Why An Egg Hunt?

Posted by Tim Mannin

At the genesis of this church…before it was named…before we had a Community House…there was a dream that this church would humbly love a city and be able to seed the gospel throughout it. That is easier said than done. Figuring out how to share the gospel is one significant hurdle…and hoping people will listen, notice, or receive the gospel is an even bigger hurdle. So, we have the difficult work of gardening ahead of us. We must plow the ground, nurture the soil, plant the seeds, water the ground, and hope for new growth (not to mention…guard from prey, hope for good weather, get a straw hat, and do some occasional pruning). Seeding the gospel and loving a city will take time, but that is where we begin.

So why do an Egg Hunt?
​Is this the best we can come up with?
​Doesn’t everyone do an egg hunt?
​How does this help with the dream to bring life to the city by loving God and living the gospel?

Have you ever purchased something…maybe a car that you thought was super rad and way different? Then you start driving it around and you quickly realize that there are a lot more of that super rad and way different car on the road than you originally thought? Maybe you’re not quite so different after all. That’s how an Easter Egg Hunt can feel…admittedly they are a dime a dozen and you see churches doing them all over the place. 

So it’s easy to wonder if this is a good way to love our city and seed the gospel. 
​Will people notice anything new in a sea of sameness?

Our church must build a presence in this community and create proximity to our neighbors in order to communicate the message of the gospel.  Getting to know real people in our city means that we have to build relationships with them—and a great way to do that is by serving the city and throwing parties. This Egg Hunt is just an easy way to throw a party…not new…not terribly inventive…but, I’ll remind us—neither is the wheel. Some things just work. We aren’t trying to be different—we are tying to humbly serve and find ways to build presence and create proximity with people in our city.

Sometimes it’s not so much about what we do, but it’s about who we are as a church. Don’t get me wrong what we do matters—I mean if we decided that we wanted to throw a party by organizing an all-you-can-eat hard boiled egg night, we might not see very many people who would be interested in that party (apparently most people would rather hunt eggs). Bigger than what we do is the who we are factor. We want people in our city to experience who we are as a church, and more importantly who we are as people. 

This is how we make a blip on the radar screen of normalcy and sameness—our love for our God and for people must be witnessed…this is how we will seed the gospel through an old fashioned Egg Hunt. The gospel must be seen in who we are and we hope (fingers crossed) that what we are doing will be the avenue where we intersect with the people around us.

This may sound odd, but I think it’s important to have a philosophy and even a theology of why we do an Egg Hunt. Because, we aren’t throwing an event—instead we are making steps to create presence in our community and establish proximity to those around us…all with the hopes to seed the gospel in new places in our city.

So, we are hosting a Community Easter Egg Hunt.
​Saturday, March 30th, 9:30-11:30am
​Goodholm Park (NW26th and Robinson Ave)
​Free Breakfast, Family Activities, Inflatables, and of course an Egg Hunt

Something Beautiful

Posted By: Tim Mannin​​

Do you ever have those moments when the anticipation of what is about to happen is entirely thrilling and it makes your mind (not to mention your stomach) so amped up that you can’t wait to finally get there? I had this feeling when I traveled to Chicago to see Michael Jordan play in person during the Chicago Bulls dynasty years. I had this feeling prior to getting on my first roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. I even had this feeling the night before my wedding…for various reasons. 

Now, I have it again. 

This Easter is going to be riddled with significance for our church. Easter is a meaningful time of year where we focus on the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Obviously, that alone demands and deserves our worship and giving the Lord our very best.

In addition to this celebration,
​Easter 2013 will mark the beginning of OKC Community Church holding weekly public worship services. This is one step in the many steps of planting a new church, but it is an important and very noticeable step. Everyone can see this step…for many this step signals that we’ve actually begun, or that we are actually a “church.” Don’t get me started on what should define the existence of a “church”…but nonetheless, it’s important and many of us have that feeling. We are anxiously awaiting this Easter…this time the feeling is not for a thrill ride or a big event…we feel this way because
​we 
​are 
​on 
​the 
​brink 
​of 
​something 
​beautiful. 

God’s people gathering regularly in one of His cities to give Him worship and share His story is...beautiful.

This Easter we plan to share the Gospel. Jesus came and gave his life so that we can receive the fullness of life. The story of the Gospel is about God's love for us. We so easily proclaim his love and act as if we understand it, yet do we…”may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully” (Ephesians 3:18-19). 

You 
​are 
​loved.

Our Easter service will take place on March 31, 2013 at 10:30am at the Civic Center Music Hall, in downtown OKC.

Faith vs Fear (a giant battle)

Posted By: Ryan Moore
​​
​​Last night as I was reading, I stumbled upon a story in Numbers chapters 13 and 14 that caught my attention like a police siren. I can’t remember the last time I was reading a story like this and literally shot out of my chair in disbelief. I must have heard and read this story a thousand times, but for some reason I was completely taken by surprise. I continued reading, at this point, pacing back and forth in my living room in complete awe of the words that were hitting my eyes. 

