One of the non-Christians on our list was also brought up one week as a specific prayer request, so I committed to praying for his salvation that week.  By God’s Sovereign grace, not only did he ask me to become his friend on Facebook that week, giving me an opportunity to let him know that I was praying for him, but another group member, Matt, went through Campus Crusade’s Four Spiritual Laws book with him as an opportunity to share the gospel.

I am overjoyed to share with you that to our joy, his salvation, and God’s glory he did become a Christian, for according to Romans 1:16, “[the gospel] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  Since then he has joined our Community Group, attends Mars Hill, and just two weeks ago he shared his testimony with our group.  Since becoming a Christian and being saved by Jesus, he has been saved from homosexuality, drug addiction, and has seen much fruit and growth in his struggle against his former porn addiction.

I want to encourage you, Mars Hill, that Jesus is alive and well, he is hearing our prayers, and he is at work in this city.

~Travis
Travis is a Community Group leader in the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood

The experience seemed so bizarre, yet comforting. It was an awkward feeling because I hadn’t been a Christian for very long (and didn’t even know for sure if I really was a Christian at that point). As the group leader turned our attention to the previous Sunday’s sermon, to how it and we related to Christ, I remember feeling a mixture of both strangeness and curiosity. I even felt some fear because people in the community group didn’t know of my past drunkenness and sexual immoralities – what would they think if they found out? Fortunately my curiosity and the kindness of those in the group allowed me to put my shame aside. I began to learn more about why people in this group enjoyed being in community. They were all a bit younger than me, but were very welcoming and seemed to genuinely care for each other in the day-to-day stuff of life.

I remained with this community group until we grew so large that we needed to replicate. During this time I learned much about Christ, Scripture, and how He calls, encourages, and allows us to come together in community. I had the opportunity to develop some genuine bonds with others. I think Christ was showing me how to interact and be a part of His family in a sincere manner. One highlight was being the best man in the wedding of a friend I had met through the community group, as well as another friend who was a high school classmate of mine back in Fairbanks, Alaska!

Christ showed me His love, grace, and care for my needs through the community group, in a way was very humbling at one point. I had decided to leave my job and pursue another career. I had planned for a three-month job search and had saved for that amount of time. But my plan failed, I had a very difficult time trying to get back into my previous field, and I went completely broke. In another month I would not be able to pay any of my bills or my rent. I prayed that God would help me through this time and allow His will to direct me through it. I contacted the church for help, and one of the pastors recommended that I talk to my community group. This was a very hard thing for me to even consider! How could I ask my community group to help me pay my bills due to my poor planning and foolishness?

I prayed about it and then mustered enough courage, through God’s grace, to call my community group leader and explain my situation. He was thoughtful, comforting, filled with grace and understanding. He asked me if I wanted him to communicate this situation to the group, and even offered to loan me money until I could repay him. I thanked him for his offer but said I wanted to follow the pastor’s advice and ask the group for help. He sent an e-mail to the group about my need, and at the next meeting, I explained my situation with much humility. I had a feeling that this was what God wanted me to do, so although I didn’t feel great about asking my group for help, God gave me peace about the situation. To my amazement they gave enough money to cover the entire amount of rent and bills due! God also blessed me with a great job in an industry that I’m still working in today and enjoying!

Looking back, I see that through this experience Christ was showing me that I can trust Him to provide growth and grace through community with His people.

~Lee

To give some context, our group, Pre-Destiny’s Children, was meeting on the Seattle Pacific University campus until the dorms closed at the beginning of summer. Then we met at my house in Ballard for a couple of weeks, until I moved out unexpectedly early to a house in Magnolia, where we have been meeting nearly all summer. As a side note, three other guys in my community group also live in the house with me and a few of the other guys in my house have been able to visit our group, which has been really great! Obviously, the sheer amount of inconsistency in our meeting place, demographic make-up, and frequency of attendees has made it difficult to maintain direction this summer. Fortunately, none of our trivial practicalities make God any less God, and He has continually shown Himself to be faithful to His people and beyond, in and through our group.

The night that we decided who, how, and what our community group was about we also decided to plan for a neighborhood BBQ. Seeing as how we had just moved into our new house it was perfectly fitting that we walk around our neighborhood and invite as many people as possible to attend. A couple weeks before venturing out into our neighborhood, one of the young ladies in my community group told me that her mom was coming to visit the Tuesday before the Saturday BBQ. I quickly found out that her mom has been a missionary with Precept Ministries in Singapore for 18 years and has amazing stories to tell about sneaking the Bible behind the Iron Curtain in Russia back in the day. It fit perfectly! My group was just about to go out to minister to our neighborhood and develop some relationships in hopes of serving our neighbors and inviting them to know Jesus, and God dropped an experienced evangelist in our midst to help us with the task and build us up for it! How awesome of Him!

