Life is Better Together
Life is better together. I heard those words the first time I walked through the doors of Summit seven years ago. And the moment I heard them I knew, and could feel, that they were true.
My family had just moved from Indiana to Orlando for work, but had left our friends, family, church community, and support system back in the Hoosier state. And we were feeling disconnected and, honestly, a bit overwhelmed by that fact. We realized, maybe even before we left snowy Indiana for sunny Florida, that we needed others. Life was indeed better with others and we were hoping that we would again find people to do life with. And whether it's a move across the country, a change of jobs, the beginning of a new school year at a new school, or entering a new season of life, change has a way of reminding us all that life is better together. It is always better to have a first call when it is time to celebrate and a first call when it is time to lament. We are wired up to do life together.
That fact, which often times is easy to feel, is one of the threads that bind all of the scriptures. From Genesis 3 – the moment people first walked away from life together with God, the moment people began hiding from each other in shame – to the end of the scriptures where we see God putting all things back to right, and people again being fully with God and fully with and for each other, we see a movement from isolation to community. From hiding from each other to doing life together.
This is part of why we are a multi-site church and invite people to take part in living the vision of Summit at the campus nearest to where you live.
@@There is value in being able to do life together not just for an hour a week but throughout the week.@@
There is value in being able to invite your neighbors into what God is doing in your life in part through the community you are part of – a community that gathers just a few minutes from your home.
There is value in being able to connect with others that live and do life where you live and do life - to be able to gather in homes throughout the week, but also to be able to go to the football game on Friday night in your shared part of town.
There is value in being able to serve others and add value to your neighborhood to make it a better reflection of what God intended when he created the world good.
There is value in doing life together. Because life is better together.
If you are interested in joining a Summit Connect group and finding a group in which to do life with, find out more information here.
Garry Abbott, the Herndon Campus Pastor, is also responsible for the formation and oversight of new Summit multi-site campuses. If you'd like to contact Garry about multi-site development, the movie "Hoosiers", or anything at all, he would love to hear from you at gabbott@summitconnect.org.