The spies carrying back fruit from the promise land (Num 13:23)

Let me paint the picture for you, the Israelites are camped in the wilderness waiting to go into the land that God had promised them. They sent in 12 men to check out the countryside and the people that they might have to face. After the 40-day mission, the men returned home with the report that the land before them was, in fact, flowing with milk, honey, and beautiful fruit that they had never tasted! There was fruit so large that the spies had to carry a cluster of grapes between them on a pole. Everything about the land was perfect, however, there was one “giant” problem standing in their way…. The people of this land were literally giants. The spies were afraid of these men and claimed that they felt like grasshoppers in their presence. As word spread throughout the Israelite camp, the people became very afraid and began to complain against the Lord.

When I read about how they were complaining, I went into total shock. They said these words, “Wouldn’t it have been better to die in Egypt? Or perhaps we can appoint a new leader and go back to Egypt? It would be better to be a slave than to face the giants of this land.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? That is one of the most ludicrous things I have ever read.

Think about what these people have experienced up to this point, they were slaves in Egypt and God miraculously brought them out through 10 powerful plagues. They then were up against the Red Sea and God opened the waters so that they could walk through ON DRY GROUND! He even fed them bread that miraculously appeared every morning. Those are just a few of the absurd ways in which God bent the rules of this earth in order to protect and provide for His people. Having witnessed all of that, one would think that when the news came that there were giants ahead, the people would’ve just laughed and thought, I can’t wait to see what God does for us on this one. Grab the popcorn and soda, this is gonna be an incredible show!  But instead, they gave no thought to the power of the Lord and instead made plans to go back to slavery! When I read that, my mind literally could not comprehend the stupidity of that statement. Who would chose to go back to slavery after having already witnessed so much of God’s provision? At that moment, the Holy Spirit convicted me in a way that brought me to my knees. Through tears of confession and repentance I realized and remembered the countless times I have said and thought the same things in my heart. I thought about the daily miracles that God has done in my life and how many times I have faced a giant and ran, in fear, back to slavery. 

How is it that when I hear news of a giant in my life, my first reaction is to run? How pathetic is that? I have witnessed God do incredible miracles in my life, I have seen cancer defeated, medical bills vanish, jobs open up, and least I forget, salvation come to my heart. How many of us can look back at our wilderness journey and see more miracles than we could even count. If you just pause for thirty seconds, I guarantee, you could think of so many instances where God has provided for you and your family.

If you're reading this and thinking of the giants in between you and the land that God has promised you, my guarantee to you is this; God is faithful. He will ALWAYS come through. He has taken you this far, He has parted waters, provided food, and given you direction. He will not abandon you at the feet of your giants. Do not allow the fear of the future to outweigh your trust in God’s past faithfulness. Fear can stand higher than any obstacle we have ever faced, squeeze the breath from our lungs, and control the very actions of our life. But I know a God who spoke the world into existence, knows over two billion stars by name, heals cancer, and can calm raging seas. So I challenge you, do not allow the fear of your giants to shrink your faith in God. He is bigger than anything we will ever face and His power is greater than anything we have ever seen.

A Beginning

Here’s a little nugget from the message on Sunday. February 17, 2013 -- this day marked our first Sunday Morning Worship Service. We are currently meeting at the Civic Center Music Hall – our next Preview Service in March 10 – weekly services begin March 31.

There are times that something must be done.
Times where we can’t sit idly by and allow what’s happening to continue.

I imagine that is how Peter felt the night that Judas showed up in the olive grove with a detachment of armed soldiers. Earlier that night Judas had left dinner and went to the chief priests and Pharisees and handed Jesus over to them for thirty pieces of silver. Peter wasn’t going to let this betrayal take place under his watch. Peter was brash and bold, and these accusers had no truthful basis for their charge against Jesus. 

Peter was carrying a sword just in case a moment like this ever happened. He drew his sword and acted before it was too late. He struck one of the high priest’s servants and cut off his ear. Can you imagine the scene? Jesus and his eleven disciples were not violent, but here they stood with one of Jesus’s closest disciples holding the assault weapon in his hand. Jesus immediately commanded, “Put your sword away!” I’m sure Peter was ready to keep going, but he submitted to Jesus and dropped the sword. Scriptures say that Jesus touched the man’s ear and it was restored. What? Jesus heals the man arresting him? Please tell me that man became one of his followers.

This was Peter’s immature moment of stating what ought to be different. 
WHAT HE DID WASN’T RIGHT, BUT IT WAS HIS BREAKING POINT.

I often wonder if most of us will ever even have a breaking point moment where injustice, oppression, a need, or a cause will ever stir us so deeply that we are willing to stand up and say i can’t take it anymore. 

Our first Sunday Morning Worship Service at the Civic Center

Will we be STIRRED?

This church…isn’t starting so we can do it better than someone else. We aren’t starting because we like this area of town. We aren’t starting so we can have the church of our dreams. 

We exist because God has called some – STIRRED MANY – to be about THIS.

So what is...THIS?
What should we be stirred about?

What are we doing here? Why do we need to be here? Why did some people move here for this? 

Because…I believe you and I need this.
Because…we needed to be pulled out of our complacency.
We needed our faith to be become real. We needed our lives to no longer be normal.

I believe this church is going to be a church that awakens the stirring that lies within people get off their butts and do something for the kingdom. I believe this church is for the person who wants to not just receive, but chooses to give their life God’s purposes.

