I love the local church. They come in all different sizes, styles and shapes. We should never relegate the church to a building or even to a “place” where we go, but instead, we have to constantly remind ourselves that it is made up of people – people that Christ loves and gave Himself in sacrificial obedience to the Father.
This is why it was such a privilege to go to HMCC of Austin for their congregational retreat.
I was able to bring along with me a handful of people who are actively serving in our HMCC of Ann Arbor. There are always teaching moments during these types of trips; therefore my heart’s desire was for my crew to experience God’s heart for the local church. Sometimes when we are placed in a different context, we are able to learn new lessons and reinforce old lessons that are relevant to the things that we are pursuing for God’s glory.
It was a powerful retreat – definitely one of the more powerful ones that we have experienced in Austin. We are praying that God will continue on with the momentum, so that we can see more salvations and more people getting trained to be Kingdom workers. Every time I visit Austin, I am more convinced that there was a clear purpose for the planting of this church. We want to stay focused on the mission.
Thanks for all your prayers during the retreat. Let’s continue to keep HMCC of Austin in our prayers. God is doing some great things down in Austin and we are anticipating greater things to come in the near future.
Here are some reflections from the crew: