Hello all.

Throughout the various training sessions with our church planting organization (ARC),the many great brain-storming sessions,  and countless conversations with prospective launch team members the question of what our real reason for being here has come up more times than is worth counting.

The real moment of truth is when you are staring into someone’s eyes who meets all that your heart desires in a launch team member and they ask you that very question.  ”Why are you really here?” I’ve talked with so many people who have the same story.  They were once vibrant, dedicated followers of Christ. They had dreams, goals, and desires for their life in the Kingdom of God.  Then, something happened. They were hurt, misunderstood, or mishandled. Now all that’s left is a shell of self-doubt, bitterness, and resentment. They look at you with glossy eyes which seem to beg for something to believe in. They want someone to finally have the right motives and the right plan for really seeing changed lives.

After a lot of prayer, thought, and council this is what I say when asked why we came here:

We’re here because God placed a vision inside of us. The problem is that it’s bigger than we can do ourselves. He gave us the vision and then gave us the place.  They seemingly don’t match.  The place is right but the vision is way to big for us to do alone.  Therefore we know we aren’t meant to do it alone.  It’s not our job to put this vision within other people.  A vision this great takes time to sink in anyway.  So, our job is to find those who God has already been birthing this in.  We believe there are people positioned all over this city who have been asking the question, “Is there more to life than this?” They are dreaming of a church that is exactly what God has also placed in us. These are the people we need to find. We’re not here to push our vision on people.  It’s God’s vision and He’s already given it to people all over this city.  Some have had it for years. He sent us to be catalysts. Our job is take this person over here and that person over there and place us all together with our common desire to do something great for God.

In short, our purpose is to be a catalyst.

We find the vision within people and connect it with others who also have it. A catalyst doesn’t have to create, they just reveal and smooth off rough edges.