This city needs a group of people who CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE?
• Who can’t take our consumer minded church culture.
• Who can’t take the fact that the poor are so often overlooked.
• Who can’t take the fact that in America we’ve relegated our faith to being a private matter.
• Who can’t allow ourselves to continue to chase the wrong things in this life.
• Who can’t take the mediocre versions of faith that we’ve allowed one another to live.

And many of us know that we must do something with our life. 
JESUS HAS DONE TOO MUCH AND GOD LOVES US TOO MUCH – TO CONTINUE LIFE AS IS.

This church will be a church that awakens people to pursuing God in a way that takes faith out of the being in a seat, it takes faith out of staying confined to our quiet times, and instead it takes faith into a place beyond reason.
• It will take our faith into places that God has to do miracles.
• It will take our faith to places where courage will replace fear.
• It will take our faith to places where people will drop everything to follow Him.
• It will take our faith to real action and work of the gospel.

You might think...'wow...you sound pretty sure of yourself.'
This is not about a n y o n e other than Jesus. He's already taught us many times who is in control of this thing.

SO WHAT IS…THIS?
It's a beginning.

THE BEGINNING OF DOING OUR BEST TO BE THE CHURCH THAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO BE.

Friends & Family

Posted By: Tim Mannin

Often times right before a new restaurant opens they hold a special night for the friends and family of the restaurant employees. They do this so they can celebrate with loved ones what’s about to happen with their grand opening, plus it’s a time they can practice doing their jobs prior to the real thing. It’s always exciting when you are one of the ones invited to a “friends and family preview night”…you get to order anything on the menu and it’s free. Yes, I’ll have the steak please.

Our church is about to experience a similar process. We are on the verge of going public. We’ve spent the last three months gathering and forming a core launch team. We’ve begun to form who we are going to be as a community of people, we’ve prayed together, we’ve even dreamed about what God is going to do in our city. We are now about to begin having public worship services. Our first preview service is February 17, our second preview service is March 10, and we begin having weekly worship services on March 31 (Easter Sunday). It’s about to happen…and it’s crazy!

Prior to our Sunday worship services beginning we want to have our own unique type of ‘preview night’ with our friends and family. Sorry we aren’t serving steak, but we promise it’s going to be a special night. Everyone who has been a part of our core launch team is inviting our friends and family to join us on Sunday, February 10th at 6pm for a special night to celebrate and support all God is doing in this new church plant. This will not be a night about recruiting or begging people to be a part of our church – rather it’s a night that we want our family and friends to be together to enjoy, celebrate, fellowship, and pray for the start of this church. So even if you aren’t interested in joining our church we want you to come – we are simply gathering our loved ones for a special night.  We’re excited to worship and honor Christ throughout the night.

Our church appreciates your love and support – hope to see you February 10th. 
Also we are excited to have our friend Micah Kersh lead us in a time of worship.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE NIGHT

• Time: 6pm-7:30ish
• Location: Civic Center Music Hall – Hall of Mirrors
• Childcare: Yes for Pre-K, Elementary Age will participate in large gathering (it will be a relaxed night)
• Food: Deserts Afterwards

Being Christmas (Love, pt 3)

Posted By: Tim Mannin

How would Jesus respond to Christmas today? 

This is a little bit of a scary question. I’ve thought about this question many times...How would Jesus respond to the modern day Christmas season? I imagine many of us would assume that he might not like what Christmas has become.  He may not be a big fan of a few things like Black Friday, A Wonderful Life (such an overrated Christmas movie), or fruitcake. Sure there are a few things he might not participate in, but I think he would fully embrace parts of what this season provides. I imagine he would recognize the opportunity that exists during this time of the year to come into contact with people that are hard to come by other times of the year. I think he would take full advantage of the fact that people are more open and willing to consider Christ during this season.

Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone

Let me share an idea with you that is captured by a simple phrase…Being Christmas. What if we didn’t just experience Christmas, enjoy Christmas, profit from Christmas, get poor from Christmas, or get tired from Christmas? What if we could actually BE Christmas? 

Clearly, Jesus was and still is the embodiment of Christmas “being in the very nature of God, he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” As obvious as it may be to each of us that Christmas can easily become something that it shouldn’t — we must get real about it occasionally and tell one another to stop doing, experiencing, and loving Christmas – but instead, It’s time for us to BE CHRISTMAS! There are many faces and characters of Christmas. We have Santa, elves, reindeer, the Grinch, Frosty, Scrooge, and who could forget Macaulay Culkin.

In the middle of all the Christmas craziness we know better…right? We know that Jesus — as the old cliché goes — IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

So, how would Jesus respond to Christmas today?

The same way he responded to everything. With the deepest, most humble, and reckless love the world has ever seen. The greatest gift the world has ever known is God’s gift of Jesus in this world. It’s the gift of the gospel…the Good News…God’s redemptive plan for us. Jesus responded to the people who had forgotten what it meant to love and live for God with love. Jesus responded to the people who were needy, angry, Godless, desperate, full of sin, broken, and even religious with…love.

Check out these words from the Apostle John (1 John 4:7-19).

"7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us."

I think we all know how Jesus would respond to Christmas…so how should we respond?

How do we do things like 1 John says, to love because he first loved us?
We have a few days until Christmas…how can we respond as he would?
Here are a few people to consider finding intentional ways to Be Christmas to.
    - How can you be Christmas to your family
    - How can you be Christmas to a stranger?
    - How can you be Christmas to your neighbor?
    - How can you be Christmas to a friend?
   - How can you be Christmas to someone you need to forgive?

