Month: January 2020

We — that is, those of us who call the Grove community home — have been called to be a ministry of hope in our East Charlotte neighborhood and beyond, always believing and proclaiming what we know to be the truth: the same power that conquered the grave lives within us.

A place in the Hebrew scriptures (II Kings) where God demonstrates his power at work, in and through his people, is a story of Elisha’s visit to a certain widow. He tells the widow to ask all of her neighbors for empty jars and then, as a prophet filled with God’s power, helps to break the curse of debt enslavement. How? By multiplying the small resource of one person and the empty jars gathered from her friends.

The truth is, when community transformation is our larger goal, God will both bless and astonish our community; he will set the captives free and fill all those empty places in our lives where we lack and are lost in need.

How can we invite our neighbors to bring with them, not just their resources, but also their emptiness? How can we live trusting God’s power to use everything we bring, even the things that our culture says aren’t valuable?

I hope you’ll listen in to find out.

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We believe in the power of God to change lives. Including yours. Including mine.

“You must be born again,” Jesus told Nicodemus. It’s a message for us too.

This Sunday, we examine our third guiding principle and one of its root biblical stories. We also look at the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how embracing the way of Christ changes lives—making possible the perpetual chain reaction of changed lives changing communities that change nations. Listen in to hear a message at the very foundation of who we are as a community of believers, remembering that we are believers not merely in the existence of Jesus, but in the transformation he made possible.

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The second guiding principle of The Grove is a both a confession and a call to action:  “We are a broken and sinful people who practice forgiving and being forgiven.”

That statement is easy to affirm while seated in the pews on Sundays, but it’s easy to ignore when someone does you wrong.  How do we respond when, despite our authentic desire to live in a loving community, we hurt each other?  Do we shake our heads and walk away to search for a new community more worthy of us? Do we stay but disengage, swallowing our pain and anger and hiding behind masks?

Friends—the love of God is not fragile. It is powerful and robust and well-equipped to redeem our humanity. God has given us a way to transform pain into healing and division into healthy relationship. That way is the process of forgiving and being forgiving.  Listen in and and learn how you can play a part.

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This Sunday, we begin a new year and a new worship series, “This Is Us.” It will be a passionate look at the unique mission of The Grove and the culture we are called to create through the lens of our church’s guiding principles—the core concepts that direct and define our congregation.

Our first principle is, “We believe Jesus Christ is Lord—therefore we welcome, include, respect and serve all people.” This isn’t a matter of hospitality—we learn in Paul’s letter to the Philippians—it’s a core requirement of faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

So, listen in and find out why you are welcome and how and why we welcome others, too. 

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