Sacred Digital: Chuckk Gerwig

Yep, it's TRUE we're planting Elevation as a new church in the new year!

Here's a great blog entry on WHY we need to be planting new churches in America. If you want a quick read that will give you even more reason to jump on board with the new Elevation church plant --------then read THIS.

If you have a heart for Santa Cruz and beyond and a desire to be part of something truly exciting jump in with our crew and be part of planting Santa Cruz's newest church - Elevation.

God is already working in huge ways, your faith and life will never be the same, "wanna planta church?"

So we're planting a new church and that means foundational work, the kind that no one sees. We're setting up strategic alliances, praying alot, meeting with other pastors, leaders and my church planting coach (and old friend) the amazing Steve Ogne! We're also working on setting up all the legal mojo to be legit like Articles of Incorporation, By Laws, getting tax exemption status in order, trying to finding a lawyer, deciding on a board of directors, beginning to look at our accounting plan and starting to think about locations. Funny all anyone ever asks about it where we might meet - church is so much more than a location on Google Maps...

We've been learning from those who have gone before us; asking lots of questions! We're getting amazing networked help from amazing ministry friends and volunteers with killer gifts and experience - they are starting to come from all over to jump in. Jesus is at work and you can taste it all day long. It's an exciting time; we have only Jesus and a Vision and Calling from Him and that's AWESOME! It is soooooo good to be floating in the air after jumping off the cliff and then smiling because you know Jesus is flying alongside and He's grinning ear to ear. Man, this is good. So pray for E as we lay the groundwork for a new missional and less conventional church here in Santa Cruz.

On The iPod - The Clash, lots and lots of Clash lately.

I love the community I have the privilege of pastoring, I smell Jesus on these people.

Owning nothing is a Biblical concept. Scripture is pretty clear - we own nothing, God owns all things.

Psalm 24:1 states: The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

In fact we don't even own us or our constituent parts - all is God's. Believing this concept, one of the young men in our church is at this very moment (it's about 10:00am as I write) having one of his kidney's removed. There's nothing wrong with his kidney it makes positivly awesome urine I understand...but he's having it removed today. I'm at the hospital in San Francisco hanging out waiting for the surgery to come to a close right now.

Dan Lingenfelter is one of the 4 people from our church who offered to give Melissa Boose, (our buddy and the Elevation church admin) a needed kidney. Mel has lupus and her kidneys were damaged as a result, she has a big need.

Right now, at this moment Dan's "spare" kidney is being placed into Mel's body - taken from him at great cost to give her life. This is Christlike behavior, following in the footsteps of our savior no? So pray for Mel and Dan's full and speedy recovery and consider joining an organ donation program to provide physical life to someone just as the donation of all Christ's organs provide us eternal life. I love the community of people I pastor.

My Buddy Phil Graf is a missional kinda guy, he and his wife Laina live in Amsterdam and share their lives, their home, their food and their friendship with the people. They are missional Christians whose lives intersect with unconvinced folks all day everyday. A question that comes up often about incarnational missional life is how do you actually get the opportunity to share Jesus with people you work with, live around and hang with? How do you go from being friends to sharing Jesus? Here is an email from Phil regarding that very thing. Worth a read-chuckk

