If I Don't Love Others...
If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. I Corinthians 13:2

This past weekend, Tina and I attended the Communitas North America Connect. This was a great time gathering face-to-face with other missional practitioners from around the U.S. for the first time in many years. It was also my first opportunity as the new North American Director to share a vision for the future of our work in North America. I centered my presentation on the same three core values that I am covering in the current newsletter series: Kingdom-Seeking, Grace-Oriented, and People-Focused.

The second of these values is that we are grace-oriented. Being people who are grace-oriented goes hand-in-hand with loving others well. As Paul says in the verse quoted above if we act as if we have everything figured out but don't love people well, it really is meaningless. We live in a divisive day when grace seems to be in short supply, even among those who identify as followers of Jesus. Many have turned faith into a system of knowledge that tries to show others we have all the answers for every situation. Those who don't agree with us can be seen as people who either need to be better educated or mocked as those who are too stubborn and can't handle the truth. There is a tendency to respond to differences and disagreement with judgment and not grace. This has left some people feeling like there is no place for them among Christians and they proclaim that they are leaving the faith.

People who have truly experienced God's grace recognize that they don't have everything figured out and that those who disagree with them are not always the enemy. Even on issues where there seems to be a pretty clear sense of right and wrong, people of grace choose to respond with grace and kindness, not judgementalism. They recognize that grace has the power to turn people from their self-destructive ways, as Paul said in Romans 2. By starting and shaping faith communities that are grace-oriented, Communitas North America can help others experience the transforming power of God's grace and help them rediscover the goodness of this grace. Pray that our missional practitioners would press deeper into the grace of God as they seek to sow shalom among those who have felt marginalized by society and the church.

• The power of God’s grace to transform lives
• Transparency
• The restoring power of forgiveness

• Welcome and extend God’s grace to others as well as ourselves, seeking to be honest about who we are and growing towards maturity in Christ.
• Strive for authenticity over conformity and “realness” over performance and we resist attempts to legislate the Christian life through human rules.
• Purpose to respond redemptively rather than judicially to conflict, choosing to be vulnerable, approachable, open, and teachable.
• Are willing to laugh at ourselves, maintaining a light-hearted element to our relationships and gatherings, yet serious about accomplishing our tasks.

Communitas Giving Day Is Coming!!!

For the past five years, Communitas has scheduled an annual Giving Day in November where each of us as individual missionaries are encouraging our ministry partners to step up to an extra challenge as well as inviting new people to join with us in order to boost our support levels. I haven't done much with this in the past since it usually conflicted with Giving Tuesday for Circle City Village. In my new role, though, I am going to be more involved in promoting this day this year. Communitas has also moved the day to October 20 to separate it from Giving Tuesday a little, which I think is a good move.

In preparation for Giving Day, two generous donors have offered a combined $1500 in matching donations for any extra gifts that come in on Giving Day. Any donation given on October 20 will be matched dollar-for-dollar and will help us build a strong base for raising our full budget for the upcoming year of ministry. We have asked several of our monthly donors to consider giving a 13th donation for the year on that day. Also, for people who prefer to give annually, this can be a great opportunity to give on that day and have your gift doubled. It is also a great day to begin a regular monthly donation. Will you be one of the people who help us meet this $1500 challenge by making an extra donation on October 20?

I will be sending out additional updates over the next week as a reminder that Giving Day is coming up. I also plan to do some additional Facebook Live posts on my personal Facebook page to remind people and give updates on the day itself. After that, I will be going back to our regular, less frequent, schedule of monthly updates.