GFC Community,

In his book, A Praying Life (excellent book, by the way), Paul Miller says, “If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life.” Ouch! I think he’s so right. Often, at the root of prayerlessness is an attitude of self-sufficiency. And it’s subtle. It’s not that we don’t want God’s help; it’s that we don’t live with a deep, abiding sense of desperation that if God doesn’t help us, we’re in big trouble.

As we engage our new vision – Broken and Vulnerable People Experiencing Life in Christ – we want to live with two feet firmly planted in the reality that we need God’s help. We are not self-sufficient! And my hope is that a posture of dependence will be one of the things that marks us in this next season of the life of our church.

Last night, over a hundred GFCers gathered to express our need to God through corporate prayer, and it was awesome! For those who couldn’t make it and are curious, go here to see some of what we prayed about.

I can’t wait to see what God has for us over the coming months as we pursue the vision that He has laid on our hearts. If you missed it, last week on the GFC Podcast, we had a conversation about some of the ways the vision will get fleshed out in the life of our church. As I mentioned on August 6 when I shared about this new direction, this is way bigger than programs and events; it’s about the kind of people we want to be. And my hope is that God is already working in our hearts in a fresh way to enable us “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:18), a love for broken and vulnerable people like us! And that the love of Jesus keeps transforming us into the kind of people who invite other broken and vulnerable people to experience life in Him.

Grateful to be part of this community with you,

Matt Murphy
Lead Pastor

P.S. Last week, we started a new series, Beautiful Mess, exploring Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (if you missed the message, watch here). I hope you will join us this Sunday as we look at what some scholars refer to as the thesis of the whole book. I’ve titled the message How To Kill A Church…. See you Sunday!