The Cafe...Real, Authentic, Safe Place!

Our Desire...to be a community of authentic, real Christ-followers building a community of real relationships to one another, and our world.

Church should be more than just a menu of programs and activities. It's supposed to be a place where followers of Jesus build a community... a place where those who attend love God more, and love others (their world) more visibly!

Mission: We exist to equip Christ-followers to uniquely engage the community through authentic relationships.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Let the Re-Modeling Begin!

The voicemail message was short and to the point:
"Terry, the Cafe is on fire, give me a Call!" The problem was that I was in Houston.

Right after that message, my cell phone started ringing.
As I sat, 1000+ miles away, I was both stunned (like I am sure you were when you heard the news) and I wept. How could the Coffeehouse be gone?

As my plane pulled into Sacramento at 1:30am, and my cell phone came back to life, I had another cell message, as equally impactful to my heart.

"Hey there Terry, I am sure you have had a quiet, lonely plane ride home, and that this will be hard for you to see the Cafe. So I am praying for you. But I also wanted to tell you how proud you would have been of the people in this body, and the way they responded to this disaster. The response almost to a person has been "it's just a building.. it's not what Matthew's Cafe is! Matthew's Cafe is the people."

As I walked around inside the Coffeehouse this morning, and talked to many who came by, only one day after the fire, I heard people in a good/strange way say they were excited. I kept hearing works like: "Somehow God is in this doing a new work." and "I wonder what's next, and how God is going to use this?"

Wow. I have always wanted to be part of a people who would believe with their lives. But to sit back and watch followers that I have the priviledge to do church with, love Christ with their lives! To see people I love reflect what they believe with their actions and attitudes, you realize that there is something far greater happening than the loss of a building.

And you know, who knows what God is at work doing! Honestly!
Maybe he is doing some re-modeling, maybe re-furbishing, maybe re-newing us, may be re-visioning us.

Whatever the reasons, and whatever the end-outcomes, we do know that somehow, and someway, "God causes all things (even some of the most devastating moments of life) to work together for good, to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28)."

How am I? Saddened... a little, and yet in a strange way hopeful, also wondering what's next.

How are you? It's okay if you feel the loss. It is not unspiritual if you feel the hurt of losing something that you know is important. Sounds pretty normal to me.

But remember... we all belong to something and someone far greater, far more important, and far different than what we have known church to be in the past... we all belong to God, and to the new work He is doing in our hearts. We all belong to each other, to our Lord, and to a place called Matthew's Cafe, that still remains.

We meet will meet Sunday, April 15th at 9:00 and 10:45am for prayer at the Coffeehouse and some coffee. And then at 1:00pm at East Avenue Community Church for a combined service of all our congregations. Address: 1184 East Avenue.

And stay tuned... let the re-modeling of our lives begin.
Love ya.

Terry Walling

2 comments:

Gary and Sherie Dills said...

Right on Terry! As the phone started ringing friday, our hearts turned toward our family there. In prayer, we immediately felt God was at work. Matthew's Cafe is not only a place...a physical building...it's a place in the heart. A place we have taken to Romania and Fiji and now Washington. It really is about people...relationships...caring, loving, supporting one another...yeah, one another. We love you all and especially at times like this miss you terribly.
Gary & Sherie

leo frost said...

Amid all the hurt, loss, confusion there is love! Both services this morning and the one at East Ave Community Church just shows what leadership has been teaching us is true! It's all about the 'One Anothers'. Terry always tells us to not take their word for what they say but to check it out ourselves. Today just proved to me- we need one another. It really isn't the building- it is the people! I just want to thank the Worship Servants and everyone else involved (and there are more than you can imagine) who came together to make today happen. The next period of our lives together will be interesting to say the least! We can thank and praise our God for the Awesome God He is! Like Terry told us today- this is all in His plan! Yes I looked that up Terry. Please stay tuned and stay in contact any way you can. God's Kingdom need us!