Monday, November 16, 2009

Weekend Recap From The Orchard

My family and I were really excited to spend some time at Orchard Church in Aurora Illinois this past Sunday. It was well worth the visit. Here are the takeaways I had from my visit.

Not Like Me: Grace & Truth.
Matthew 5:13-14
*You are the salt of the earth
*You are the light of the world.
*Jesus was telling them they have everything they need to be salt and light.
*Can we just focus on being light or salt, how do we find balance? (John 1:14)
*Jesus was full of both. (John 8:32)
*We are preservers of light and truth.
*We are to illuminate the beauty of God through acts of love and grace.
*We are all a story in progress.
*Thanks for the crappy sermon.
*It's not about grace or truth, it's about both.
*Very smart people go to Starbucks.
*Have I earned the right to be heard?

Great stuff from Scott and his team on Sunday.
Our kids had a great experience. The impressive thing is, they are trying to get us to go back next week. No other church we visited got that kind of reaction.
I also was very impressed with their first impressions check-in person(Kids check in). When we arrived, he quickly checked us in, made us feel welcome and comfortable, made us laugh and walked with us to each of our kids' classrooms. Very impressive. You'd be surprised how many churches don't do the latter.
My favorite part was probably the talk Scott Hodge gave. Very easy to listen too, very practical and an outstanding storyteller.

3 comments:

  1. oh, just twist the knife a little more! I actually gave directions to a couple yesterday instead of taking them to their place because I had two boxes of donuts in my rubber-gloved hands.

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  2. I really think that's a big deal, especially for a first time guest. It's another way of saying thank you for coming.

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  3. Hi Josh! Thanks for sharing about your visit to The Orchard! This was really encouraging. In fact, I'm going to read it at our monthly leadership gathering happening tonight. I know it'll encourage everyone!

    Thanks again Josh and best wishes on the journey ahead!

    Scott

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