The Difference You Made
My last sermon, preached on July 17, was on Colossians 3:18-4:1--the "Wives, submit to your husbands" passage, and it was entitled, "Can We Make A Difference?" I'll let you listen to it for yourselves if you haven't already, but my main point was that oftentimes we wait for this or that situation or circumstance changes before we do what we think God wants us to do--just let me get this job first, or let me be in a relationship first, or let me get to this level of income first. But God calls us to make a difference where we are, in the places he has placed us. Right now.
And you already have, in my life. Because, with nine months of my year-long Leadership Residency over, I'm happy to announce that I've achieved the budget that I'd set out at the beginning of the year. To those of you who gave one-time, thank you. To those of you who have given regularly and committed to continue giving, thank you. To those of you who were unable to give but prayed instead, particularly when I asked for the provision of a job, thank you. Because it's been a combination of your giving, and the prayers you prayed, which I credit for my landing the position at ONE, which has launched me over my target. So, thank you, thank you, thank you.
In my last email, I said that we're still working out the future, and this remains true. Nothing's been set in stone and there's much still to be finalized, but I can say with a tiny amount of certainty and a large amount of faith that I'll be in DC for a few years to come. I am, as I have felt all year, exactly where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what God has made me to do. An update will be coming soon, I (hope and) promise.
As always, grateful for your friendship and your faithfulness,
Justin.
If I keep going at this rate …
Previously on “Justin @The District Church”
- Washington, DC: Chapter 2 (October 11, 2010)
- Beginning November (and the Leadership Residency) (November 1, 2010)
- Why The District Church? (November 18, 2010)
- My First Sermon (December 15, 2010)
- What a difference a year makes (December 29, 2010)
Happy 2011! I hope your year has begun well and that, if you made them, your new year’s resolutions are still unbroken.
My year’s started, as the subject suggests, with a bang. For the last few weeks, life has been steaming along at a fairly breakneck pace and I’ve gotten pretty busy preparing to step into leading a small group (which starts officially next week), and get more involved with leading worship (this coming weekend) and preaching again (on the 30th). I’m also stepping up my involvement in neighborhood and community outreach, college outreach, and Young Life at the local high school. In addition to that, we’re trying out a new online database to centralize planning for our Sunday services and I’m heading that up.
We also just got back from our first Leadership Community retreat, which took a fair bit of planning, but was a great success: from the vision-casting and the dreaming, the practical steps that we laid out, the ideas we threw out, the fun we had, the friends we made, the songs we sang, the prayers we prayed … so much goodness. And to have 30+ folks show up was an added encouragement.
As you can see, there’s a lot going on!
Prayers would be appreciated as:
- I try to survive the month of January (see all the above)!
- I keep up the fundraising efforts—I was aiming to have raised $20k by the end of January, but it looks like I may fall a little short of that mark. I’m at 53% though, so not too far short! I’ll also be (finally) starting to make calls to folks (and by “folks,” I mean you) to get connected with people they/you recommend.
- I start to look more seriously for a part-time job.
- I have somewhere to live! This past week, I’ve been house-sitting for a couple of friends, and then this coming weekend I’ll be moving into the spare room that one of my friends and his wife have in their house. It’s a great deal, and will serve as a home for at least a few months until the summer when other options may open up. So thanks for your prayers there.
A couple final things: first, we’ve started a sermon series going through the Gospel of John, and I strongly recommend you go listen to Aaron’s last couple of sermons (“Know Your Role” and “Adventures in Missing the Point”). Both really challenged me. And second, while we know that numbers aren’t the whole picture, I still think it was super encouraging that we had over 110 people in attendance this past Sunday! God’s definitely doing something exciting here.
Thanks for journeying with me,
Justin.
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If you’d like to support me, you’re most welcome to do so via the church website. Please make sure to select “Leadership Residency” when it asks you to “Choose a Fund.” All gifts are fully tax-deductible.
What an eventful day
Today:
- Woke up at 3:45am to take N&L to Reagan/National Airport. They discovered their car had a flat tire. I drove them in A&A's car.
- On the way back, missed the 395 N turning. Drove a little way into VA with the fuel light glaring at me before finally making my way to a gas station, then home and falling (eventually) back to sleep. Slumbered fitfully with the yammering and hammering of E going on in the background from 7ish onwards.
- Got the car tire fixed; booked a tattoo appointment for this weekend; got home; did some work; ate delicious leftovers for lunch; entertained E until A&A got home.
- Met up with K, who was in town from California for an interview, for a quick chat at the Logan Circle Caribou.
- Drove to the intern house to pick up dinner for A&A; waited for Simps to get home. Picked up food; came out to car; slipped on ice with food in hands, which meant I had no hands to break my fall. Broke it with my back instead; better than my head. Winded and jarred, but fortunately nothing worse—feeling a little sore now, though!
- Dropped off food; headed to GWU for Pulitzer Center/Human Rights Watch event on the Lord’s Resistance Army. Traffic was moving at a snail’s pace; eventually found parking but I was late so didn’t think straight—I didn’t put any money in the meter!
- The event was good and interesting—predominantly from the journalistic perspective, which was a different one to hear from. Check out Pulitzer Center and Human Rights Watch.
- Came back to the car to drop off I&J at Union Station; found the parking ticket. Told them about my date.
- Back home to pack up my stuff and shift things over to the place I'm house-sitting.
- Done by midnight.
Time for bed. What an eventful day.
One less place to call home
It’s strange being back in the UK for the first time since I left in fall 2006.
Four years ago, I hadn’t experienced a year of integrating politics and faith with Sojourners in Washington, DC. Four years ago, I didn’t even care about politics; I’d never heard of Barack Obama, let alone volunteered for his campaign. Four years ago, God hadn’t yet broken my heart for the poor, or stirred me to anger against injustice. Four years ago, I was still figuring out what I was going to do with my life—how I was supposed to weave together the disparate passions and talents I’d been entrusted with.
And most of my friends in the UK have missed out on that part of my life. Many of them haven't seen the last four years of growth and maturing, of heartbreak and healing, of discovering my calling and the joy that comes with that. And I wish they had.
So it’s been a little sad. Much of this past week I’ve been reflecting in a fairly resigned way how we’ve grown apart, how God has led us in different directions, how friendships that used to be so close are no longer so, how people who played such important roles in my life no longer do. I know God is doing great things in each of our lives, and I’m glad for that.
But, like Hong Kong, it seems London is destined to become (and is already becoming) just another place I spent time in—formative years, life-changing years, years when I encountered God through and among some amazing people—but home no longer.
Pics from trips
Two weekends ago, I was back in California to see family, friends, and U2 (from which I already posted pics and vid).
Then last weekend, I was in Cape Cod, MA to lead worship at the installation service of my mentor, JP. Here are some pics from those trips:
