I stood looking over the rooftops of Kathmandu, Nepal to the foothills of the Himilayas listening to the song, “God of this City” on my iPod. After experiencing Kathmandu for only two days, it was obvious God is in control and His presence is real and strong there.

 

As part of a team of seven on a vision trip to Nepal through ServLife International, my eyes were opened to the love and compassion God has for His children all over the world. In Kathmandu, He has given Lazarus, a third generation Nepali Christian, the vision to train pastors. Through the Nepal ServLife Training School, pastors are equipped to plant churches in more than 3,000 villages throughout Nepal that have yet to be reached by the Gospel. We had the opportunity to pray for Lazarus, the training school and those who will be sent out to plant churches.

 

God continues to care for the children of Nepal by raising up people like Udaya and Bhakti Bhatta to give a home, love, education and the knowledge of Jesus to orphaned, abandoned and neglected children. Udaya and Bhakti run the ServLife Children’s Home, one of two ServLife children’s homes in Kathmandu. The Nepal team installed a basketball goal for the children in addition to making crafts, balloon animals, singing, reading and playing games with them.

 

God is uniting people from various nations, including ServLife missionaries, to minister to and support the Christians and other people in Kathmandu. God continues to expose the falseness of other religions by growing a supportive, vibrant and loving Christian community in Nepal. The team participated in prayer gatherings and church services that were spirit filled and made up of very diverse groups of believers.

 

God, the father of Jesus Christ, is certainly the God of Kathmandu. So, in Indianapolis, what can you and I do for Nepal? First, we can pray for the ministries and people in Nepal including ServLife missionaries Mark, Jennifer, Shannon and Ellen. We can also pray for the ServLife Children’s Home and Nepal ServLife Training School. Next, we can financially support ServLife and other ministries that directly serve the people of Nepal. Go to www.servlife.org for more information. Finally, consider traveling to Nepal or on another vision trip so God can show you how He’s working in another part of the world.

 

To learn more about upcoming vision trips, please download an information sheet.

Do you have interest in music, music technology, technology or are just looking for a place to help out? We have opportunities for you on our audio and visual teams. Your commitment is once a month on a rotation where the audio tech runs the sound board and audio recording equipment during each service while the visual tech runs the slides (and video camera for our feed to the basement at Midtown). No experience is necessary and we offer training on an ongoing basis.

 

In addition to serving on Sunday, audio techs have the opportunity for paid work by running sound at weddings. You may select the weddings you want to work, so your schedule is flexible.

 

Want to learn more? Please contact audio@cground.org or video@cground.org for more information.

 

After much prayer and the forming of a church plant team we launched our first church plant in the spring of 2005. Fourteen people left jobs, family, friends and the “comforts of home” to follow God’s calling to start a church in Boulder, Colorado.

 

Since that time the church in Boulder, known as Roots Christian Church, has experienced a significant amount of challenge and growth – both numerically and spiritually. As we near the end of Common Ground's support for this church plant, it brings us joy to see them begin to function as an independent church.

 

Through this growing and maturing process, Roots has also been partnering with two other churches in Boulder. With this partnership has come conversation regarding what it would look like if they would combine efforts and form a unified body for the glory of God in Boulder. They began a several month process of intense prayer and consideration of that question. In the end, all three churches agreed it was from God, and would benefit what He is up to in Boulder.

 

This transition is currently in process and going well. The new church is known as The Collective, and below are a few updates and thoughts from Roots further explaining the rationale and how they hope it will bring glory to God.

 

 

The Collective is a redemptive community based in Boulder, Colorado. We are three church families (Roots, Origins and the Vineyard) that have united and are pioneering life in the way of Jesus. The movement began in November 2007 as each church’s primary leader discovered the opportunity for a cooperative relationship between the three communities.

 

We explored the unity that God was speaking to us and began to share worship experiences, servanthood projects and relational connections. As the journey continued, the leadership of our communities discerned that we were being drawn together for a purpose - called to unify our communities for the growth and health of Christ’s Church in Boulder. We dream of seeing an authentic movement of God’s redeeming love touch both our city and our world. We desire to see the Church rise up and constructively engage our culture with the transformational life and creed of Jesus.

 

Ethos: The character of our movement is defined by our relationships with God and with one another. All form we create originates from these relationships. As we discover who we are in God and find who we are meant to live life with, we see the church emerge among us. Right now we talk about five aspects of our community: Worship, Relationship, Learning, Generational, Missions and Justice.

 

Gatherings: We meet in a weekly worship gathering and in small groups. These two gatherings are in different environments that facilitate diverse experiences with God and one another. Our worship gathering is held on Sunday nights, while our small gatherings meet throughout the week in homes and around the city. We believe in intentionally sharing life together as a path for experiencing more of what it means to be the Church.

 

Leadership: The community is served by a team we call the Servant’s Council. This group, composed of biblical elders and deacons, meets monthly to pray, make decisions, lead and care for our church. As part of the Council, our three Overseers, Ramin Razavi, Keenan Tompkins and Brad Riley, function as our primary leadership team.

 

Website and Contact: As we transition we will be using the Origins Community website as our online meeting place and information center. As the name for the new community emerges, we will have a new site in place. For more information, visit www.originscommunity.com.

CGCC-West will hold its Sunday service at Eagle Creek Park on Sunday, September 14. Watch for more details regarding this outdoor worship gathering.

 

The next baby dedication is Sunday, September 7, 2008. If your child is between the ages of 0 and 18 months and you would like to participate, please contact Shawn. The deadline to register is August 29. For more information, please download the information sheet.

 

Are you reliable, in a house church, have a strong attention to detail and able to maintain confidentiality regarding donations and donors? The counting team is seeking volunteers for our 7 pm service at Midtown and 10 am service at CGCC-West. Accounting knowledge is not necessary – just a willingness to serve in this important role. Team members typically count once per month, and each week’s offering takes approximately 10 minutes to count per service. To learn more, please contact Stef.

 

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is looking for childcare providers for our upcoming session. We welcome men, women, young and old to join us in the celebration of guiding our children, our MOPPETS. Meetings are the first and third Friday mornings during the school year at Midtown. Please contact Carey Siegler to discuss details, questions and compensation.