Intangible

Love Securit y Happiness Purpose Comfor t

Mercy Health Justice Value Peace Compassion

Vision Hope Community Light Safety Joy Truth

Tangible
Compared to 3 million people in

Denver, the number of people in

hope & despair

You
Adullam is silly to mention.

The goal isn’t to attract Christian

are
people to a worship service but
If you’re like us, you’ve gone down with a
to be the faithful church in small ship or two trying to make the Kingdom
story tangible. Maybe you’ve abandoned
pockets throughout the city. the boat and are treading water, hoping a
rescue vessel will appear. Or, you’re already
sitting up on the rocks, sopping wet, staring
off into theological oblivion, wondering
Go. Create places of inclusive how much of the the ancient story can
really be true for today. Maybe you’ve
community where God’s captained one of these ships and, without
knowing it, found yourself sailing toward
alternative Kingdom can irrelevance. You have people on board, but
they seem to have lost their heart.
be experienced.
 Our purpose is simple: we want to talk to you about the church. THE CALL OF THE CHURCH
We want to let you know that the unsettling feelings you are
experiencing are ones that hundreds of thousands
of people are also working through. We also want to give
Our story is simple: as a bunch of friends living in you hope and a real-life picture of a preferred future.
Denver who were committed to live out ancient ways
in a modern context of community, communion,
and mission, we suddenly found ourselves in the
company of followers, most of whom did not come
from a meaningful church background or any church
background at all.
Creating To Find and Help
Incarnational Others Find God’s
Beautiful City
CommunityTHE POSTURE AND PRACTICES OF ANCIENT CHURCH NOW
 Things we have:
1. good friends
2. good food

Missional
3. good times

Things we don’t have:

1. all the answers

Incarnational
Each evening after the church planting training sessions, we headed out to
Things we care about: grab dinner and ended up frequenting an Irish pub in Queens. Over several
1. becoming a part nights we got to know a few of the waitresses and some of their stories
of God’s people about growing up in Ireland.
2. Living out the Gospel
3. Being more like Jesus These two words together describe an orientation toward the ancient faith One young waitress, Fiona, shared about her religious upbringing in
communities described in the Book of Acts and throughout history, who lived a Northern Ireland. As you can imagine, she seemed to have some faith in
countercultural, communal experience that always influenced the cultures in which God, but she wasn’t too fond of Protestants, Catholics, or the church.
Things we don’t care about:
1. bigger buildings they found themselves.
2. bigger crowds The Yankees were in the playoffs, and the place was packed. I walked in
These missional/incarnational communities were therefore the natural framework and headed toward the bar looking for a seat. As I made my way deeper
3. bigger budgets God’s church was and must still be built upon if we are to continue their rich legacy into the crowd, I heard Fiona calling two bartenders over to meet me.
of making apprentices of Jesus worldwide. Although small and unsanctioned, these “This is the guy I was telling you about,” she said. “You’ve got to hear how
early communities were powerful and authoritative. Although they were on the he talks about God.”
run and decentralized, they were organized and strategic. Although they didn’t
know much about starting or growing churches, they did both naturally. Church Suffice it to say, you don’t get that type of enthusiasm from most church
just happened, and it was deeply meaningful. members. At that introduction, the room split to make room for me.
 Over the course of the next few hours,
I got to share a bit of my story and listen to theirs. I began to cry. Harder than I’ve ever cried. Heaving tears, shaking
As the bar thinned out, the bartenders invited uncontrollably. I had to sit down on the dirty curb and put my hands over
me to help them clean up. Eventually, everyone my head so no one would see me. I’m sure I looked like a drunk puking in the
was gone except Fiona, a few other waitresses, street. I suddenly knew what God was doing.
bartenders, and the owner. We all sat around one
table as they asked one question after another. I knew he was saying I could trust him again with my son’s health, that I
could trust him with our finances again, that he’d just been in that pub with
Their questions were so sincere, their anger so me, and therefore, there was no better place for me to be.
justified. Yes, they were jaded, too, but their
intrigue with me seemed honest and open. The call was clear.
I knew I couldn’t talk about church.
I knew I couldn’t share the four spiritual laws or
tell them I was a pastor. I just talked about the
only thing I knew they might like: Jesus and the
alternative world he called the “Kingdom of God.”

It was just before 6:00 a.m. as I opened the heavy The Twin Towers had just gone down; the world seemed fragile at best.
pub door to head back to my hotel. The sun was Golf, fishing, the comfort of my custom home, perfectly popped popcorn,
just starting to creep out above the buildings. and shifting the burden of people onto someone else seemed like luxuries
I would gladly give up for this feeling of being fully alive and fully engaged.
As soon as the door slammed behind me,
I met God again. The call was to get back in the game. To enter the tension again!

The voice was about his church again.

 Today was Sunday, and the day began with our Adullam gathering at
a local community center...
About 10:00 a.m., more friends started to show up. Some brought
other friends, some brought food to share, and some just came in.
Our collective community is a strange mix of rednecks, professional
athletes, Bronco cheerleaders, seminary students, young suburban
couples, a herd of kids and babies, many single urbanites, and a
handful of empty nesters who keep us in check For the first 25
minutes, nobody sat down. Everyone just enjoyed waking up together
with coffee, conversation, and the sound of our kids running all over.
Then we shared some scripture, song, and communion, and one of
our young interns told us about a mission to Zimbabwe and another
to Nicaragua that we’ve all been drawn into.
I left with a sense that everyone was glad they had been
together. I went home to watch the last round of the British
Open. As I settled into what I thought would be a five-hour
‘‘nap-golf extravaganza,’’ the doorbell rang.
It was Biker lenny, asking if his
friends (a local gang of pirates)
could see our puppies.
Now, I don’t want you to miss this picture. Lenny and his
friends, half of whom were women, have enough ink in their
collective tattoos to overflow the printer cartridges for two
hundred HP Office Jets. They all look like a cross between ZZ
Top and Howard Stern, and that includes the ladies!
Thanks to the magic of TiVo and the leading of the
As we sat outside in our garage, some played with the
puppies and the other ones looked over my Harley. Toward Holy Spirit, I was able to leave the British Open and
the end of our time, I got the invitation that I’d been asking head off with Captain Jack Sparrow and his band
God about for the past six months. They asked me to ride
with them! Finally.
of bikers to the thunderous sound of six Hogs...
they in their black leather and bandanas, and me
in my church shorts and flip flops.
 This day sums up our hope
for you. This day was just
life as usual, and yet it
was filled to the brim with
What we’re learning is that God’s church can
After the ride, thinking that my day was over, I headed to my local think
spot, only to be interrupted by a phone call from a couple who used
to live next door to us. One of their daughters wanted to be baptized
beautiful expressions of be natural, and it will emerge anywhere an
outside, and they couldn’t find a church that would do this. Her mother
had remembered us from a couple years back and found my number. I
God’s Tangible Kingdom. incarnational community exists.
told her I’d be honored to baptize her daughter and invited them to our
lakeside baptism gathering to be held a few weeks later.
Very little was planned, and
the best parts came as
divine interruptions to my People will always be drawn to people
who look, smell, and behave like Jesus,

normally self-focused life.

and if you’re committed to caring
for people who move toward Christ
through you, church will become a labor
of love for you, as well. Fresh faces, new
stories, and a web of relationships will
witness to the tangible world Jesus
called his Kingdom.
 to get involved making the
kingdom tangible, fill out this to find out more & join our story
form and give it to your pastor go to www.TangibleKingdom.com
or leadership team to order the TK Primer group study HUGH HALTER MATT SMAY
go to www.TangibleKingdom.com/primer
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