YOU ARE INVITED TO JUSTICE JAZZ!
Help us invite people to this free fundraising event for Community Life
on Saturday, August 26, @7 PM at 3812 Jog Rd. in Greenacres.
Help us fill the room so we can share some beautiful music that calls all of us to join God’s mission together.
We hope to inspire many people to support Community Life!
Visit missionalunity.com to help us meet Community Life’s fundraising goal for July:
only $1,989.46 to go!
2 more congregations invited me to share how they could help Community Life facilitate missional unity the last 2 Sundays . . .
First, Victory Faith Chapel International welcomed me, with Ghanaian native Pastor Seth Boateng following my remarks with a passionate encouragement for the people of Victory Faith to celebrate and participate in the unity of the body of Christ. He went on to weave unity into his teaching about baptism several times. Thanks to Community Life Board Member Dr. Shante Flournoy who facilitated this opportunity.
This past Sunday my son Walker and I led worship at Redemption Church in Delray. Pastor Daniel Williams, a huge champion of unity, was kind enough to send me a video of what I shared:
CLICK HERE TO WATCH: https://fb.watch/nci8PJA4-C/
If you are part of a congregation in South Florida, I would love to come and share a similar message with your congregation. I can
1) simply share for a couple of minutes as I did in that clip
2) lead worship or share a special song and share that brief message
3) preach and include the content of that brief message
What a blessing to share Community Life’s Mission and Vision with 4 congregations yesterday . . .
My first stop was with the people of Tabernacle Evangelical of Faith. After a beautiful conversation with one attendee about their heart and missional activity, Pastor Innocent Francilus led us in several Creole songs. Then he graciously allowed me not only to share about Community Life, but to answer the congregation’s questions. After I explained that Community Life is going to call over 900 congregations to find out what ministries they are offering to their community, it was beautiful to hear their initial reactions. One person asked a great question: What ministries will Community Life be offering? Some readers of this post know the answer: none! Community Life will be supporting congregations and non-profits as they partner together to offer ministries to their community.
Next up was Fountain of Life, led by Community Life Board Member Pastor David Vargas. It was so good to hear my friend preach for the first time – he shared an honest message about how difficult it is to remain open to God’s interruptions (fortunately for me, his message was constantly interrupted by my friend Bryanna as she translated from Spanish into English). Then I had the honor of celebrating Communion with my brothers and sisters. When Pastor David allowed me to “interrupt” their service so I could share about Community Life, I asked if anyone would be willing to connect us with other congregations in Palm Beach County? I made the joke (that’s actually true) that if one of them called a congregation they already have a relationship with to let them know Community Life will be calling them . . . the congregation will be much more likely to answer the phone when Community Life calls. So thankful for one Fountain of Life member who gave a gift to financially support Community Life!
Then it was time to engage the passionate worship being led by the worship team at Vision of Faith. After hearing Pastor Millie Puerta’s powerful message about waiting on God – who’s not in a hurry – I shared how the vision God gave me in 2014 was, in God’s timing, just now coming to life through Community Life’s relaunch. I encouraged the many Spanish-speakers in attendance to help us contact other Spanish-speaking congregations so we can accomplish our goal of contacting every congregation in Palm Beach County.
To finish the day, I worshipped with Cathedral of the Kingdom (pictured below). This growing church plant is alive with the fruits of God’s Spirit – so much joy and hospitality! When Pastor Jovi Vivero gave me the opportunity to share about Community Life, I suggested that anyone who doesn’t really want to make phone calls could still help Community Life by entering into a database the information we learn from the phone calls about what ministries are being offered by congregations all over Palm Beach County. Pastor Jovi’s message about responding immediately to God’s redirections was such an encouragement to me as I continue in this season of so much transition.
If you weren’t attending any of those churches yesterday,
here’s Community Life’s MISSION AND VISION:
Community Life’s MISSION:
facilitate sustained missional partnerships
between congregations, nonprofits & people
to meet systemic needs
in local communities.
Community Life’s VISION:
missional unity answers Jesus’ prayer,
uniting his followers
so people can experience
abundant & eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Visit www.missionalunity.com to learn more or to make a donation that plants a seed which can blossom into the abundant life that Jesus offers!