Do something this year to love in a way that honors Christ and points someone to Christ and his gift to the world.

May we bring life to our city by loving God and living the gospel.

My Crazy Obsession (Love, pt 2)

Posted By Tim Mannin

This week I was watching a show on TLC called, “My Crazy Obsession.” The show shares stories of people who…have crazy obsessions. I happened to watch the Christmas edition and one particular crazy couple talked about their obsession with Christmas themed yard inflatables.

This couple spends six hours every day for over six months of the year to prepare their 5,000 inflatables. Of course this spectacle creates a crowd of onlookers every night during the Christmas season…I guess I would pay attention to 5,000 Christmas inflatables if they were in the neighborhood. This couples commitment, investment, and sacrifice for Christmas inflatables is clearly an obsession. 

It’s scary what we will commit to. Invest in. Sacrifice for. It’s crazy what we will give our love to.

I often find myself giving 
my love to the WRONG things 
and limiting my love
to the RIGHT things. 

For instance…I love sports, but my love for people in need can often be limited. Another example…we love to buy things, in fact, we’ll spend a lot time shopping for just the right thing (usually shoes or some electronic gadget, right?) so we can either accomplish the look we want or enjoy the convenience of whatever we purchased—but our love for the Lord may not receive similar commitment in the form of prayer, worship, and service for months. I can keep going…we distribute a lot of love to things like hobbies, social media, music, movies, sports, traveling, and working…and meanwhile we limit our love to things like our spouse, family, neighbors, classmates, work colleagues, friends, the poor, and to the Lord.

Many of the things we give our love to would not be the things we would identify as the most important things in our lives. Most of us would quickly identify God, our family, and friends as what we love most in this world, but if we were going to assess what the behaviors of our life actually reveal, they would likely reveal that we usually give our love to things that don’t matter. We give away tons of time to things like entertainment, social media, and sports – none of which are bad. I enjoy all those things, but if I’m going to speak truthfully about myself…I give my love to the wrong things.

If I love something it’s going to receive a few basic things from me…
TIME               AFFECTION               PRIORITY               MONEY              ATTENTION

Clearly these aren’t the only qualities, but they make up the basic form of a loving relationship. Too many of us are giving too much time, affection, priority, money, and attention to things that don’t matter. They may be great things, but they aren’t the right things.

Our young church is exploring an old conversation – what does it take to be a group of people known by our love. John 13:34-35,  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

This conversation and scripture begs the question for all of us, “am I personally known by my love for God and others?" This question is a bit haunting…because for many of us we’ve fought and worked our entire life to be known for something else. We’ve decided to be known for things like our work ethic, intelligence, humor, success, talent, business, leadership, personality, fashion style, or favorite sport.  Again, none of those things are necessarily bad, but we may have neglected love. We haven’t just misplaced what and who receives much of our love, but we’ve also jumbled up our identity and what we are known for.

At the end of the day…we may personally be known for things in addition to our love. You may be a loving person who is also a hard worker, great dancer, or talented musician, but it all must be wrapped in love. Our crazy obsession must become love. Our love must be given to the right things. You and I may not have an attic full of Christmas inflatables…I hope you don’t…but we must ask ourselves, what are the wrong things in our life that receive too much love and how we can we make the right changes in order to give our love away to the right things?

This process takes time, it takes prayer, and it takes a person who is willing to walk down the road of being purposeful about who they are becoming. May we become people who are obsessed with loving the right things.

It's Not Easy (Love, pt 1)

Posted By: Tim Mannin

For the next several blog posts we are going to string together a theme about the subject of LOVE.
Our church must be crazy serious about love. In these early stages of becoming a church we need to clearly establish love as our highest value, and we can’t just say it…we must embody it!

In the Matthew 22, a religious leader tested Jesus by asking him a question.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (v. 36-39)

Love is complex, deep, and multi-layered and somehow this thing called love is supposed to be central to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus identified it as the greatest commandment, but I think we may have a problem…because I have a belief that…if love isn’t easy, we don’t give it.

We can assume many things about the people who stand at intersections of life holding signs that read, will work for food; however, the truth remains that they are in need. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven up next to one of these people and acted like I didn’t notice them, acted like I couldn’t see them. I’ve simply kept my head forward, hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, and just waited for the light to turn green. On one occasion several years ago while sitting at a light and feeling the eyes of one of these individuals burning through my window, I heard a little voice from the backseat ask, “Daddy what is that man doing?” Emily, my daughter, asked again, “Daddy what is that man doing?” I didn’t know what to say. Then she asked again…

Her words revealed my hypocrisy. 

I chose to do nothing. I mean I didn’t do anything bad; it’s not like I ran into him with my car. I just did nothing.

James writes,
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”  (James 2:14-16)

What do you do when different, needy people break into your carefully protected life? What do you do when you’re caught off guard and the stoplight can’t turn fast enough or the conversation can’t be dodged? What do you do when you are confronted with people in need and you can’t get out of the situation? I’m ashamed to realize how I responded. My love was limited.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus recklessly loved people outside the circle. His love was and is unlimited. 

