Christmas Kudos

In the spirit of the Christmas season, the plan for the e-mail this week is to give away some KUDOS.

Kudos to those of you who have been brave enough to cross socio-economical lines of distinction:

· New Life has chosen to meet downtown in a deliberate attempt to reach the wealthy (whatever that means), poor (whatever that means) and everyone in between

· This has opened opportunities to connect the homeless with the affluent, urban core with the suburban and the selfish with the generous

· The result of this connection if often uneasiness for everyone

· And that is the point

Kudos to those of you who have been brave enough to cross generational lines of distinction:

· New Life has made a deliberate attempt to reach kids, teens and twenty-somethings to very mature-somethings

· This attempt has created a tension for all ages when it comes to evaluating others by external measures

· We have been forced to look deeper than the outside appearance into the heart (Matthew 23:27)

· Sometimes the heart that looks the darkest is our own

Kudos to those of you who have been brave enough to think outside the box of fear and doubt:

· New Life is not about individual comfort

· New Life does not value uniformity

· New Life does not always make sense

· New Life is a journey not a destination

Kudos to those of you soaking in God’s grace:

· There is relief from the stress of being good enough

· There is hope beyond our present situation

· Every need is met

· You are complete

I am looking forward to looking closely at the topic of church leadership from 1 Peter 5:1-5 on Sunday. The verses give us guidance for the health of the body, clarity for casting vision and making decisions and an individual challenge for each member.