For the Institute of Kingdom Living participants, the past couple of months have been a journey through the Gospels, looking intimately into how Jesus and His kingdom way intersect into our world and lives. It has been a period of extended wrestling with God as we filter our world view through the lens of the words, actions and attitudes of Jesus. His invitation to us to follow Him in a new way, the kingdom way, has been shaping our processing together, whether through dialogue in class, riding a city bus, sharing prayer and life together, or reading books that we don't necessarily agree with. It is tiring to wrestle, but it is a good tired.

For the next couple of weeks, Ben Thomas will be leading us through an intensive study of the Old Testament.  From that, we go right into an extended period of sabbath reflection.  In the words of Eugene Peterson, we will create uncluttered time and space to distance ourselves from the frenzy of our own activities, so we can see what God has been and is doing. The ladies of IKL will be in Florida November 8-12, walking their way through the concept of being present in the presence of God.  This time of silence, solitude, story sharing, and early morning yoga on the beach will be guided by Kelly Mitchell, Nicole Krajewski and Laura Zigler. Additionally, the women will be reflecting on the books “Allure of Hope” and “The Way of the Heart.” 

November 13-18, the men of IKL will walk through the Paria Canyon on a 55-mile backpacking pilgrimage. This time will be guided by Larry and Aram Mitchell.  Please be in prayer for hearts and minds to be keenly attuned to hearing God in both the silence and in the sharing of life and story with fellow pilgrims.  Below are pictures of the Canyon where the men will spend their sabbath.

Common Ground is a host site for GRACE (God's Real Acceptance Compassion and Encouragement), a Bible study for post-abortive women, sponsored by The Central Indiana Crisis Pregnancy Center.

The study is for women who have experienced some degree of remorse or regret, and who want to learn God’s way of love and forgiveness. It is also appropriate for women dealing with Post-Abortion Syndrome. Symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome include guilt, depression or anxiety, self-abuse/self-destructive behaviors and avoidance of anything remindful or pregnancy or children. A study is also available for men.

GRACE will meet at our Midtown location for eight weeks on Tuesday nights from 7 pm until 9 pm beginning on Tuesday, January 14.  They will also meet on one Saturday, January 19, from approximately 9 am to 3 pm. If you are interested, but unable to attend on Tuesdays, information is available on studies at other locations.To register, or for more information, please contact Jennifer Thompson at 353.0614 or jennifer_thompson0913@yahoo.com.

The Hurry house church realized they had 4 or 5 serious photographers within their group.  With so many people sharing the same gift, they searched for a way to use their talent to connect with their community. What they came up with was a way to serve – they decided to engage in a photography outreach to the families living in the neighborhood where they met each week. Specifically, they decided to set a date and time to shoot free family photos for their neighbors. They even planned to provide food for the participants - they were using their gifts – moving to action in their neighborhood.

The week before the event, they put together flyers advertising the photos and food and passed them out to the houses on the block. They served hot dogs with soda and chips, and had 5-6 families participate. The pictures turned out great, and they were able to fellowship with additional neighbors who just stopped by and enjoyed some food.

While this was the first photography outreach for the Hurry house church, they had an opportunity to get to know some of their neighbors and hope to hold another event in the future. Check out the pictures below from the event.

Common Ground will hold regularly scheduled services on Sunday, December 23 at both our Midtown and West locations. In addition, we will hold Christmas Eve Services at our current Midtown location (6151 N. Central Avenue) at 5:30 pm and 7 pm on Monday, December 24. While children’s ministry will not be provided on December 24, children of all ages are encouraged to participate in this shortened service. We hope you’ll make plans to join us on Christmas Eve.

Also, don’t forget that the worship team released recordings of our live Christmas services from December 2005. These MP3’s are available for free on our website.