We've Moved...Come With Us!

The Awaken Church blog has moved to a new host. We will be using this blog as a communication center with our team in Columbia and our support network in and outside of Columbia. Also, we will use this blog as our temporary website until we launch our full site in early 2009.

Our web address is still AwakenColumbia.com, but our subscription feeds have changed. If you have been subscribed via email, you will need to re-subscribe. Click here to re-enter your email address and begin receiving updates in your inbox.

If you are following Awaken via an RSS reader, our new feed is:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/AwakenChurch

So, update your subscription and follow the journey of Awaken Church as we seek to join God in the transformation of people, our city, and the world!

Changes & Updates Coming

We are so excited about what God is up to in Columbia! Over the last couple of months, God has been giving us clarity in vision, sending us people ready to be missionaries in our city, and giving us opportunities to serve and engage people who are far from God.

Right now, we are focused on raising the necessary funds to launch Awaken Church and on building the foundation team that will go on mission together to start the church. We are blown away at how God is providing already - it's just more confirmation of what He is doing in our city and the part that He wants Awaken Church to play in it.

Over the next couple of days, you'll see some changes on this blog. We want this to become an easy communication for people in Columbia and people from outside of Columbia who are praying for and financially partnering with Awaken Church. So, we're going to give the blog some facelifts and start posting quite regularly with stories, prayer needs, and ways you can be involved in Awaken Church.

Thanks for your encouragement and prayers to this point - our city is waking up!

The Vision for Awaken

"The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." - Jesus, Mark 1:14-15

This was a bit of a head scratching statement for those who heard it. Surely some looked around for a great palace and the tremendous military presence that they were certain would accompany the promised Messiah.

Instead, the guy that had been slinging a hammer in his dad's carpentry shop for most of his first 30 years said, "Hey, that kingdom you've been looking for is already here." Jesus' opening statement for His ministry set the perfect foundation for the 3 years that would follow.

The One who had all authority, power, and knowledge did the exact opposite of what everyone thought. He preached good news to the poor. Shared meals with tax collectors and sinners. Told stories about His Father's obsession with the one who is lost. Touched lepers. Shared water with an adulterous woman. Laughed with children. Fed thousands for free. Loved and nurtured 12 ordinary men and called them His disciples. Washed the feet of His betrayer. Died a criminal's death. Beat death, sin, and hell.

Instead of founding a kingdom driven by power, Jesus founded one built on humility. Instead of founding a kingdom obsessed with wealth, He founded one built on sacrifice. Instead of founding a kingdom of "me first," He founded a kingdom of "you first."

And that kingdom is still at hand.

Sure, it's hard to see these days. There's virtually no behavioral or values difference between those who say they follow Jesus and those who don't. While Jesus was irresistible, those of us who follow Him in the 21st century have become quite resistible.

Anti-homosexual. Judgmental. Hypocritical. Boring. These are some of the first perceptions non-Christians have of Christians as reported in the book, unChristian. What happened to the kingdom Jesus founded...the upside-down, alternate, counter-cultural kingdom of humility, service, grace, and love?

What if we could see the kingdom of God at hand in Columbia, SC? What if everything that is wrong was made right? What if people who call themselves followers of Jesus actually tried to act like Jesus? What if Jesus-followers realized they need to repent as much as those who are not Jesus followers? What if we lived with the expectation that God is already at work all around us and that He is inviting us to join Him?

Awaken is a community of people who live for the "what if."

We are a community of people seeking to adjust our lives around the life, mission, teachings, and Lordship of Jesus with the hope that as we do, others who are close by will be awakened to see the irresistible Jesus of the Scriptures in us.

Awaken is not a place to go as much as it is a people to belong to. We have been called to live out the good news of the Kingdom of God in such a way that every man, woman, and child in every niche of Metro Columbia would have repeated opportunities to see, hear, and understand the gospel of Jesus. Our dream is that church would happen in every place where people live, work, play, and serve.

We're not a reaction to more traditional forms of church. We're not trying to prove anyone wrong. We're not trying to stick it anyone. Our desire is to make the gospel accessible to those who are the most resistant to church and in doing so, partner with other gospel-centered churches and communities to see Metro Columbia transformed by the power of the gospel.

This journey is just beginning. If you're in Metro Columbia and want to know more, feel free to email us at awakencolumbia@gmail.com.

Worship & Communion Gathering TONIGHT!

40 days ago, we began a season of prayer where we begged God to change us so He can use us to change our city, state, nation, and world. Tonight, we're joining together to celebrate all that He has done in the last 40 days to answer that prayer.

We'll gather tonight at 6:00 pm in the Children's Building at North Point Church to worship, pray, share stories, celebrate communion, and look ahead to what is next for Awaken. Childcare will be provided.

As we gather tonight as a community to worship and celebrate, feel free to invite and bring friends that are curious about Jesus, Awaken, or both! We'll finish around 7:15 pm...and who knows, a random dinner gathering might break out!

God is on the move...tonight, let's celebrate Him and commit ourselves to be His hands and feet!

Day 38 & 39: Matthew 27 & 28

Our journey through the Gospel of Matthew concludes with the two most significant events of Jesus' life and mission and the events that form the very foundation of the Christian faith.

In Matthew 27, we read Matthew's account of the crucifixion of Jesus.  Without the suffering and death of Jesus, there is no atonement for our sin. Without the blood of Jesus, there is no forgiveness. Remember where our journey began..Isaiah 53 prophesied the abuse that Jesus would endure on our behalf. Isaiah said that it was God's will to crush Him...that forgiveness and grace might be extended to the world. All sin - past, present, and future - was atoned for and paid for on the cross at Calvary. All of your sin and all of my sin has been forgiven by the bloody death of Jesus.

But if Jesus remains in the grave, then He's just another prophet and Christianity is just another religion. Matthew 28 is Matthew's account of what happened after the death of Jesus. It is Jesus' resurrection that separates Him from every other religious leader. It is the resurrection that separates Christianity from every other religion. It is the resurrection that gives us new life, not just a "get out of hell" card! Jesus died and was raised so that you and I could live...really live, both in this life and for all eternity!

And of course, Matthew's gospel concludes with Jesus' commissioning of all those who would follow Him. Our mission is clear - as we go about living our lives, be about the work of making disciples. After all, Jesus is at work drawing every man, woman, and child to Himself and He calls you and me to join Him in that work. He calls us to lead new believers to publicly declare their faith in baptism and teach believers to do everything He has taught us to do. Invite people into your life...let them see your good deeds up close and learn how to do the same. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, we should invite others to imitate us as we imitate Jesus.

Jesus commission was not just to do it close to home. He calls us to take it to the nations. He calls us to take His gospel to the billions who live in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus. At the same time, He calls us to take the gospel everywhere we go - to the places where we live, work, and play and to the people we know and don't know in these places.

Jesus closes His commissioning with some of the most encouraging words He could have ever uttered. He promised that as we go about taking the gospel to the nations and making disciples, He is with us every step of the way! The only way to ultimate intimacy with Jesus is to join Him in His mission of making disciples...not only do we get to be a part of His mission, but we know Him better and more deeply in the process. Wow!

Reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made on your behalf. Reflect on the life Jesus offers you because of the resurrection. Are you fully embracing the life He offers you...the life He purchased for you in His death and resurrection?

Are you joining Jesus on His mission to make disciples? How can you be the hands and feet of Jesus today?