This may look like a normal picnic with friends to you, but it was not.  It was special.  It was different.  It was church.

I have a brother in the Lord who has been praying with me nearly daily for the salvation of souls in Aurora.  He has helped birth two families of Jesus in the Denver area.  A couple weeks ago, he invited me and our house church plant to join him and his house churches for a picnic and celebration of what God is doing.

Saturday afternoon we gathered at Wash Park (centrally located in Denver), played volleyball with some college students that we met, ate, and enjoyed getting to know one another.  And then as we sat down together, the Lord led some to sing – so we sang.  Then he led some to share and teach.  And as we closed in prayer for one another and for the world, I was reminded at just how different this was from a normal picnic.  We had just met with the living God of the universe… right there in Wash Park.  Thank you, Jesus, for being present wherever we are.

We had been planning a larger gathering of our house church families at a central location to take place about once each month. At first we thought about a school gym or some other indoor meeting space – but after praying, thinking and discussing around it, decided that since it was summer why not hold it outdoors in a nice shady central city park? We set a date and invited our two church families plus a neighboring church family.

As we (a group of leaders/overseers) planned it in a little more detail, one of us suggested we put up a volleyball net and have a drop-in volleyball session, where anyone passing by in the park could join in and play, and in this way possibly meet some new people as we were there. So we did.

The day came, and the Lord provided some good weather. We gathered and the park was so packed, could hardly find parking. Found a great shady spot under the tall trees, set up the net, and got ready to put up a “Drop-in volleyball: Anyone Welcome to Join In” sign. Before we had that chance, one of our brothers walked about 50 yards where was a group of young folks in their late 20’s or so, hanging out with cases of beer and throwing frisbees. He invited them to play volleyball with us and they accepted! In fact, they said that they were sitting around not long before that telling one another, “I wish there was some way we could play volleyball here today”. So God provided a group of about 15 strangers there in the park to play volleyball with us. At the end we were able to exchange contact information, and had a total blast doing it!

Well that was just the beginning of our time together that day, which seemed to be very Spirit-led. It seems there is a place not only for a church family in a home, but for a handful of church families in a larger (perhaps even more formal) setting. Much like the first century churches: “They continued daily in the temple (public) and breaking bread (sharing meals and the Lords supper) from house to house. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

 God set it up and sustained us, and it is by Him and for Him and in Him we live and move and have our being. Thanks be to God for the things He is doing!