd, and 24th). I will send more about the budget dinners later.  

Planning to be there yourself is my first request. Helping us spread the word to everyone else (who may not read this) is my second. The general rule of thumb is: if a person considers themselves a part of the UNDERGROUND, or if they are a core member of an UNDERGROUND microchurch, then these events are for them.