I am currently reading Ruth Haley Barton’s book “Life Together in Christ.” Here is the opening line of her book: “Community is the most ‘overpromised and underdelivered’ aspect of the church today.” 

Wow. This painful sentiment gets at the discrepancy many of us have encountered in our various church histories. There is often a discrepancy between the type of community and spiritual transformation that we long for and know is possible and some of our lived experiences. I pray that this will not be the case at Flood. 

While painful pasts are extremely real—my greatest prayer for this Sunday is that we, as a Flood family, can dream together what a true “transformational community” in Christ can be. I praise God that I have had the honor of doing life in a community with some of the most genuine and faithful…wait for it…teenagers! Yes, teenagers! The Lord continues to show me that “transformational community” is often found in unexpected people and places. My working hypothesis with Jesus is that the more we do life with people that are different from us, the more he teaches and grows us.

For the next eight weeks, we will look at the narrative of Luke 24. We see how walking together with community and Jesus can bring spiritual transformation!