To God be the Glory, great things He has done.

(a message given to my church on my last Sunday)
It began with a dream
New Heights began with a dream. A dream to create a community for real people who needed to know how much they mattered to God. A dream to create an experience for people who had little or no religious background. A dream to bring the most exciting message in the world to a generation that has largely given up on the church.
It began with a dream.
It is our passionate hope that you will feel this can be a dream you could follow too. We believe God has made each one for a reason, on purpose ... for a mission.
Welcome to the adventure. May you truly climb to new heights!
NH was built on this dream. A dream that a handful of folks shared 11 years ago. One Sunday in March it set sailed.
Our second Sunday in, a retired pastor told us it wouldn't survive year. The structure was all wrong.
Turns out he was wrong. What he didn't understand was that when God builds something – its built to last.
We hit a couple of rough storms over the years, storms that could have easily sunk the ship.
But we didn't sink.
Why, because we knew that God was our captain, and that He was in control of the ship – He guided us through the storms to safe harbor.
Several years in, someone asked: so when are we going to be a real church
A real church????
what does that mean exactly?
I pondered this question all week.
You see, when we built this ship, We knew that it wouldn't be pretty. It was intentional that it be real and raw. That people came before programs.
It was about community.
There is a difference between 'doing' church and 'being' church. We never wanted to do church. Its easy to do church. Put a structure together, have a ton of programs, build a bigger building, measure success on numbers attending and how much is in the offering. Polished, well run, phony.
But 'being' the church is much harder. Being the church involves getting your hands dirty. Its about relationships, not results. It means getting involved in the lives of others, laughing with them in good times and crying with them in hard times. Sharing our faith in God with others.
It means facing the real, raw stuff that happens in real life.
Real life is hard, its messy. Its where we all live. Its uncomfortable. Its ugly.
It doesn't fit into neat little packages. Its not always black and white. There are gray areas. Its real and raw.
We didn't always get it right. We screwed up many times. But we keep sailing; living, learning, forgiving, moving onward.
Over the years we have been criticized and mocked, but still the ship is afloat. To this day we still have folks who accuse us of 'cheap grace'. People who take pot shots at us consistently, trying to put a hole in the hull. It doesn't work – inspite of our 'realness' God has built a strong ship.
I have had the privilege of co-piloting this ship for many years. Its time now to step aside. Perhaps I'm a little sea sick! I need some shore leave.
I still believe in the dream God gave us 11 years ago.
I want to leave you all with a challenge for the next leg of your journey.
Don't lose sight of the dream. It is a good dream. A God given dream.
That being said, don't be afraid to dream more dreams. To let God show you big dreams for the next 11 years.
Don't lose your heart. Put people before programs. Relationships before results.
Always remember the shipwrecked. The folks who for whatever reason are
damaged, alone, wounded, hurt. Set sail, and be intentional about looking for those folks. Bring them on board. Care for them. Restore them to health. Don't set your course for calm waters, picking up the wounded along the way. Rather set your course straight into the storms of life with the intention of seeking out the shipwrecked.
Get dirty. Reach out. Get involved. Be passionate.
Re-evaluate what the priorities are in your life. Its not about bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger vacations, being comfortable in the church pews on Sunday.
Take a risk for God.
Don't settle for doing church. Be the church.
This ship is still afloat because God wants it afloat. He built it, His Hands are on the wheel. He knows where its headed. There will no doubt be more rough seas ahead, but God will not let the ship go down.
It is strong because of Him. It is here because He wants it here. Nothing can sink it if you allow Him to captain the ship.