Hillsong NYC UPDATE: "A Grace Cupcake" [PIC + VIDEO]
9 August, 2010
Truth be told, when God’s grace is on something…it is what it is. You can plan, calculate, do demographic studies, promote, advertise and all those things can be HUGELY important…but when it’s all said and done? - Only by the grace of God does anything truly flourish.
I think God does that just to confound people who so badly want to give “10 steps to whatever” seminars. God doesn’t really do 10 steps to anything…He does however; pour out His GRACE on really fallible people. Often, there is no rhyme or reason… And we have believed since day one that God has graced Hillsong Church to have an influence in New York City. Tonight was a really cool picture of that…
We had a connect group meeting in Tribeca, at Reed and Jess Bogard’s place and we seriously could not have fit another human being in this house! Now, understand that it’s become a part of Hillsong fabric to fit way, way too many people into tiny spaces…but this was special. At this point, Hillsong NYC is at ‘stage one’. We are just meeting, talking, praying and building community. No intentional, budgeted, strategic-growth plan in action…But nevertheless, things are GROWING. Think of people just piling into a Volkswagen Bug and nobody telling anybody there isn’t actually anymore room…that’s us.
As my friend Judah Smith loves to say “GRACE GROWS THE CHURCH.” I believe the Bible quoted Judah on that, and it’s such a blessing to simply be around it. It reminds you that in an age of space-ship like buildings and sound systems so good that really average voices sound really good and where thought-provoking and theologically sound preaching abounds and you feel like each sermon you hear is enough and you should not be allowed anymore good teaching…Just when you thought it was ABOUT all that stuff…along comes Jesus, breathing His grace on a simple little meeting. Reminding people that He alone is the growth and influence specialist…Hillsong New York City is on fire and there is no extinguisher in site.
And just to top off this fun, ‘grace cupcake’ of a night, it just so happened that our Senior Pastor: Brian Charles Houston, a.k.a. ‘The Big Eagle’, a.k.a. ‘The Boss’, a.k.a. ‘The guy who saw this before anybody’, a.k.a. ‘The guy who you don’t want to be around when he thinks: “You’re the one who lost his keys” ‘…was in town. And what did this high profile, world-renowned preacher and church builder do? He piled in the Volkswagen of course…He stood on a TV stand, the only place available and talked about Jesus, the amazing future of our church here in this awesome city and answered questions for anybody who had some. That’s a picture of a church plant. It’s a picture of a senior leader who is still is in touch with the grassroots of a grassroots faith. And above all else, it’s a picture of the Grace of our God - bringing in just what’s needed at just the right time. God is moving and we are going to keep doing our best to keep up…
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers…
“Spread Love. It’s the Brooklyn Way.” -Notorious BIG
Sincerely, Carl Lentz
For more information on Hillsong New York City please visit hillsongnyc.com or email nyc@hillsong.com
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