Thursday, February 05, 2009
Laying a Foundation
I remember when Tara and I bought our first house in 2000. It was a new build out in East Mesa and we watched with excitement as every little step brought it to completion. It started off as a dirt patch and it just sat. Nothing happened. We would drive out there at night and look at our little dirt patch and dream of what it would become.
When you dream about building a house, you think about paint colors, decorations, and which kid gets which room. You think about sitting out on your patio reading a book or inviting your neighbors over for a meal. You think about doing life inside this house.
Before too long, the digging began. Lots of digging. The construction of the house was finally underway! We came out there one day after church and our dirt patch was gone and in its place was a solid foundation of concrete. It undergirded everything we dreamed about, even though we would never see it again after the walls were constructed. It continued to give support to the frame long after that day.
Grace Church is in a similar spot. We have a dream ahead of us – to become a church that exalts Christ and impact the city as a community of believers. We are dreaming of the paint colors and the decorations and the back patio. It’s hard not to! But we don’t want to overlook the foundation.
Over the next few posts, we are going to walk through the foundation of our new church – the theology and values that will hold our church together and determine our boundaries. Above all, we pray that God would give us wisdom and courage to build with precious stones that will last for generations to come.
