So how’s Mars Hill Church Phoenix doing after six weeks of core group gatherings? By God’s grace things are going great! We are seeing nearly 300 people join us on Sunday mornings, we have launched 14 Community Groups with over 100 people in community each week, and many potential leaders have surfaced to be trained. All this and we are still in the womb! We are really excited to see what else Jesus does between now and our public launch on January 12th.
Sometimes with the excitement that comes with a new church plant, the real stories of God’s grace can get lost in the numbers. The number of people in Sunday’s attendance, number of community groups, number of people in community, and number of potential leaders are all exciting, but not as exciting as seeing people’s lives changed by the love of Christ on the cross.
We are seeing people repent of their sin and couples reconsider reconciliation. We even saw a man come out of a homosexual lifestyle to serve the Lord and Mars Hill Phoenix on Sunday mornings.
It is so often seen as “cool” to plant a church. I’ve come to realize that it’s way more life-altering than cool. Way more redeeming than cool. And these are way cooler than cool.
The Holy Spirit will not allow this passage to leave my mind lately:
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
This truth has taken over my mind like never before: Christ not only accomplished our eternal salvation on the cross, but also our progressive sanctification. Planting a church is not just about people being saved from eternal hell, but also people being saved from habitual sin. We can become partakers in the divine nature! That is crazy! We are seeing many people here in Phoenix repent from sin and the power of the cross is allowing them to be partakers of the divine . . . they’re becoming more like Jesus!
I was asked just this morning in a coffee shop what the most exciting thing about Mars Hill Phoenix was so far. My answer wasn’t numbers; it was people. My answer wasn’t “butts in seats”; it was sins nailed to the cross.
Coming Up at Mars Hill Phoenix
While Mars Hill Phoenix is already up and running, we are gearing up for our public launch on January 12th, in conjunction with the James series launch. But between now and then, there are a couple cool things happening.
On December 15th, Mars Hill band Citizens is flying down to lead worship. They are not to be missed! Come hear them play live at Mars Hill Phoenix and be sure to check out their new Christmas album, Repeat the Sounding Joy.
Also, please join us on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of our Savior! More information can be found at marshill.com/christmas.
