This last spring we built what’s called a “water feature” for a flower bed right by the front door of our home, a “bubbling rock.” Have you seen one of those? It’s a large rock from the quarry with a hole drilled through it. A pump, water, and a little hard work turn it into a fun and pretty nice fountain. What once was our very normal front door is now an eye catching, extra-hospitable-looking front door.
My dog loves it. He thinks we built it just for him. Instead of using his regular old, water dish, now he does his prance to go out just so he can drink out of the fountain, an “unexpected consequence.”
Have you built a bubbling rock lately?
At our church one year we pulled together what we called Big House, a huge carnival for all ages out on the street. We had a few thoughts as to what it could do, but God had a few more….
We used it as an opportunity to invite the neighborhood. And some of them actually came. God had me sit down and visit with them while they were here. I earned even more… about their perceptions of the church, of why they didn’t come, etc. It spawned a whole new worship service to reach a whole new group of people.
We used it to turn a drab Sunday into a “happening” Sunday. Wow, was it fun it. It caused us then to start looking at every Sunday a little bit differently.
We used it to reach out to our friends. We quickly realized just how far we had to go to really turn our church inside out and reach our region.
We used it as an opportunity to enjoy the fellowship of the church, the “one-anothering” of the body. God used it to show us how much more deeply we had to go in truly living a life of authentic, Christian community.
Built a bubbling rock? One event helped changed the entire posture of our church, making us want to drink up more of God and the mission to which we have been called. What’s the next step from some of the things that you have already done that God wants to build on?
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