praxis

Brian McLaren says, “What you focus on determines what you miss.” As we look through the Bible, we can pinpoint certain topics and focus on them more than others (predestination, prosperity, salvation as a momentary act, the poor, war, peace, sin, etc.). This section explores what it means pragmatically for our community to encourage others to live good and true lives, seeking God as revealed through Christ.

We are a community of faith, hope, and love for all people. We are particularly sensitive to those who have been turned off by religion or Christianity. These are people who haven’t found what they are looking for, but keep searching, and those who have tasted of it, but know there is so much more. It is Case Mountain Community’s desire to engage the Manchester region. This means perceiving what the Spirit is doing in the lives of people in this land and then experiencing life together with them. The people we encounter, and who become associated with our Community, run the gamut spiritually. Some are rich in God, some desperately separated, and most somewhere in between. We desire to be good neighbors in light of being lovers of God. Our neighbors could be the bartender at the pub down the road, the lady walking along the street, a family in the park, or a single in a local restaurant. It’s in these spectrums that the Lord has called us to live. Our hope is that people are drawn closer to Christ through relational interactions at Case Mountain Community. God allows natural interactions to form acquaintances, cautious bonds, and deep friendships. We sense that these are the foundations of authentic Community.

Case Mountain Community Church is a group of people that daily lives in the grace and mercy of God. We are regular people who desire to share God to as many in the world as we can by living authentic lives. Christ desires the poor people, the rich people, the widows, the “average” teen/young adult, the elderly, the “dysfunctional,” the sick, the lost, the lovely and beautiful, the disgusting and perverse, the un-knowing, the down-and-out, and the-together. Classifying people like this falls to pieces in light of God’s mercy and grace, and in this reality we strive to live as acceptingly as possible.

We spend time in deep conversation with our neighbors, nurturing friendships. This is how the bonds of Community are formed and maintained. Parties, picnics, BBQ’s, quick chats in the store, hanging out just-because, etc., cultivate the environment of these conversations. We invite our neighbors and share deep thoughts over a meal. We snow plow with them and pray with them when their wives have migraines; or, in other words, we naturally connect in the day-to-day. During these times people are able to tell their stories and others are there to listen. Case Mountain Community Church listens people to free speech, in that the environment we create causes them to better express themselves. The Spirit weaves in and out of lives and we want to be attentive to this movement. We wish to hear the depths of our friends and understand their frailties, strengths, happiness, and pain. Free speech expression happens during our gatherings, and could include a story, a discussion on theology, sharing a struggle, coffee talk, a phone call, an email, or possibly blog interactions. Listening is difficult work, but as a foundation to the Case Mountain Community, it’s a core conviction for us.

Listening is a prerequisite for loving. God has bestowed unconditional love to us; likewise we must bestow unconditional love to His people. This means that no matter what, we love them for who they are and what they have been through. Some members of the Community might use foul language and yet grace is larger. They may make major moral blunders or even espouse heresy, and yet God has not forfeited them. Our hope is not that we ourselves change the person, but to listen to her or his story and allow God to move in his or her life. This hope is not passive, but intentional and active. It is the venue for heart, soul, mind, and even circumstantial transformations. During these times, and throughout life at Case Mountain, we admit that we have faults and issues, and yet we strive to live God’s healing power as being greater than the depths of our inadequacies. His Word says that He will restore everything, and this is the hope that (in Community) attracts people to their God.

Case Mountain Community Church is a local congregation seeking God and what He is doing in the community we find ourselves in. Jesus lived and walked among the people; likewise, the people of Case Mountain Community Church live and walk within the Manchester region. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to holistically love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Case Mountain Community participants strive to live by these two commandments. We understand that it is God’s job to judge, convict, and restore; it’s our job to reveal Jesus to others, and that is by His Holy Spirit. We want to be an instrument of blessing in the Manchester area that as a Community brings salvation in its totality.

We help when needed. People in our Community have needs and God provides for us to meet them. This may mean to help them move, buy food, baby sit so that the parents can go on a date, or even to take them out for coffee and a conversation. It is bringing about peace in a real sense. We focus on other people, listening to them, loving them, and helping them when needed because our hope is that as we are living authentic lives around others, God will bring transformation and restoration of their hearts, minds, and souls.