“The Ride of a Lifetime…”
I recently shared with a new friend how I remembered feeling when God first implanted the vision of a new church in my heart. The best way I could describe how I felt was to compare it to a massive roller coaster ride. You remember (or at least can imagine) that feeling of your heart racing in your chest as adrenaline, fed by an odd mix of both exhilaration and intimidation, courses through your body. Even as you are flying through the course of giant drops and corkscrews your stomach goes from entertaining flurries of butterflies to waves of anxiety. Few things in life can create such a dynamic tension between sheer joy and pangs of fear. The joy comes from actually believing and living with an expectation that God can do anything. The fear comes from knowing that apart from God you can do nothing. Thankfully, God uses that fear to focus our faith and total dependence on Him.
Needless to say, the roller coaster analogy has held amazingly true since God first gave that to me in January 2006. Nearly a year and a half later (Father’s Day Weekend 2007) God’s vision for Jacob’s Well went public. We felt God telling us clearly that “Jacob’s Well Church was to be seen before she is heard.” We’ve since come to love Francis Assisi’s quote…”Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words.” And that’s exactly what we did for nearly 4 months before our first monthly preview service would be held in mid-September. By following the Spirit’s leadership we have experienced first-hand this simple but profound truth…grace, God’s grace, still amazes people.
Whether its our summer festivals ministry where we are passing out free sports bottles with ice water (over 12,000 so far this year alone!) or providing a shaded, clean area for families needing to change and feed their toddlers and babies, we have seen again and again how both community leaders and attendees are intrigued by such simple, selfless grace. Likewise, when we roll up our sleeves to undertake both large and small renovations on area homes as well as massive scale restoration of public parks, God’s grace can be seen building curiosity in the hearts of even the most stubborn cynics. And, when we show up in force to help lead and serve in the counties’ first ever free medical/personal services clinic (Kendall Cares Clinic) and thrift store ministry (Caring Hands) that serve the under-resourced, both onlookers and benefactors alike are reminded that God’s grace is not just available during a particular weekend, week or season…He is there all the time. As thousands of dollars and man-hours are invested dispensing God’s grace we can hear the loud “clack, clack, clack, etc.” of our roller coaster car heading up that intimidating first summit.
Thankfully, with each evangelistic outreach of grace we never fail to hear our two favorite questions…”What is Jacob’s Well?” and “Why are you guys doing this?” Of course, we derive even greater joy in answering those questions! Since our last update we have had the thrill of seeing life after life, family after family not only intrigued, but ultimately transformed by grace. This summer the festivals ministry point-leader was Shawn Dowd, a mother who received her first water bottle back in June 2007. Likewise, the point-leader who led and worked with all our out-of-state missions teams this summer was Rob Tesmond, a father who actually became engaged by The Well for the first time as he showed up to help serve in our comfort booth in June 2008. Whether it’s in receiving the grace or in partnering with us to dispense grace..God’s grace has transformed these and many other lives here at The Well. And with that..the roller coaster car takes your breath away as it launches down that first big summit!
Because There is a Better Way!
Rob & Christy Hager
We invite you to visit a special F.A.Q. page that we have set up with additional information regarding the potential temporary strip mall location as well as our current property situation. This link will also take you to a small Photo album from this summer... http://www.welcometothewell.com/?page_id=119
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