Here at theTURN, we are committed to three things:
Today, I want to highlight part two of our vision:
theTURN is committed to a culture of community. True transformation takes place as we build relationships in settings that encourage transparency and openness. Our UNION small group ministry meets together every first and third Sunday nights of each month to provide that setting. Our small groups, called IONs, meet all across the greater Gainesville area and are gender specific to foster a more effective means to forge genuine relationship.
As you know I try to document the life change that God is being so faithful to provide week in and week out here at theTURN – I feel that if He is going to be so faithful to perform His work, I can at least formulate into words the type of change so that we can all celebrate His goodness together!
This week I am taking a little different route. Carlos Charry, one of our guy ION leaders, is coming to the discovery of just “why” God has chosen him to be a small group leader. I want you to read his words and you determine who is seeing more change in their life: the ones he is ministering to or he himself?
This week’s LIFE CHANGE STORY highlights an ION leader and his experience with his small group!
Pastor Craig,
I have to say that yesterday's meeting came second only to the experience that we had with Casey in the past before he went into No Longer Bound! It was a powerful night. Quick recap: we went to the mini-golf place right by Free Chapel main campus. We played a round of putt-putt and it was pretty fun. It was a great moment for bonding. After that, we entered into worship and prayer and jumped into the subject of discussion. However, instead of just regularly talking about prayer we were 'debating' about the importance of prayer in society, which was pretty healthy and gave me the opportunity to create self-questioning about our own prayer life. Suddenly, the whole environment changed when I asked the question that you (Ps. Craig) asked us before about that "If God were to answer all your prayers today from the last month, would anything in the world change or just your world change?”... all I heard in the room was a big "ouch!!" Then, I developed the idea of how prayer is not a petition list but an opportunity to worship God. Furthermore, prayer is a means for us to become intercessor for our brothers. At this point I challenged them to from now on, when praying, to worship God and to pray for others... based on what I called "the principle of the garden hose"...I know, I know, silly. But think about it. When you turn on the garden hose to water your plants the first element that gets wet is the hose, not the air, not the plants; in the same way, when we allow ourselves to be a medium of blessing to others (in prayer), we ourselves are blessed in the process. Selfless prayer.
This principle led to "the sharing of the vision for the ION" where I expressed my urgent necessity to become the support system, backbone, of one another in the ION because, I believe, that is the only way we can become effective in impacting our world. In other words, we cannot fulfill the great commission without fulfilling the great commandment first to love one another. I challenged them to the point of saying that, UNLESS they were willing to invest themselves in the ION 100% meaning selfless, brotherly, transparent, and wholeheartedly love towards each other in the ION that they had no business being part of it because I believe that what we are dealing with is a matter of life or death not simply religious-church like games. Bro... the response from my boys brought tears to my eyes. Listening how the ION has become a necessity for their very walk messed me up. All I heard as a summary was, "This is my family.. I belong here. And I need this..." It was amazing. However, God was not done yet (what a show -off). The true highlight of the night happened when one of the guys approached me after the meeting was over to talk to me individually. He started sharing how he suffered of chronic depression, low self-steem, and loneliness and that he has been seeing a psychologist because he used to cut himself (which he had the scars to show me). He was asking me to pray for him because his prayer had not been answered yet. Nevertheless, I refused... God put it on my heart (what seemed so obvious to some) which I shared with him that, we 'the ION' were the answer to his prayers and the solution to loneliness and depression. All of a sudden, something clicked for him, his eyes filled up with hope, life and wow.... I have no words to express the overwhelming feeling of knowing that we "the ION" in large are the answer to many peoples’ prayers. I wonder like Caleb how many people are crying desperately while praying in a room asking God to send somebody who cares for them, somebody that accepts them, loves them, and will not judge them. WE ARE THEIR ANSWER!!! WE ARE THEIR SOLUTION!!! If we just are willing to LOVE THEM.. I guess that now I truly understand my role as an ION leader.
Carlos Charry
This principle led to "the sharing of the vision for the ION" where I expressed my urgent necessity to become the support system, backbone, of one another in the ION because, I believe, that is the only way we can become effective in impacting our world. In other words, we cannot fulfill the great commission without fulfilling the great commandment first to love one another. I challenged them to the point of saying that, UNLESS they were willing to invest themselves in the ION 100% meaning selfless, brotherly, transparent, and wholeheartedly love towards each other in the ION that they had no business being part of it because I believe that what we are dealing with is a matter of life or death not simply religious-church like games. Bro... the response from my boys brought tears to my eyes. Listening how the ION has become a necessity for their very walk messed me up. All I heard as a summary was, "This is my family.. I belong here. And I need this..." It was amazing. However, God was not done yet (what a show -off). The true highlight of the night happened when one of the guys approached me after the meeting was over to talk to me individually. He started sharing how he suffered of chronic depression, low self-steem, and loneliness and that he has been seeing a psychologist because he used to cut himself (which he had the scars to show me). He was asking me to pray for him because his prayer had not been answered yet. Nevertheless, I refused... God put it on my heart (what seemed so obvious to some) which I shared with him that, we 'the ION' were the answer to his prayers and the solution to loneliness and depression. All of a sudden, something clicked for him, his eyes filled up with hope, life and wow.... I have no words to express the overwhelming feeling of knowing that we "the ION" in large are the answer to many peoples’ prayers. I wonder like Caleb how many people are crying desperately while praying in a room asking God to send somebody who cares for them, somebody that accepts them, loves them, and will not judge them. WE ARE THEIR ANSWER!!! WE ARE THEIR SOLUTION!!! If we just are willing to LOVE THEM.. I guess that now I truly understand my role as an ION leader.
Carlos Charry
Here is a pic of their putt-putt extravaganza from this past Sunday night!
Keepin’ on keepin’ on!
pcraig
pcraig
1 comment:
I Love theTURN!!!!!!
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