An End and a Beginning

(Mexico Beach, FL) In Nascar racing, the trick is to keep as much fuel in the tank as possible so that when you come to the end, the most important part of the race, you have enough fuel to make it across the finish line. You don’t want to head to the pit stop too many times or you will lose time, so you keep checking your gauges to make sure you have enough to finish. But if there is not enough gas in the tank or if the tires are running thin, you fade at the finish.That is a good image of the last few months for me and for many of us here at St. Patrick as we approached this past Sunday with the Grand Opening of our new facilities at White and Byhalia. It signaled both an ending and a new beginning. It was the end of a journey that, in one sense, started in 1997 when I moved my family and five children to Collierville where I began to walk around the Town Square introducing myself to people and telling a story about Jesus and a bunch of his friends living in deep communion and loving a place.Our story got displaced a few times, but then again, all good stories are driven by tension, are they not? All good stories are about doing something when you think it can’t be done and when you are almost completely hopeless, are they not? All great stories are sweeter and more satisfying when you’ve been through some tough stuff and when many people have walked away rather than go through the pain that happens during the crisis. So, to arrive at the end after so much and so long fills my soul with wonder and gratitude.The story took real shape at the beginning of 2014 when we started the Thriving Generosity Initiative to raise money for a permanent home so that we could sink roots deep into the landscape and cultural soul of this place. And it became even more real at the ground breaking last year (exactly one year ago this past Sunday). From the last three weeks of getting settled, to this past Sunday when five hundred people showed up, and the last Carnitias were eaten, has been an intense, exciting, painful, stressful, exhausting, wondrous, and crazy ride. And yes, I had just enough in my tank to get through. So, not being a work-a-holic, I headed to the beach to recharge. I told Amy when I was leaving, “I need nine days and then we will start dreaming of what the next big challenge is!” Amy said, “Well, please give me at least a month!”So, where do we go from here? In one sense we have arrived at a new place, but in another sense it is just a beginning; a launching pad to greater kingdom usefulness. But before we get ahead of ourselves, the first order of business is gratitude, thanksgiving, and worship. On Sunday, when I stood up to do what I love to do more than anything, tell people a story that is too good to be true, I was overcome with gratitude and thanksgiving and wanting to thank everyone that has had a part in getting us to this place, and then to throw a huge party for so many people! And what a party! I mean how much better can it be to host a party for five hundred people and have Jon Burkeen and his able crew cook the best food ever!So what’s next? Well, what it has always been about - connecting people with the story of God and to other people in robust, deep, face-to-face community. What is better than that? How could we be more useful in Collierville than that? Yes, the scale is different. That is the one thing I have noticed the most. I can no longer meet every new person at the back door every Sunday, but our vision hasn’t changed. St. Patrick is not a place to come and be anonymous, it is a place to connect. The more connected you are to Jesus and to people, the more dynamic your Christian experience will be. You actually can’t grow unless you are deeply connected to other believers.So, if you are new here, visit our Connect Table (in the Narthex, which is just an ancient word for the lobby of the church, the place you connect and talk before you enter the Sanctuary to worship) and there are people there who will help you and your family get connected to other believers who, if you hang around, you will find are like yourself - not that good, but because of Jesus, are real, authentic, and getting better. Also, I will be there at the Connect Table every Sunday from 9:45-10:15 AM and would love to get to know you better.I have no crystal ball to know if we will grow fast, slow, or steady, or go viral. That really is in God’s hands. Ours is to prepare the field so that people have easy access and entry into a gospel and grace filled place. Ours is to do what I have told my children as they grew up and entered adulthood with all the crazy situations and decisions they face - “ours is to do the next right thing.” Ours is to “sow generously,” and the harvest is God’s business. And ours is really to do one thing - live by the words we say, both individually and in community. By the lives we live both in community and in our neighborhoods to do only one thing - to demonstrate Jesus in such a way that even if they don’t believe this stuff about Him - they would wish it were true!Now, that is my last word till I get back to Collierville. I don’t know what you are doing, but I am headed to the beach… Blessings on you!