Erwin McManus wrote in his book Chasing Daylight, “We have defined holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to. I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins we commit, but the life that we fail to live.” I believe it’s possible that many of us have made life much less about the love we are giving, and instead our faith is about managing and reducing sins. Is this how we follow Jesus? McManus goes on, “You cannot follow God in neutral. God has created you to do something. It is not enough to stop the wrong and then be paralyzed when it comes to the right.” 

We can no longer afford to do nothing…we must become people who do something everyday that matters.

Following Jesus is about action. It’s not about being a person with a low sin quota, but instead it is about moving into spaces where love has evaporated. The people Jesus loved were desperate hurting people. 

May we be people who love when and where it’s not easy to love.
May we be people who do something.
May we be people who love recklessly

The Corridor

Posted By: Jamie Stolp

A monument with Clara Luper's name on it sits on the east side of the I-235 off ramp for 23rd Street.  She was a civil right activist and state congresswoman. She was influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King's nonviolent approach to justice and she became a significant leader during the late 1950's and 60's. She organized many sit-ins and boycotts that helped end segregation in the public schools. Because of her historical contribution OKC has honored her by calling a portion of 23rd Street the Clara Luper Corridor -- the stretch of road from I-35, past the state capitol area, to Broadway Avenue. 

Clara Luper Monument at 23rd Street and I235

At the overpass and on the corner where the Clara Luper monument stands you will see many homeless and underprivileged people hanging out with milk cartons as seats and walking the sidewalks with signs that say something to the affect of "Hungry. Anything will help." You will see as much traffic as OKC has to offer and you will likely see a train parked on the bridge that stretches over 23rd Street. You will also will notice that almost everything is beautified in this small area. The homeless even pitch in to keep this area clean, which was a civic beautification project enacted to honor Luper -- the homeless pick up trash for the trade of not being removed the area.

Under the over pass, (catchy phrase that comes from the book "Under the Overpass") you will see restaurants and a gas station as you would want any interstate off ramp to have.  You will also find one of largest liquor stores you will ever see, complete with a warehouse and what appears to be a distillery connected to it. This corner of OKC never lacks in activity...it is also a corner that represents light and darkness at one glance.

All this racially intensified history and busy activity is the passageway to the area of 23rd Street that we have been sent to start our church! May we be a church who contributes to the efforts to restore greater beauty in this area and may we help write the next chapter of what God wants to do with this city.

And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it.

Jeremiah 29:7 

Thanks to Dave Carter, who taught me about Clara Luper.  Dave is a man who was a musician at a church plant years ago.  A glass maker by trade and father of two men, a man who often sleeps under 23rd street overpass, and blessed us by praying over me, praying for my family and our church!

Into the Glorious

Posted by: Christie Mannin

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." Psalm 100:4

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought it would be good to write about some things that have been placed on my heart.

This past year has brought about many things to be thankful for. As Tim and I began to pray about what the Lord was calling us to in this new season of ministry, I remember saying that “whatever it was that the Lord would call us to would either be the biggest sacrifice we’ve ever made OR that it would be so big that we couldn’t even fathom it”. Sadly, the human mind cannot conceive the great BLESSINGS and MIRACLES that He desires to bestow on us.

As we desired to live into our full calling, we knew the only way for us to be shown the next step was to PRAY. We did begin to pray. We have prayed more in the past several months than we’ve ever prayed in our lives. We’ve changed our habits by giving up precious time that was once spent watching another episode of American Idol or The Office. We’ve spent time praying in the car, in bed, in the shower, on our knees in front of the sofa, with our friends and family, with our kids at dinner and bed time, and walking down 23rd Street, circling the areas, people, and buildings that we feel the Lord has placed on our hearts. We’ve written prayers, said prayers out loud, whispered prayers, and sung prayers. We’ve cried over prayers and laughed over prayers. We’ve prayed bigger, bolder prayers than we’ve ever prayed. We have prayed believing for miracles to be done.

In our faithfulness to pray and in patience, never giving up even when the earthly answer is no, the Lord has begun to answer those prayers. He is showing us and teaching us that he desires both: for us to be called to a life of greater sacrifice, while also blessing us with greater things than we’ve ever known. There is a song that I love written by one of my favorite artists that speaks to this idea:

I was made for more than this world could offer me.
My heart to hold true mystery.
My voice was made to fall on holy ears.
My life to collide with majesty.
Out from the ordinary. Into extraordinary.
This is a heart-cry, from my life. To say I love You, God, I love You.
So take me deeper, oh. I can hear You calling. Inviting me in. Into the glorious.
I was made me for rest, in a world that’s striving.
To lie down in the fields of green.
To set my feet upon this holy ground.
To build my life on the things unseen.
Out from the ordinary. Into extraordinary. You’re calling me.

The Lord is good. He loves us and desires to move in our lives in a mighty way. He wants us to live a life of complete surrender and in return, bless us beyond measure in ways that our minds cannot imagine. Often now when I pray, the only thing that comes to my lips is that “IT IS ALL FOR YOUR GLORY, LORD”. I want to bless HIM with the work of my life. To return to him what he as so freely given me.

Thank you Jesus for hearing our prayers and for blessing us in greater ways than we could ever imagine. I will continue to open my hands and let go of things that I have so tightly held on to so that you can use them ALL FOR YOUR GLORY.

