SI DE BY S I D E
Update from Christ Church, South Metro Atlanta Lois Krogh
There were some adjustments to be made when we my mantel is the phrase, “All of Life in Light of the Gospel.” moved to be a part of College Church’s church plant here We constantly ask ourselves what it looks like to believe in South Metro Atlanta. Of course, we expected it to be gospel and to have the truths of the gospel inRuence ever hot. And it is. When wrote this update, the temperature area of our lives. Knowing that Christians are counted as hit 1 0 degrees, and officially was still spring. We also righteous had before God should lead to a decreasing fear of heard about the bugs, but not about the bugs that are so man’s opinion of us. For me, this has pushed me outside small they are called No See Ums. You may not see them, mycomfortzonetojoinourneighborhoodwomenssupper but you cannot ignore their bites. club without worrying about what they might think of me. Thankfully, there was no adjustment to finding a church The Lord has brought many young people to our church. since we brought the church with us. We dont have One the young woman asked if she could get together with me building College Church has or the outstanding music or this summer because she was taken with my con4dence. crowds of people, but we do have the core. We are almost all laughedoutloud.havealwaysidenti4edwithMuch about the gospel. Afraid in the Pilgrim’s Progress. Maybe after all these years, the truth of the gospel is changing my timid disposition. A while back, was in Wheaton for the weekend. n those few brief days, I made it to My Half of the Sky, Mai Thai Cafe I heard from several folks about the wonderful Thursday and Gia Mia’s. The best part was the joy of worshiping again communion service this past Easter season. It was good to at 332 E. Seminary Ave. As I walked around the corner from hear of the sweet fellowship around the table of the King. where I had parked, I saw again the brass plaque on the Our church held a Good Friday service - a very uncommon tower reminding me that this church is “Proclaiming the experience for southerners. Because we only have access Gospel.( What a simple message with serious rami4cations. to a building on Sundays, we held it outside along a lake. The more complex our world gets, the more divided and We brought over the cross we usually put up on Sundays confused, the more a clear gospel call is welcomed. and I draped it in black cloth. It was delightfully warm. The plan was to end the Good Friday service in silence, but it Does the expression, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the quickly became apparent that people wanted to linger there tree,” apply to church plants? If it means that the church contemplating the message of Christ’s death on our behalf. plant in Atlanta has the same gospel DNA as College Again, the gospel was proclaimed, and lives were changed. Church, the answer is yes. We are all about the gospel. If any sweet Georgia peaches make it up to Chicago this And that has created another adjustment to being in the summer, may they remind you to pray for us and God’s gospel south—proclaiming the gospel so that it is truly heard. In work in our lives and the lives of the folks he sends our way. case you didn’t know, everyone in the south is a Christian. A handyman we hired to install our appliances told us proudly that he had his “gospel ticket” to get into heaven. He wondered why his sister was so averse to getting one. “It doesn’t hurt to have a little insurance.” I have made friends with a woman who can’t make it through a conversation without adding swear words for emphasis. Yet she told me she sends her children to a Christian school, so they can get the Bible stu .( We do a lot of talkin about the gospel down here, but not a lot of living it. So, when Zach and the leadership team were working on a tag line for our church, they knew it needed to be both gospel-centered and life-focused. Now, happily framed on
7