This is what 8 churches praying for 1 CHURCH looked like on Tuesday night.
Prayer is the fuel for missional unity, so would you add some fuel to the fire right now?
Consider using John 17:20-23 as your guide:
Father, may all the people in my local community
who have believed in Jesus Christ be one –
just as You, Father, are in Your Son, Jesus Christ, and Your Son is in You –
may we be in You, Father, and in Your Son –
so that the world may believe that You have sent Your Son.
Thank You that Your Son has given all of us the glory that You gave Him,
that we may be one as You, Father, and Your Son are one –
Your Son in us and You, Father, in Your Son –
that we may be brought to complete unity –
so that the world may know that You sent Your Son
and have loved them even as you have loved Your Son.
Perhaps you are one of the many church-goers who would rather eat a plate full of your least favorite vegetable than attend a prayer meeting.
But what if a situation was so dire, if people were in such crisis, if the stakes were life and death . . . if you believed prayer could save a life, would you pray?
The opioid crisis is literally a life or death crisis.
Why not come and spend an hour praying for those who are struggling with addiction
Why not join us as we pray for people who know how to rescue addicts from death?
Those leaders will be with us.
Our City Manager from Greenacres will be with us.
Will you be with us as we gain spiritual momentum in a race for the lives of people God created, loves, and wants to set free?
Saturday, September 15 ~ 7pm
3812 Jog Rd. Greenacres, FL 33467
In 1881, a new movement began waving the banner of salvation in Jesus Christ and proclaiming the unity of every follower of Jesus Christ.
Churches were started all over the world, and in 1935, the First Church of God in West Palm Beach began.
Twenty years ago, that church made some difficult decisions and sacrifices to further God’s mission. They sold their building, renamed themselves Church in the Palms, and developed a vision to build a mission outpost that would be used every day of the week to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people in its community. By the time the church moved to their new campus ten years later, the vision included sharing that mission outpost with other churches. They called the 16,000 square foot building the Community Life Center.
Two years after that campus opened, God began to nudge a pastor in Virginia out of a fruitful ministry. Compelled by its spiritual need and intrigued by its cultural diversity, the pastor’s family made a challenging transition to South Florida in 2012. After a few years of ministry in this unique culture, God gave that pastor, Shawn Allen, a strategic vision for Missional Unity: inspiring Christians to see God’s vision of unity, connect together, and join God’s mission together.
What happened next was . . .
a beautiful fulfillment of the dreams of a new movement in the 1880s,
the continued fruit of a new South Florida church plant in the 1930s, and
a realization of that church’s renewed missional vision at the turn of the century.
In 2017, as the new Senior Pastor of Church in the Palms, Shawn invited the 7 Christian organizations who were meeting in the Community Life Center to partner together on mission. All 7 organizations agreed to join God’s mission together!
Since then, Community Life has grown to 18 non-profit organizations
who are partnering together to give our community life
through ministries such as feeding the hungry,
raising the reading level of elementary school students,
and advocating for foster children.
Some of the partners are based out of the Community Life Center, like the 10 churches who offer worship services in Spanish, Creole, and English to our diverse community. Other partners are located around our county, and we are all on God’s mission together!
To learn more about Missional Unity and the strategic vision for Community Life, visit missionalunity.com.
If you want to learn how you or your organization
can partner together with Community Life,
contact us or join us for at the Community Life Center
for our Community Life Partners Connection
on Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
Imagine 32 people from 10 different churches telling the story of Jesus’ last week on earth with the rhythms and harmonies of jazz, blues, funk, and more!
“Spectacular job of honoring Jesus. The music was awesome and the singers were great.”
“What a service! What a performance! I think Jesus was right there in the room cheering you all on! Even if you are a committed Christian, I am thinking we were (I was) sooooo moved and gave a whole new meaning to that story.”
“Incredible service. Made me very emotional!”
“It was awesome – I’m glad I was part of the service”
Palm Sunday Jazz was truly a picture of what I call missional unity. People who don’t usually worship together . . . working together to share Jesus with their community.
Here’s what it sounded like . . .