Diversity Matters

In Rev. 7:9, there is a picture of heaven where every tribe, tongue and nation is gathered in the presence of God. It is a picture of God's people coming together for all eternity. It is a picture of the diversity of God's people coming together because of him. The question is this: Is Revelation 7:9 simply a portrait of what will be or what could be?

Clearly this is a picture of what will be of heaven. However, couldn't it or shouldn't it be a picture of the church today? We need for this reality to become reality in our churches.

Last month, my wife was a part of one of our worship team training days. She noticed we had some new people on stage. More interestingly she realized our hope was becoming reality. As she looked across the stage she noticed one person was from Nigeria, another from Haiti, another from the Philippines, and one from Mexico. There she was, a one-stoplight-town girl from east central Illinois serving alongside a ministry with global implications.

What an amazing reality! From the beginning, Common Ground has intentionally pursued a multi-ethnic church. It hasn't always been easy and it hasn't always happened, but diversity matters. Diversity is the core to how we live as a church.

Common Ground is now 9 months old. It is hard to believe that the vision of God has become a normal reality in our church, but it has!

By the numbers

Common Ground is now 9 months old. Wow, did we say that out loud? 9 months old and this has allowed us to truly see who we are becoming.

Like and infant becoming a toddler, we are seeing our personality, interests, and abilities begin to take shape. As we continue to take steps forward, there are some very strong signs of life. We have averaged 120 attenders, had 51 people become members, and seen 10 baptisms.

We continue to be amazed at what God is doing through us and in us. We have much work to do though. These are great signs that God is working and up to something big. We must continue to serve our neighbors and reach out in new and fresh ways.

Mother's Day

We had an incredible Mother's day. Did you?

Sunday was great because we had so many family members come and support their kids as they sang in service. It was incredible.

We are so fortunate to have o many families connected to our church It is a real testimony to our staff and they way they have reched out and gotten our families connected here at Common Ground!

Great gifts for the kingdom

This last month Kristi was in a wreck and our car was totaled. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the car could not be fixed.

At the time, we had a mission team here on campus. They heard about our car being totaled and felt compelled to donate their truck to Common Ground. We are fortunate to have people who will step up and help however they can.

This is a picture of our friend Paul Halstead donating "the truck he couldn't sell" to the church. It is certainly an upgrade from my 1994 Grand Am.