A glimpse into life tonight: I was savouring the moment with tea on the kitchen stool with my young questioning friend, Morgan. Her question was simple, but so commonly profound “So, how do you get into the lives of people and share Christ with them?” Before I could get a word out (probably God’s humour!), the doorbell rang. My dear friend of 4 years (who will remain anonymous), in tears, was standing there distraught. Here was a woman who has been lingering over the questions of why she needs a personal God. One who, with her Northern European intellect, has a hard time perceiving the presence of a pursuing God. A broken heart now beginning to brave opening up to a healing God… at my door, shattered, searching for hope…and so we talked. How incredibly honoured I was to be, in this sacred moment, the door she knocked on. I returned to the kitchen, where Morgan (having listened in) was still sitting on the stool, smiling at God’s timing. Morgan began to glimpse the answer to her previous question, and she marvelled at the lessons that were far better caught than taught. As Morgan and I debriefed the encounter, we looked at the life of Jesus. How radical was this God to invade our world. The world that beckons us to be amongst….the poor and the hated tax collectors, the half breeds and the illegitimate, the ugly and the empty, the sick and the cast aways, the oppressed and the oppressors…all the while unafraid and unashamed, offering hope and wholeness by calling them to himself….’along the way’. Then Morgan and I began to describe our own stories. Stories of pain and fear, of redemption and freedom. Stories that really are stories of God being ‘amongst’ us and changing our hearts to himself ‘along the way’. So, as I think of my dear friend at my door, who’s life is despairing, I think of how God is calling her to himself. How incredibly fortunate I am to get to share with her a Pursuing Personal God that longs to bring her hope and new life. The adventure of journeying ‘amongst’ her over the last 4 years, has allowed me the greatest joy of all…. So, when Morgan asks me how to get into the lives of people… I point her to Jesus and look at how he did it. He was amongst and he did it along the way, calling people to himself. So, I would covet your prayers for my dear friend mentioned above, and a few others for this week: Michal and Roy (an Israeli couple who is reading the Hebrew Torah alongside of Phil and I as we read in the English Bible, flipping to the new testament to study if Jesus could be the Messiah. Her last comment was “I see Jesus in this prophesy” and ‘there is only a thin line that separates us.”) We are having them over Saturday. Christy and Leo (a Dutch neighbouring couple…Christy told me recently that her life is at a Crossroads and that she would like to go to our church (named Crossroads)…her husband lost 13 family members in Auschwitz, his grandfather was Dutch Jewish, his grandmother was German) dinner with them on Thursday! Nordin (a young Moroccan Muslim Harley riding business man who says he loves Jesus (and Mohammed and Buddha.) and is getting together with Phil to talk further about Jesus) Jasmine (a Scottish teen who heard the whole grace story the other day and is pondering her life as a result). She is here most every day. And we are praying for the lives you are amongst….and would love to hear your stories. Please share them with us. Your friendships to us are immeasurable in their value and your support in all ways sustain us. Thank you. Love, Laina and Phil

Hi everyone, I KNOW you guys were looking at that abandoned Harley building thinking "how crazy would it be if Elevation ended up in that place". We thought of it too and even looked into it a bit with the thought of possibly sharing the building rent and rooms with others. It was leased last week and is no longer available. So (at least at this point in history) that place is not a home for Elevation. Good things about that Locale would have been LOCATION, visibility, vibe etc. Negatives would have been: high cost, buildout costs, and a lot of focus on a space as opposed to a vision.

Next Steps: Peter Moore has stepped up to head our location search crew and will be contacting people who asked to be part of the team very soon! Peter has a background in things like this,has time to invest, and is a gift from God to Elevation (he also has a cooler than ice English accent)

Anyway just wanted to update ya. Be Stoked foundational work is coming along VERY very well. God is supersonic!

Today Andrea and I are celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. But it's a celebration less about surviving 28 years of married life after a wedding day, it's more about celebrating being crazy about each other for 28 years and wanting MORE.

Find love then be in love as an ongoing way of life, you'll be blessed. If you are a church planter or existing church pastor don't sacrifice the love of your life for a church...it's a disqualification and a fool's errand.

Hey, if you're riding motorcycles and looking for an wingding to invite unconvinced friends to...

Come to the Elevation Motorcycle Coastal Cruise

Saturday Aug. 8th 10am-5pm

Meet at the scbc parking lot 10am

We'll ride the Coast Highway to Cameron's Pub in Half Moon Bay for lunch,a pint?, a cigar?

Bring a jacket and a tank pre filled with gas

Invite anyone you want to come along, this is a great way way to invite unconvinced folks into community

All bikes and brands welcome - we're non denominational<