On the appointed night we went through our neighborhood and invited many people, but the response seemed weak and was fairly discouraging. We prayed for the BBQ for a long time, knowing that regardless of our neighbors’ lack of enthusiasm the attendance and outcome of the BBQ belonged to God.

Saturday rolled around and, like typical college students, we hadn’t gathered much together beforehand, so we made a couple trips to Fred Meyer to stock up. Around 4 p.m. we started grilling, hoping that our neighbors would show up. In the first 45 minutes our neighbors from across the street came over, but they were the only people there besides our group and four people from Adam Christiansen’s group. But to our surprise, as the night went on, several other neighbors came over and by the end we had about 25 total come, stick around, and eat some food and chat. It was great! It turned out far better than we expected or even hoped for.

All of our neighbors were grateful for us, as college students, hosting a neighborhood BBQ. They were excited to get to know us better too. There are many good stories that will have to be left for another time (like a crazy, sex-addicted French truck driver from down the street, and the $11-a-pound halibut from a fisherman and his wife), but all in all it was remarkable how God brought us together and enabled us to develop relationships with our neighbors.

The next morning as a few of us were leaving for church we saw several of our neighbors who had attended the BBQ. They once again affirmed how good a time they’d had, further encouraging us and confirming that our service had not been in vain.

~Ryan

Photo courtesy of Natasha C Dunn at Flickr.com.

We hear it at Mars Hill Church every week: “get plugged in,” “find a community group,” “God calls us to fellowship.” This summer, the community groups in the Fremont and Wallingford area decided to bring the community group to Seattle by hosting weekly barbecues at Gas Works Park. The goal was not only to encourage people to find a group in their area, but to show people who happened to stop by what Mars Hill was about, and why we loved Jesus. One woman learned that we are more than just “a church where all those young kids with tattoos go.”

Each week everyone brought their own main dish. Community groups provided side dishes, dessert, drinks and utensils for all attendees. After an hour of eating and visiting, one of the group leaders welcomed everyone and gave a brief introduction to the chapter of Ephesians we were to discuss that evening. We divided into smaller groups, led by a community group leader or apprentice.

The discussion and prayer groups were a memorable experience. God showed me his grace during these times by creating an atmosphere where people felt comfortable sharing their thoughts on the chapter and personal prayer requests. Week after week, strangers prayed for each other for everything from finding a job to the inner peace of a loved one who was facing the death penalty. Gas Works was fellowship at its best, where people stepped out of their comfort zones for the purpose of getting to know each other and glorifying Jesus.

These weekly gatherings are just one example of Mars Hill’s mission of “living for Jesus as a city within the city — knowing culture, loving people and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus.” The reality is that we cannot walk alone. We need one another for accountability, encouragement and to challenge each other. The barbecues are definitely an event worth organizing year after year.

~Alison

So what does it look like to be missional in your community? What does it mean to know the culture around you? Well, we prayed about it. Inspired by Pastor Mark’s prayer series, we took a prayer walk around the Phinney Ridge neighborhood where our community group meets. We prayed over Green Lake to the east as the sun set on all the joggers, strollers and dog walkers. We prayed over Ballard to the west for all the growth and transition taking place there. We prayed for the 9 coffee shops on Greenwood between the two Starbucks on 67th and 85th. We prayed for the schools in the neighborhood and the Zoo. And we prayed for the Phinney Neighborhood Center across the street. This center is a significant outpost to the Phinney and Greenwood neighborhood. Hundreds of people walk through those doors every week for classes, workshops, daycare, co-op preschool, Farmer’s Market, concerts, festivals, etc.

As we walked around we noticed a group of people working in the garden and park area. We learned that they were a group of volunteers cleaning and landscaping the park. They were volunteering over the next few Mondays and coincidentally enough, our group meets on Mondays. What a perfect opportunity to come alongside our fellow neighbors and serve the community in this small way.

The following Monday evening, after we ate dinner together, with trowels and shears in hand, we weeded and trimmed the Heart of Phinney Park on a perfect August summer night. We pulled weeds, had great conversations, and met a few neighbors. Not life changing by any means, but significant enough to open our eyes to future opportunities in our neighborhood.

We tend to want to go from Christian event, to Christian meeting, to Christian social outing, etc. We compartmentalize our calendars. But being missional means integrating yourself into the pulse of the community, not isolating yourself in a Christian bubble. We hope to become more integrated within the fabric of the Phinney neighborhood and participate in the lives of our neighbors.

The harvest is right outside our front doors and it’s time for us laborers to get to work.

~Dani, Jessica, Jacob, Justin, Katylin, Kellen, Lindsey, Paul, Paula, Priscilla, Rosemary, Sally, Travis, and George