I challenge you today, to begin to learn how to create space in your own life for prayer. He will guide your steps and show you how to trust him more each day so that you can live into the glorious life that he desires for you to live.

Not Just Some Place

Posted By Tim Mannin

Every story begins some how and every story begins some place.
We are excited about the place God is beginning our story on NW 23rd Street in Oklahoma City. The BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) building at Oklahoma City University has graciously opened their doors to us to be able to temporarily meet for our initial Core Gatherings.

Our Core Gatherings are different than regular Sunday morning worship services. Our Core Gatherings will be a time for the initial group of people who are interested in this church plant to gather so we can talk about who the Lord is leading this church to become. For the first 2-3 months of our existence our job as a church will be to build a core launch team of people that are committed to the ministry of OKC Community Church. During our gatherings we will worship, pray, build community, and get a sense of what OKC Community will be all about. That means for the first 2-3 months we want anyone who’s interested in the church to come and learn about the church – to pray about his or her involvement with us – and to build relationships with one another. These Core Gatherings will be a critical piece to how we will build a community of people who desire to be the church together. That’s how the story will begin.

The BCM Building - NW 23rd and Kentucky Ave.

And the BCM is the place that we will gather. We do expect that smaller groups of us will gather many places during the next few months, but we will begin by collectively coming together every Sunday at 3:30 at the BCM located at 2407 N. Kentucky Ave, which is the corner of NW 23rd St and Kentucky—right by OCU’s campus. We’re excited about this place for many reasons and believe that the Lord has provided the perfect place for us to begin gathering. We are beyond grateful for our Kingdom minded friends at the BCM.

This is certainly an exciting time in the young life of this church. We continue to give credit and praise to our King.

Psalm 145:1-13

I will exalt you, my God the King: I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your good deeds.
They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
They Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow in anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saint’s will extol you.
They will tell of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might,
so that all men may know your mighty acts and glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

THE CANNONBALL

Posted By Tim Mannin 

I often have to remind myself that I am nothing without God. 
When I had a desk (I’m a little more mobile these days) I kept a sticky note on it with a statement written by A.W. Tozer, “In me nothing, in Christ everything.” Think about that statement…it’s a statement any Christ follower would adamantly nod their head in agreement to and give a bellowing “AMEN!” 

If we were honest, most of us would admit that we don’t always live this way. We struggle to completely empty ourselves to a place of nothingness. Nothingness doesn’t mean we have absolutely nothing about us that is unique, special, or significant—simply stated, it means we live a life that when people see us they see Christ. It means that we live a life where everything points to Christ as the designer and supreme authority. He is the one all credit and submission is given to. 

How do we live life like that?
I’ve said the following statement in sermons before, but it has become especially important during this season of planting OKC Community Church.

"Boy on a High Dive" Norman Rockwell, 1947

FOLLOWING JESUS
is like taking a 
C A N N O N B A L L
INTO THE POOL OF ENDLESS
uncertainties, questions, & possibilities
that a life with Christ has to offer.

It’s a leap of faith.
It’s living life in a place of complete dependency upon Christ. It’s acknowledging that we are nothing and that Christ is everything. It’s desiring to be in a place of  H O P E  and  T R U S T and  W O N D E R  and  P U R P O S E. We all want our lives to be full of such things…to hope for something better, to trust God in everything, to be in awesome wonder of who He is, and to be filled with significant purpose to our everyday life. 

When I was a kid, during the summers I went to the community pool with my friends. At the deep end of the pool three diving boards stood ominously challenging every little kid that dared climb their steps. In the middle of these three boards stood the high dive—sixteen terror-filled feet above the water. I can remember to this day the fear of climbing that high dive for the first time…uncertain if I would actually survive the ordeal.  

It’s a simple illustration, but standing on the edge of a high dive as a kid feels similar to starting a church. OKC Community is a chance for many of us to take the plunge. To leap off the edge with hopeful trust, dream filled wonder, and a determined purpose—to make a cannonball into the pool of endless uncertainties, questions, and possibilities that a life with Jesus has for each and every one of us. This church needs people who are willing to climb the steps, walk out to the edge, and courageously jump in the deep end of the pool with us.

The weeks and months ahead are full of a lot of questions, but when we cling to words like, “in me nothing, in Christ everything” it turns the questions into possibilities. 

God has us. 
He has you. 
He has this church. 
November 4th is our first core gathering and it marks the start of a group of people ready to make a cannonball. It marks a beautiful picture of faith filled people ready to trust him with the outcome.

Joseph, McDonalds, Prayer, and the Faithfulness of God

Posted By Ryan Moore

Over the past few weeks there has been a common theme in my prayer life and in the way I feel God is speaking to me through His word. The more stories I read or sermons I listen to, the more I can see it jumping out in front of me. It is almost as if every story, even every life scenario is pointing back to the same thing. With every step I take or conversation I have, I can see God’s faithfulness. 

