Calling Lab
What's your CALLING?
The concept of “calling” has been discussed at length in the Church over the centuries, and all the more so in recent decades, it seems. The great “Who am I?” of our postmodern world instills a particular sense of urgency in our quest for clarity and understanding around our purpose in life. We ask, again and again at critical moments throughout our lives: ”What was I MADE to do?"
At the heart of this community and movement called The Commons is the conviction - rooted in the clear teaching of scripture - that each and every follower of Jesus is, by His grace, a bearer and conduit of the Holy Spirit of God. From the very beginning of the world, we find that God has created us ON purpose, and FOR a purpose. By the Holy Spirit, we are saved and sent into the world as witnesses of Christ and citizens of His Kingdom, uniquely called to put God's redeeming and restoring work on display in and through our lives. Altogether, this means that each and every Christian carries within themselves the very seed of the Church, God's embodied purpose in the world. Every Christian is called by God, uniquely and specifically, to follow Jesus into the cracks and crevices of our broken world that YOUR gifts, experiences, personality and circumstances make you uniquely suited to touch with grace.
Frederick Buechner puts it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Every follower of Jesus HAS a calling - the loving voice and purposes of God spoken uniquely over their life - but it remains for us to HEAR that voice and DISCERN that calling. And for The Commons, we believe this discerning is critical to the journey of discipleship: as a church, OUR calling is to help you hear, and obey, YOUR calling!
For this reason, in partnership with The Underground Network, this November we will launch the first in a recurring series of "Calling Labs", a 4-part Learning Community experience designed to help you understand how God has gifted and called YOU. Far from being a novelty or intellectual exercise, we fully expect that as our community at large gains clarity about the specific ways Jesus is calling each of us, this clarity will determine what The Commons looks like, moving forward; guiding the future of our ministry, and the manner of work that we will collectively invest in.
Our first CALLING LAB will kick off on Saturday, November 10th. Details and registration can be found at churchofthecommons.org/calling-lab . Participants will need to purchase a book beforehand, so don't delay! We would be excited to have you join us for this experience. Come, and see!