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Trunk or Treat

This Friday night from 5-7 pm at all the Faith Church campuses (Dyer, Cedar Lake & Valpo) we're hosting Trunk or Treat. It's a fun night where people decorate their car trunks and hand out candy to trunk-or-treaters. So that dinner doesn't completely consist of the sugary stuff, "real" food is also served. This is a great outreach event for our community and a fun night for everyone.

We need help though, and we need candy! If you can decorate a trunk, help with food, setup or takedown, you can sign up online here. Wrapped candy can be dropped off at the Dyer campus until Friday evening, or at the Community Arts Center at 13300 Lincoln Plaza in Cedar Lake on Thursday from 8:30-4. Help us serve our communities!

Faith Church's "Revolutionary Home": Sneak Peak- Promo Video

Faith Church's "Revolutionary Home": Sneak Peak- Promo Video: "Revolutionary Home Promo from Faith Church on Vimeo."

What a meeting!

Yesterday, 170 adults (and 25 kids) gathered to talk and dream about Faith's new campus in Hammond, Indiana. The feeling in the room was electric; there is a real sense that God is up to something. It will be fun to watch and see what God does in the weeks and months to come. Below is a recap of what we talked about yesterday.

The goal of our interest meeting was to share how Faith Church, Hammond would live out Faith's vision: "reach the disconnected and grow the connected." We made three points:

1) We will live out the vision by being a campus that reaches out to the least, the lost, and the broken. It is our hope to be a community that is full of people who desperately need Jesus. We want to have a relevant worship experience so that people can encounter the living Jesus. And we want to learn how to intentionally go outside of the walls to share Jesus to our neighbors.

2) We will live out the vision by being a campus that takes seriously the call to be disciples. We don't want simply to be religious consumers, we want to be fully participating in God's great story. We want Christ to be formed in us, so we will intentionally, creatively, and intelligently say "yes" to Christ's pursuit of every area of our lives.

3) We will live out the vision by being a community that equips one another to do the work God has called each of us to do. We want to be an empowering community. We want to equip one another to take risks for God and his kingdom. We don't want anyone on the sidelines but each one doing what God has called him/her to do.

That's the recap. Anything else you would like to see the community become or do?

Special Invitation for those Interested in our Hammond Campus

Dear friends,
On Easter 2011, Faith Church will be launching a new campus in Hammond, Indiana. I am very excited about what God is going to do through this new ministry. Because of where you live, I think that you could be an important part of this new campus. With that in mind, I want to personally invite you to a interest meeting that will explain the vision of the Hammond Campus and give you opportunity to become part of the launch team.

The interest meeting is this Sunday, October 3rd after the 11am service. We will meet in the garage (the lower level of Faith Church, Dyer). Lunch and child care will be provided.

If you have any interest being part of this new community, please consider coming. I hope to see you there. If you have any questions feel free to call or email me.

Much Grace,

Ron Citlau

Looking for a building

For the last few months we have been looking for a site to house our new Hammond campus. We have looked at a lot of buildings, have prayed and still we haven't found that perfect spot. The whole process has been very frustrating. We believe that God has called us to this city, an amazing team is being formed, and there is a real a sense of "God is up to something."

Still there is no building.

We would do anything to find that right building but looking will only get you so far. In the end, it is all about waiting, praying and discerning what God is trying to say. In the midst of this, I am reminded of the words that God spoke to Moses and the people of Israel as they were being freed from the captivity of Egypt: "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still."

Still there is no building.

For the people of Israel, this was a great comfort. They lacked military training, were unprepared to deal with the military superiority of Egypt and they were afraid. In the midst of this, God spoke, and he destroyed their enemies. He was faithful.

Still there is no building.

For sure, we have no enemies in Hammond. We are hoping to build many friendships. But still, we are as ill-equipped to face the challenges before us, just as Israel was. We can't make the right site appear; if God doesn't open the doors, it will not happen.

Still there is no building.

There is a greater reality than present circumstances. It is the Word of the Lord: "I will fight for you, you need only be still." It is God's church, his mission, and his glory that are on display. We need only stand, watch, and see how gloriously good he is.

We will have a building.

John 11 & Hammond Indiana...

Read John 11 the other day; specifically verses 38-40. This is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Here are some things - in no particular order - that impacted me and how I think they relate to what is happening in Hammond.

1. The tomb as a setting struck me. Plenty of people today, though they may be alive physiologically, often still live in some sort of a tomb. So as a setting, this seems relevant to society today.

2. Before Jesus raises Lazarus and calls him out of the tomb, he instructs Mary to roll away the stone. To me, this spoke of removing obstacles between the person in the tomb and Jesus. Certainly Jesus could've moved the stone himself but it gives a great insight into the way Jesus calls us today to continue to remove obstacles between people and himself, people he would desire to call out of their tomb.

3. Mary comments that moving that stone will reveal some unpleasant smells. Simply put, this is messy work at times but always worth it as we soon see.

4. Verse 40, one of my favorites. Jesus says "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" It's precisely in front of this open and smelly tomb where belief can see the glory of God made manifest. This does not seem like an accident but rather the irony and power of the Kingdom of God.

5. Jesus calls Lazarus out. To be clear, while we may partner in removing obstacles and what not, it is Jesus alone who has the power to call people out of a tomb, out of death, out of darkness into light, into life with Him! But what a sight to behold!

6. Community. Lazarus did not emerge from the tomb only to find Jesus there and nobody else. Rather, family and friends waited for him. It's important that when people are called out, that they are also called into. That as we see them emerge from their tomb we also see to it that they are enfolded into community.

For us at the Hammond campus, we realize that post Christian culture is full of people living in tombs. Therefore, we see it as our mission to listen to the voice of Jesus and in concert with him, do our best to remove as many obstacles as we can between people and him. This could be anything from the language we use to the love that we convey. We realize that at times, this process will be messy; that it will reveal some foul things along the way but we know it's worth every bit of it. We know this because we believe Jesus and what he said. We believe that this setting is precisely where we will see the glory of God made manifest as he resurrects, heals, and restores. Then, we watch as Jesus calls them out of their tomb unto himself; something only He and His power can achieve. However, we watch with intention and follow the example set by this text by surrounding the person Jesus calls out with family and community. We do not thrive on our own! It's my prayer that God will do this and far more as we prepare to launch this campus.