Throughout my life there has been a love for the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 through 47. It is easy to read through these ten chapters and remark at the sovereignty of God and his faithfulness to Joseph, but recently what I have been dwelling on is the space between chapters. For us, we can teach the entire life of Joseph in a 3rd grade Sunday school class with a blue felt board and a juice box, but no one ever stops to think about the years between a promise and it’s fulfillment. So often in life we cruise through biblical stories and cry out to God, “why can’t this happen to me!?” “Where are you in my difficulties!?” “I’ve been praying for years and it just keeps getting worse!” I have been guilty of this same attitude so many times, but recently I have felt the Spirit’s conviction on my heart to focus on the space between “asking” and “receiving.” 

The truth is, in an American society we are programed to order something and receive it shortly after. The sign on the cash register at McDonald’s says “average serving time, 45 seconds” and the only thing I’m thinking while I’m in line is..”46, 47, 48, 49,… where is my Double Quarter Pounder!?” Not to mention, the state of total shock we are in if the waiter allows our glass to be empty. Shouldn’t he know exactly what we want at the exact moment we want it? The tragedy to this culture is that we treat our heavenly Father, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the same as we treat the kid behind the cash register. “God here is my order, don’t mess it up… and by the way, I’m gonna need all this in under 45 seconds.”  We think God works suddenly and instantaneously, but the reality is when we pray one prayer, God has already done ten thousand things in order to answer it. You see, God is always working, moving, and preparing. When I pray for my friend in Kansas City to come to know Christ as her savior, I know that God has been working throughout her whole life to bring her to himself. And I know that someday this one prayer will be answered by ten thousand miracles that God has used to bring salvation to her heart. 

The same truth is seen in God’s faithfulness to Joseph throughout his entire life. Joseph went from a boy seeing a vision, to 15 years as a slave and falsely accused prisoner, then eventually to one of the leaders of the most powerful nation on earth. We read that sequence and see God’s hand and blessing, but don’t think about the nights when Joseph was awake wondering why God hadn’t fulfilled His promises or all the hours he spent in a prison cell for a crime he didn’t commit. But God worked through each and every moment in Joseph’s life in order to save not only the entire nation of Egypt, but also the nation of Israel. 

In the same sense, I have been praying for Oklahoma City Community Church. As we step out into this new life and new ministry, I know there will be days like Joseph had where we lay awake and wonder what God is doing, but I also know that God has already done ten thousand miracles to bring me, this team, and this church to where it is today and I know He isn’t finished yet. Therefore, I am praying big miraculous type prayers for this ministry and the people of this new church, knowing all the while, that God is faithful and He is always working.

OKC via SIOUX FALLS

I (Tim) wanted to take time in the initial weeks of our existence as a community to introduce a special family. Jamie and Carrie Stolp, with their son Timothy and daughter Micah-Anne made the amazing move from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Oklahoma City in late July 2012. It wasn’t just any move…it was a calling to join what God was doing with this new church plant. 

Three years ago I met Jamie at a student ministry conference in Chicago and our first conversation was about what builds healthy ministry instead of just what builds a large ministry…a great conversation. Since that time Jamie and I have built a friendship through serving together in Lead222 (a mentoring & coaching ministry). Christie and Carrie have also been able to build a friendship. I never imagined what God would do with a simple friendship that was several states away.

In May of 2012 Jamie called and asked me if Carrie and he could be praying about moving to OKC to join our efforts to plant a church. This absolutely shocked us and we immediately began joining them in prayer about this possibility. God overwhelmingly moved and confirmed his call on their life to be a part of this in a period of about a month. After seeing their house sell in less than 24 hours and God providing Carrie with a job in matter of days they knew God was up to something big—so amazingly they are now here to serve as leaders of OKC Community Church!

Below is a short introduction written by Jamie—sharing a little about their family and experience moving here.
​
​…………………………

​The Stolp Family

There is a song that plays on the radio that I have enjoyed but I didn't know much about until recently. One morning I noticed my son was singing the chorus to this song very loudly. Timothy likes to sing but this time he was rocking out, which he typically doesn't do for an audience of just dad. I asked him if he liked the song—the answer was obvious. The song came on again two days later and we decided to really listen to the lyrics and see what we were singing about. (Christian music doesn't mean you can always understand the words.)

“Cause if you never leave home, never let go
​You'll never make it to the great unknown
​Till you keep your eyes... open my love”

These are the words of the chorus of "Keep Your Eyes Open" from Needtobreathe. Lyrically the song is a message of what God has been speaking to our family.

This song turned into a conversation for Timothy and me about our family leaving home (South Dakota) for Oklahoma, which happened July 30th.

Our family left home for a great unknown. We have never lived outside of South Dakota. We’ve always been within an hour drive of our parents, grandparents, and many other relatives who live in the same area as we did. Yet, God has called us to this great unknown. We came to Norman knowing the Mannins and only few others from a mission trip we took to Haiti in 2011. We’ve stepped into this great unknown believing in God's calling on Tim and Christie Mannin. We've come believing that our own calling is to be apart of OKC Community Church!

In Genesis 12 God calls Abram to an unknown land, and he goes on to tell him that in this land great things are in store. He promises relationships with new people that will be blessed by Abram and be a blessing to him. As we read the first four verses of chapter 12 we can't help but believe that this is what God desires for our family, but also for all of us, and our new church!

