Update from Christ Church

SIDE BY SIDE

Update from Christ Church, South Metro Atlanta

Lois Krogh

There were some adjustments to be made when we moved to be a part of College Church’s church plant here in South Metro Atlanta. Of course, we expected it to be hot. And it is. When I wrote this update, the temperature hit 100 degrees, and officially was still spring. We also had heard about the bugs, but not about the bugs that are so small they are called No See Ums. You may not see them, but you cannot ignore their bites.

Thankfully, there was no adjustment to finding a church since we brought the church with us. We don’t have the building College Church has or the outstanding music or crowds of people, but we do have the core. We are all about the gospel.

A while back, I was in Wheaton for the weekend. In those few brief days, I made it to My Half of the Sky, Mai Thai Cafe and Gia Mia’s. The best part was the joy of worshiping again at 332 E. Seminary Ave. As I walked around the corner from where I had parked, I saw again the brass plaque on the tower reminding me that this church is “Proclaiming the Gospel.” What a simple message with serious ramifications. The more complex our world gets, the more divided and confused, the more a clear gospel call is welcomed.

Does the expression, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” apply to church plants? If it means that the church plant in Atlanta has the same gospel DNA as College Church, the answer is yes. We are all about the gospel.

And that has created another adjustment to being in the south—proclaiming the gospel so that it is truly heard. In 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 stuff.” 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 my mantel is the phrase, “All of Life in Light of the Gospel.” We constantly ask ourselves what it looks like to believe the gospel and to have the truths of the gospel influence every area of our lives. Knowing that Christians are counted as righteous before God should lead to a decreasing fear of man’s opinion of us. For me, this has pushed me outside my comfort zone to join our neighborhood women’s supper club without worrying about what they might think of me.

The Lord has brought many young people to our church. One young woman asked if she could get together with me this summer because she was taken with my confidence. I almost laughed out loud. I have always identified with Much Afraid in the Pilgrim’s Progress. Maybe after all these years, the truth of the gospel is changing my timid disposition.

I heard from several folks about the wonderful Thursday communion service this past Easter season. It was good to hear of the sweet fellowship around the table of the King. Our church held a Good Friday service - a very uncommon experience for southerners. Because we only have access to a building on Sundays, we held it outside along a lake. We brought over the cross we usually put up on Sundays and I draped it in black cloth. It was delightfully warm. The plan was to end the Good Friday service in silence, but it quickly became apparent that people wanted to linger there contemplating the message of Christ’s death on our behalf. Again, the gospel was proclaimed, and lives were changed.

If any sweet Georgia peaches make it up to Chicago this summer, may they remind you to pray for us and God’s gospel work in our lives and the lives of the folks he sends our way.