Sunday morning was a train wreck for me. It began early, no sleep and up before light. Outside, rain and ice fell like trillions of glassy needles. And there is nothing beautiful about that sound either, instead it’s oppressive and chaffing. Then I had a get-out-of-bed tug-of-war with my 5-year-old. He eventually got up, but I added more weight to his dad baggage. So, when I got to church, I was flustered and wondering if God could even use me–tired, distracted and a crummy dad.

Still, I focused on leading and teaching Brentwood for the next few hours. During the message, I paused to review the scene of Abram in Genesis 15, the moment Abram questioned whether God could still use his broken down body to start a family/nation. So, what does God do? He takes him outside and shows him the countless stars above and all around. Then, while Abram searched the sky, God tells him that his influence will be eternal. Once again, Abram trusted God to use him to impact the world. A lot is crammed inside these few verses, but what stands out the most is how God used Creation to send Abram a very persuasive message: I chose you and I will follow through.

Flash forward to Sunday night: After my offbeat morning and the all-day rain had made a swamp of things, I took a drive to clear my head. The night was cold and bullied me to go back home, to just get under the covers and sleep off the gloom, but I took that drive instead. For sure, I was supposed to witness something. What, I did not know, but it was out there waiting. So, I drove.

Not very far from home is when I realized it. The sky was clear, no more clouds and haze, but a black chaos overhead with light-pearls poking through like ice pick holes. It was brilliant. Almost immediately, I recalled the story of Abram. Then I knew that God was communicating something. What, though?

He said in my own internal voice,“Look at that sky. Just a reminder that I chose you for something, and I will follow through if you’ll trust me.”

Right then, I re-chose trust.

I can’t always say that I “get it” when God uses something peculiar, like a night sky, to encourage me; but when He does, I want to cherish it.

Brentwood Tribe,
As 2009 is almost complete and it has been one of the most exhilarating years in our brief history.

Here are some highlights that you were a part of:

Decade: Brentwood turned 10-years-old this past February, so we had a birthday party like none other. Hundreds showed up at “Amazement Square” downtown to celebrate a momentous decade.

The Gospel: 81 people surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. Those are just the ones we could count.

Baptism: 23 men and women told their redemption stories and were baptized.

Global: Four teams from the Brentwood tribe went to Asia. Our India team helped construct a village community center that is a stage for proclaiming the Gospel to thousands. Already a hundred follow Christ, because of this on-going initiative. And still, three different teams traveled to Thailand to continue our labor to stamp out sexual exploitation and slavery at its epicenter. Finally, Africa, we commissioned an unbelievable married couple to begin a groundbreaking effort in Sudan, one of the deadliest places on earth.

Amazing Race: To top it off, our church helped organize and launch one of the largest charity-based races in our city. Over 800 runners flooded the streets of Lynchburg in the maiden voyage of Run For Their Lives. It was astounding to see so many give their blood, sweat and tears to start a movement to set the sexually enslaved free. And it shows that we are not a church that just prays about injustice, but takes action to defeat it.

New Beginning: At the Big Vision event in September, we launched a new vision to reach 10,000 new people in the next 10 years. Of course, that means we’ve got to get very creative in space and strategy.

Four Services: So this January, we take a bold and innovated step to reach our 10K in 10-years goal. How? We’re going to four services, two in the morning and two more at night—yes, that’s right, a new kind of “night church.” This adjustment makes it possible for us to reach 600 more searching-people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ at minimal financial cost.

These are just some of the audacious things God has done through our church community this year. You could compile your own list just as bold.

Can’t wait for another year!!!

Jon

Donald Miller recently wrote, “What makes a great story is one that has great characters in memorable scenes.” That is so true.

I showed a clip from “It’s A Wonderful Life” this Sunday, the scene where George Bailey runs down the streets of Bedford Falls yelling “Merry Christmas” to anyone and anything. Classic. I was surprised, though, by people’s response. Some, who had never seen the movie (which is a crime), still knew that scene from random places in our culture. That’s how powerful the story is; it’s scenes are part of American culture. Bottom line, characters and scenes are what people remember about a story.

So, what if we applied this same principle to our family? What if we worked on building memorable moments (scenes) for our spouse? Our children? Furthermore, what if we looked back on those moments, brought new light to them and started telling our family story that way. “Do you remember when…,” you might start. “…we went to that Christmas tree farm and it started snowing as we cut down our tree. And then we got back in the car and the heater was broken and the tire was flat…” You get the point.

Here’s an idea: Sit down in front of your computer and type out all the memorable scenes of your marriage and/or family for the past five years. Put a heading on each scene and describe it in your best five-sentence paragraph. Collect 8 or 10 on a couple pages, package it up however you want and then give it to your spouse as a random gift–major points, by the way.

After you’ve practice this looking backward, then go forward with more intention. Start creating memorable scenes that become a part of your family’s culture.

Personally, I just bought a “very used” popup camper. Our first outing was disastrously beautiful. And my kids can’t stop talking about it. Now, I can’t wait to make that camper a key character in the scenes of our ongoing family story.

Let the memories begin.