My wife, Carrie and I have been married for 13 years and we have two children.  Timothy, who is ten, loves music, school, and books. Micah-Anne is seven and she loves dancing and clothes. Prior to our move, I was the youth pastor at our church for the past eight years and Carrie has been a teacher for 14 years in multiple grades.  We are both graduates of the University of South Dakota with degrees in education. We met years before at a youth camp when we were 14 years old.  So, we have been a couple for 21 years when you include our dating and marriage years!!

I was 16 years old when I received my calling into ministry, but I did not fully submit to it until I was 27. It was at that time that I took the youth pastor role at Celebrate Church in Sioux Falls.  Currently Carrie is teaching in Moore and I can be found on 23rd street trying to be a blessing to people in a place that isn't quite so unknown now.

- Posted by Tim Mannin & Jamie Stolp

A Heartbeat

OKC Community is officially underway. We have all the necessities…we have our Facebook page (OKC Community Church), we have a Twitter account (@okccommunity), and we have this website that we’ve equipped with this super rad blog that you are actually reading right now!! I guess we’ve officially arrived—we are set up and ready to run…

…well, perhaps before we run too hard we need a little more than some cyber particles.
​…perhaps—just maybe—we need some people.

​Church Plant Meeting, October 7 - Michaelangelos Coffee Bar

Real people—not just the ones who click “like” and who choose to “follow” us. Don’t get me wrong, those are great people and we are excited about what’s happening on the World Wide Web…but we are more excited about people. In the last couple weeks we’ve met with live and in the flesh people, who are expressing a stirring within their heart about being a part of the work God is starting in OKC through this church. We’ve had three meetings so far. Our first was on September 23 and our two most recent were on October 4 and 7. The meetings were held at Michelangelos in Norman. They were and will be the only meetings in Norman—next stop is NW 23rd Street, Oklahoma City. 

The infancy of this church reminds me of when we went to our first doctor’s appointment after learning Christie was pregnant with our first child. One of the first things the doctor did was use a high tech medical instrument that looked like a fisher price walkie-talkie to amplify the baby’s heartbeat. We knew that this little baby (who became our first child, Emily) was so small at the time that she could literally fit in the palm of our hand. Although she was small, when the doctor amplified the sound of her heartbeat we were amazed to clearly hear the pounding of a new heart tirelessly working to sustain a new life.

Although the heartbeat was small…it was strong.
​Although the heartbeat was new…it represented life.

In these initial meetings with real people about this church plant it was like an amplified heartbeat to a new life being born. As we gathered each time the heartbeat gained strength and passion. It was amazing to see about one hundred different people come to one of our meetings so that they could hear and pray about being a part of this church.

OKC Community Church has a heartbeat. 
​We have life. 

Life in the form of not just talking about the life we ought to be living, but doing all we can to actually live it! Life in the form of chasing something significant together! Life in the form of trying to be the church the best way we know how. John 10:10 says,

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they (real people) may have life, and have it to the to the full.” We believe in this promise—together we will pursue life to the full and we will believe that with every new heartbeat we can experience more life! 

All glory, praise, and credit goes to God, our Savior and King, for creating new life in the form of OKC Community Church!

​- Posted by Tim Mannin

The City

This is the very first blog post for OKC Community Church. Every small step feels significant, so even this simple post feels important. Where to begin…what to say…who will read? These are all questions one ponders while writing into the worldwide abyss called the web. 

I moved to OKC when I was thirteen years old (I am now 34…yikes). I remember the days (not too long ago) when professional basketball in this city meant the semi-pro OKC Cavs…and now we have Kevin Durant and the Thunder, come on that’s crazy. I remember the days when Spaghetti Warehouse was the crown jewel in the Bricktown area…and now, well…that area is way cooler than some spaghetti and meatballs. OKC is definitely changing—and most think in good ways. It’s developing, renewing its urban core, and climbing the ranks of relevant American cities. It’s easy to see that this city is about progress.

What a great place to be. What a great place to live. 

But…there’s a little more to the story.

Downtown Oklahoma City​

Oklahoma City sits at the heart of the so-called Bible belt and this church will be in the heart of Oklahoma City. So I guess we can kind of say we are at the epicenter of American Christendom. The tradition rich culture of Christian faith can be easily seen across of our cityscape in the form of neighborhood churches or mammoth sanctuaries that have stood for decades. OKC is also home to several young movements where thousands and thousands of people have come to know and love Jesus. So some could say this city has enough Jesus…has enough church.

It takes one walk (not drive) down a city street or down a back alley to see the darkness that exists in the so-called Bible belt. All it takes is a Christ follower who chooses to pay attention to what is really going on with the people (not just the brick and mortar) to recognize the deep physical and spiritual need that exists around every corner of a city…even Oklahoma City. It’s not a surprise to most of us that a small fraction of our Christian nation is actually Christian. Our city is gospel deficient and desperate for Christ followers who care about that…and choose to do something about it.

My biggest fear for my own life and the lives of those whom I share Christian community with is not that we will become bad people who don’t care about things that matter—I’m more concerned that we become ‘good people’ who don’t actually do anything that matters.

Our city matters.

The darkness matters.

The gospel matters.

Our dream is to become a church that cares about and does things that matter in and for our city. A scripture that has deeply impacted me is Philippians 2:15-16. It beautifully illustrates our role to shine light in the darkness.
​
​“Become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like the stars of the universe as you hold out the word of life…”

May our church shine as the light of God in this city.

- Posted by Tim Mannin​