At the beginning of the vision series, I wanted God to use me but I felt very unclear about what He wanted me to do. Even after several weeks of praying about it, I still didn't understand how God was going to use me and I was beginning to get frustrated.

When I heard about the building project, I knew I wanted to be a part of it and commit to give. Since I'm a Realtor though, my monthly income fluctuates a lot and there's absolutely no way to know how much I'll make. Still, I kept praying and spending time discussing things with my vision series group.

Then two weeks ago in church, I felt the Lord telling me that He wanted me to give half of everything He gives me specifically to the building fund. In an instant, a flood of feelings came over me. First I was excited that God had answered my prayers, and then wowed with what He had led me to give. Then I was ready to answer His call. Very surprisingly, I was never scared or uncomfortable at all, because I knew what I needed to do. It feels so good to pray for, anticipate, obey, and praise God's will being done.

Since that day in church, God has shown me that I've been trying to keep things for myself. In the past, I was always happy to give when my worldly wants were first taken care of, but now God is showing me the meaning of dying to myself and being willing to give up 100% of everything for the sake of His kingdom.

The building hasn't even been started yet, but God has already done so many awesome things! I've never been a part of anything like this in my life and I feel tremendously blessed that God has put me right here, right now to be part of what He's doing in Austin.

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"I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of the Vision Series small group curriculum. I couldn't put it down. After I completed the first two lessons, I had to go sit on a hill overlooking the city as I finished the booklet. It's full of Truth that changed my perspective of my relationship with my neighbors and the city of Austin. And it's given me tools to move from knowing the Truth to living the Truth. This is an excellent resource for creating missional communities in our city. I'm already sending it to friends who also want to see God renew and redeem their cities."

 

Groups last for six weeks and meet in neighborhoods all across Austin most nights of the week. Read more about groups or use our Group Finder to find one near you.

I [Joey] recently wrote an article working through how becoming a church for the city will lead to us also being a church that influences the nations. Read the article [PDF].

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As The Austin Stone has grown over the last few years, God has steadily refined for us what he wants to accomplish through us. During this year's Vision Series we'll consider our role and context as a church in central Austin.

In Jeremiah 29, the prophet writes to people of Israel who were exiled in Babylon. The Israelites understood their standing as a people set apart for God, but they were forced to live in the midst of a lost and broken city. Then, just as now, God's people would often tend to take a position on one of two ends of the spectrum.

On one extreme we tend to segregate, taking our own wealth and livelihood from the economy and social structure of the city while separating ourselves so as to not be affected by (or relevant to) a broken society with broken people.

At the other extreme, we may assimilate into the norms and then the beliefs of the culture, ultimately becoming so much a part of the culture around us that the affections of our hearts move away from God toward those most valued by secular society.

Instead of these extremes, God, through the prophet Jeremiah, tells the Israelites to take a position with respect to the city that is against their most natural responses. "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare," he says in Jer 29:7. In short, they were to take ownership of the renewal and redemption of the city.

We are convinced that God's called us to do the same. We must intertwine our destinies - cast our lot in with the city. We must be FOR the city. Our goal is city-wide transformation. We want to see God not just make a great Austin Stone, but a great Austin.

Yes, a permanent building is going to be required for us to move forward toward this vision. But make no mistake; without this vision there is no need for a building. This vision is much larger than a building; it's about what God desires to accomplish through our obedience in working for the welfare of the city. This comes first.

The building project, just like the vision it will help us to achieve, is for others, not just for us. When a building is built and we move in one day, it will not signify that we have "arrived" but only that we've only just begun.

As you get your mind and heart around this, pray for God to work in ways that match the greatness of the calling He has placed on us.