Chairs in a circle…

On Sunday, February 26, we celebrated our second Pinneberg worship service. We hosted the service in our home. As the worship started, time just stood still. We realized, as we looked around the room at our friends giving praise to God, that it was God alone who brought us to this moment. That moment, and that awareness, was all a precious gift from Him. We realized how privileged we are to be in this unique role.

Before we started on this journey of becoming missionaries to Germany we would have never imagined God would call us to begin a church in our home. We’ve hosted our share of small groups and other church meetings, but a home church? We felt like that was something for other, more qualified people. But there we were. We cleaned the house, set up every chair we own, prepared some snacks for the fellowship and said a little prayer. Normally, we get “ready” about 20 minutes before our guests arrive but this time, we were completely ready about an hour before the service. We wanted to give attention to every detail, big and small.

We sat down and looked around our living room; 20 mismatched chairs in a circle. It seemed like a small miracle that we had 20 chairs to set up considering the fact that we didn’t bring a single thing from Chicago to Hamburg. And didn’t God fill those chairs in a matter of minutes! 26 people attended the service. Young and old, Germans and foreigners, Christians and Muslims, and us, the two Hamburgers. It was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ coming together to worship. 26 different stories coming together to listen to God’s story.

Although our work here, with your support, is extremely blessed, it is not something that only happens on the mission field. You have the power, through the Holy Spirit, to build God’s Kingdom where you are living. Maybe you won’t begin a house church, but perhaps God is nudging you to begin another outreach or connecting ministry. Maybe it’s inviting a coworker or acquaintance to coffee. Perhaps it’s inviting a family from your child’s school over for dinner. Maybe it’s as simple as pausing to listen to what God is saying to you. You don’t have to move 5,000 miles from home to listen for God’s voice and follow Him. We encourage you to take 5 minutes right now to stop and pause. Listen to what God and is saying to you. And then discern how you can implement His words into your own life, right now.