It's Important
Here's what we've been learning
It's Important
Here's what we've been learning
in a state of Metaphoria
WE ARE A GARDEN, LAB, LAUNCH PAD, AND STARFISH
GARDEN
Grow together
God plants us, waters us, shines on us, and breathes into us – creating growth and fruitful lives. In the garden we heal, raise our branches in worship, and share life with friends who encourage and challenge us. Our gatherings are interactive and social with an emphasis on forming close, healing friendships while following Christ together.
LAB
Learn by doing
Each true follower of Jesus is a minister and missionary. We challenge and encourage all followers of Jesus to live life boldly, as He did. You have permission to experiment – with a freedom to fail. Courageous creativity is celebrated. We fully realize we are Made for More when we step up and step out.
LAUNCHPAD
Adventure awaits
You've already been sent. Your family is on mission where you already do life. As the future home base for Forge Minneapolis, we will offer a 9-month mission trip that helps your family launch into God's mission for your life. Additionally, we launch new works with ordinary Jesus people into people groups God's love compels us to be with.
STARFISH
multiply
Each piece of a starfish has the full potential of a new starfish.
The church is a living organism that grows through multiplication. God multiplies His church as we grow in the garden, learn in the lab, and launch out and go.
HOW WE DO IT
Love God and actually love our neighbors
Train and send ordinary people to live like Jesus where they already do life
Operate where people congregate
Be friends with sinners
Start churches and ministries for social communities that have sufficient relational magnetism
4 Things we believe about you
1) You were Created to Create
You have great ideas and the ability to make them into reality. You were made for more. Each Create Community is a safe, fun place to discover your gifts and make your life count.
2) You Don't want Friendly, You want Friends
The person making your latte is friendly, but does that entice you to jump over the counter and become a barista? We all want real friends, and we are more likely to make connections when we have more the most important values in common.
3) You are courageous
God is looking for the intrepid, not the timid. Let's boldly go bring light to the darkness. Leave the lethargy alone and be who you were made to be. Help turn your God-given dreams into city-changing realities.
4) You are an artist
God is an artist, and so are you. We believe art and beauty unlock our brains to understand God's heart and his truths. We like to use performing arts to tell stories, capture heart, and inspire imagination. Are you an artist? Explore why God gave you your gift by using it with Him. After all, EARTH – ART = EH
“...we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.”
5 Things we do
1) learn with style
So, it turns out that lectures are not the most effective tools to encourage learning – especially character-growth learning. We are designed for social, tactile, experiential learning – where growing becomes natural. Studies have shown that we are able to make positive changes when we are in a supportive and safe environment – simply put, we get better when we growing among friends.
2) own up to the missteps and go Back to the Beginning
If you've ever read the Bible you've probably wondered how amazing the others-focused, community-minded, relationally-motivated, informally-gathering, participation-oriented Jesus movement was in the first century. The first followers of Jesus met in medium sized groups in various places both private and public. They shared their lives together, ate together, and believed Jesus was the head of the church. They encouraged and taught each other.
Did you know that since that time, much of the evolution of the church took place at the request of government rulers (e.g. Constantine) and people without access to the Bible. No wonder Christian history is riddled with misrepresentations of Jesus. Jesus was not into religious rules, oppression of women, silencing of children, and separation from sinners.
At Create Church communities, we love to be in social spaces and fun places – we like to be around people, not cloistered away. We go to engage people with the life and love of Jesus. We're proud to be students of His life and live under his mentorship.
3) Be Small enough to CARE, big enough to DARE
We are always looking to send out new teams to start new communities so we can stay small. We are finding the great social size for each church to be about 20-120 people – any more and there isn't the freedom to try out our gifts in a extended-family-like supportive environment. We are nimble, agile, inventive, daring, and small enough to know and care for each person.
4) follow Jesus ways, not just His truths
We read the Bible 1 chapter a day because it opens our eyes to see things God's way. We are driven to follow Jesus better every year as we read His story. We could go on and on about how important this is, but it's better for you to just find out for yourself.
Join our one-chapter-a-day reading plan here and learn how to stop reading the Bible the wrong way
5) Have LEARNERS for Leaders
We do have staff, but it's not all about them. They aren't perfect. Their feet smell. Sometimes they start fires trying to make pancakes. Yes, it can be done.
Our leaders are learners, just like you. They are most of all servants. Simply followers of Jesus daring to live out the teachings of Jesus with a community of friends.
IN UP OUT
IN UP OUT
About meetup Churches for Social Communities
We are
1) story-formed people
We tell the story of Jesus and allow His life to lead us. Learn more at http://dailyjesusstory.com.
2) Missional Hermeneutic Communities
This is a fancy way of saying we interpret and apply scriptures together, and we see "mission" as an important key to unlocking the Bible.
3) Servant Leaders
Each group has a mission to (1) reach people in its social community and (2) champion a "with" cause of its choosing. Groups are permanently open to new members.
4) 100% Participatory
Church does not consist of spectators or sideliners. The church is a body with every member doing its important part.
5) Targeting Social Communities
In a fragmented culture, we believe social communities are our best shot to help people gather relationally to laugh, talk, and serve together. See the diagram below to learn more.
Jesus lived life in 3D.
Jesus rocked life in balance between relationship with His Father (UP), his friendship with His followers (IN), and His relationship with those around Him (OUT).
We think living this way is pretty important. Without all three in balance, our lives start to get wonky. So, each of our meetings have IN, UP, and OUT sections. And we have tools to help each person keep their lives rocking and rolling.
““He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly (OUT) and to love mercy (IN) and to walk humbly (UP) with your God.”
Micah 6:8”
“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
“So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. ”
“if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
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