Exchange Stories: John and Alex Testimony

I’ve been away from Blogging since Christmas. Life has been busy in trying to grow a new church and disciple the people that God has given to my care. Here’s a short testimonial from John and Alex on how God is changing their lives through The Exchange Community.

Gospel Identites

In our new church in Jackson, Missouri, The Exchange Community, we spend three weeks talking about God’s Identity.  We just finished four weeks talking about our Identity in the Gospel.  We believe you always need to begin with Who God is, What he’s done through the person and work of Jesus Christ, and Who we are because of it, and then What we should do.  If you get this messed up, you’ll live a life full of stress, regrets, and worries.

Family Identity

Missionary Identity

Servant Identity

Disciple Identity

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We owe much to Soma Communities for these teachings and Identities.

Identity: God

So we recently did a series at our new church in Jackson, Mo, The Exchange Community called Identity.  Here are the messages from that series.

Identity: Father

Identity: Son

Identity: Spirit

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Why In The World We Would Want To Start A New Church

Our new church, The Exchange Community is starting its weekly gatherings this Sunday, September 8th, at 9am.  We’ll be meeting at The Creative Edge, at  160 N Enterprise Ln, Jackson, Mo 63755.  I think we are going to cook a brunch afterwards for anyone who would like to stick around.  More will come as we solidify plans for the meal.

• What is the common perception of the church today?
• What do you see that’s wrong with the church?
• What is good about the church?
• What do you think the church should be like?

New Church In South East Missouri

Our new church, The Exchange Community, has been meeting monthly through the summer.  We’ve had three worship gatherings.  We’ve had many people, who haven’t been to church in a long time, come and check us out.  We are now taking that next step of faith by starting a weekly worship gathering on September 8th at the Creative Edge.

Through the summer we talked about the three values of a GCM Collective church:

1. What is The Gospel?
2. True Community
3. The Mission of God.

Unfortunately, we had audio problems and so we don’t have a video for our messages on the Gospel and Mission.

We will talk on September 8th on Why a New Church?  We will talk about why in, of all places, South East Missouri, do we need a new church?  You’ll get an understanding of the come-as-you are culture that we’re trying to create.  You’ll see what makes this new church community distinct amongst the other churches in our communities.  You’ll also see why this new type of church is needed.

Please pray for us as we start this new church to reach many more people with the love and message of Jesus Christ.

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Check out other posts about The Exchange Community:

• New Church: The Exchange Community (Explains our name)
• What is a Missional Community and Why Should I Join One?
• How Should We Dress When We Go To The Exchange?
• Should I Bring My Kids To The Exchange Community?

True Community

The Exchange Community had its second monthly gathering. The first service we talked about the Gospel. In this gathering we talked about True Community.

Our third and final monthly gathering will be August 28th at the Creative Edge.  Then we’ll start weekly gatherings starting the 8th of September.  Please pray that God would continue to grow his church and lead us in discipling those we reach.

Should I Bring My Kids To The Exchange Community?

Jesus said,

Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these. ~Matthew 19:14

We Love Our Children!   Yet sometimes it’s difficult to get anything out of a message or to worship when our kids just won’t cooperate.  For some the option has been for one parent to keep the kids at home or to send them to a Sunday school class during the worship gathering.  Yet, in these cases, our children never learn the importance of having a rhythm of worship.

We offer an age appropriate story, activity, and snack for our smaller children during our message time.  This way they get to worship with their family yet also hear a message at their own level.  Just have you children sit with you and we’ll call all the children right before the message and bring them back before the closing song.

We also have a little room for parents with small children to use if necessary.

Here are a few suggestions to help you engage and teach your child about the worship gathering:

• Before worship, talk to your child about why we worship God.  Because of the great love that God has shown us through Jesus, we want to give thanks to Him and learn more about his love.
• Communicate your behavior expectations before the gathering begins.
• Have your child do the things you do, stand, fold hands, pray, etc.
• Follow along with them in the bible reading for the day.
• Especially if your children are too old for our kids Corner, sit close to the front so the child can visually engage with the speaker.
• work on elements of the gathering at home with them: The Lord’s Prayer, Apostles Creed, and frequently used songs, etc.
• Talk about the good things that happened at the gathering.   Ask your children, “What did you learn about God?”, “What did you learn about his love?”, “What did you learn about Jesus?”, “What Story did they talk about in Kids Corner?”
• Pick up a, “Jesus Story Book Bible” at the local bookstore or in the back of church to help you teach your children about Jesus during the rest of the week.
• Teach them the gathering is just part of the Christian Life.   Join a Missional Community to show them how God’s people follow Jesus together and Show his love through.

What is a Missional Community and Why Should I Join One?

We all have a deep-set yearning for a better world, to be intimately connected to our creator, to see justice and harmony between one another, to live at peace with ourselves, and to see a day when sickness, aging, disease, and death are no more.  We believe this is what God intended for us – that we were created to live in a perfect world and to take pleasure in a perfect relationship with God.  We also believe that the whole creation is no longer what it once was.  It is now groaning and breaking because of rebellion (sin) against God.  Since that day, God has been on a mission to restore all things unto himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The Church is community comprised of those that God has already reconciled to himself and have made His family.  God has chosen to work His mission through them to spread his message and show his love so that others are restored to God as well. Our Missional Communities are the primary way that we mobilize God’s people for His mission.

WHAT IS A MISSIONAL COMMUNITY?

A Missional Community is NOT primarily a small group, Bible Study. Support group, prayer group, activist group, or weekly meeting.  It may entail these elements, but rather…

A Missional Community is a family of committed believers who live out the mission of God in a specific community.  They build up each other in the Gospel and share it with others.  They show the Gospel through serving others and restoring what is broken in our communities. 

WHY ARE MISSIONAL COMMUNITIES NEEDED?

We, at The Exchange, believe that faith grows in motion.  We grow our most in our journey with God when we are walking together in authentic and challenging relationships.  Our Missional Communities (MCs) help people to get to know God and are the vehicle through which we share His Message and serve our community. 

We also believe that people seeking God are also looking for a people who are show the radical love of the God they profess. For the unbeliever, that’s the test if the God we believe in could possibly be real.  Because of Christ’s great love in saving us, we strive to be that people who embody the love of Jesus through serving the community and sharing our lives together.  Each of our MCs will focus not only on learning God’s Story, but learning to live it as well through serving others and sharing the Good News of Jesus.

When we look at the Bible, God called his church the light of the world, a city on a hill, a kingdom of priests.  We’re saved into a community, a family, called the church.  In the book of acts we see a group of people living life together, mutually committed to one another and to the mission of God.  God used His church greatly in the book of Acts because the whole community gave a collective witness to the life, love, and message of Jesus.  Our MCs are the primary way that we partner with the Holy Spirit in to further the mission of God in our area.

EACH MISSIONAL COMMUNITY WILL:

1. Be led by a team of committed leaders dedicated to shepherding, equipping, and organizing their community into mission.
2. Grow in their understanding and application of the Gospel
3. To be the church throughout the week by living out the rhythms of a family on mission together (story formed, listen, celebrate, eat, bless, recreate)
4. Identify, equip, and release new leaders to begin new missional communities.

How To Get Involved

Come to one of our worship services

Like our Facebook Page

Email us @ TheExchangeSemo@gmail.com

Update: Originally the wrong email as on this post.  If you’ve emailed us before and didn’t get an answer, please use the address above.  Thanks!