Tigard Community Friends Church

This past Sunday we had our first opportunity to share our heart with a church body. We began to prepare during our weekly Thursday evening meeting where we met and discussed what we would talk about. We prayed, and we began to prepare individually. One thing was evident, we were all a little nervous.


Without the Lord present, we would have sounded like a bunch of self-righteous idiots. I think our message was loud and clear, loving and full of grace. We shared our hearts, and since Christ is there, it was truly His message too. Without that we would simply be just a bunch of do-right church kids.

We crafted our message around stories, stories about addiction, about pain, about joy, but all of them about the amazing grace of God, and the power of Jesus' message of redemption and love.

As I sat in the church pew and prayed, waiting to be introduced, the nervousness was overcome by the assurance of His Spirit inside of me covering my own inadequacies with a supernatural understanding. When you begin to believe that the Lord is going to speak through you, and it doesn't matter what people hear, and that the Spirit is the only one who can penetrate their hearts, the nervousness melts away.

TCFC wrapped us with love. We felt that our message was embraced, that people understood, and that ultimately, they would journey along with us. Even though I am certain about our calling, when you consistently hear doubt from people, or interpret their looks when you tell them what you are doing - passionately following Jesus - your flesh occasionally creeps in and your mind begins to succumb to thoughts of doubt and the possibility that maybe you are crazy. I wasn't sure if sharing with churches was going to confirm that or encourage us to press on, but this time, at TCFC, we were all greatly encouraged. The Lord spoke to us. He confirmed our craziness - the craziness of following Jesus.

Thanks Jesus! And thanks TCFC for allowing us to share our hearts.