Celebrating 10 years of church vision

My wife has fallen in love with someone else. Okay, not really someone, something. She has fallen in love with our DVR. A DVR is a digital video recorder and it records television so that it can be watched later. It also means that you don’t have to watch commercials. She is spoiled. Lanette sees absolutely no reason why she should watch live TV anymore, not when she can record it and skip the parts she doesn’t like. I knew I was in trouble when we were talking one day and I noticed her pointing the DVR remote at me. At first I couldn’t figure out what she was doing, then it dawned on me. She was trying to fast forward to something interesting. Brutal.

Have you ever wondered where DVR’s came from? What about remote controls in general? Or how about microwave ovens or computers? They all came from somebody seeing something and saying, “I can improve on that or make it available to more people.” That is the American spirit of ingenuity at its best.

In the same way, a few years ago I began getting a vision of what church could be like. Now, understand, I grew up in church. I love the church, and I believe it is the way God has used, and will use, to reach the world. I just began to realize that there were people out there that didn’t feel comfortable in church the way it is commonly done. That doesn’t mean it is wrong, the people just need something different.

Ten years ago I was approached by Jeremiah Vik. He was starting a new church, along the lines of one I had started a few years earlier. His pitch was simple and to the point. He had the same vision and values for the new church that I did. I was hooked. I couldn’t duck what was in my heart any longer. I was in.

So, ten years ago, on April Fool’s Day Remnant began. Over the years God has used Remnant to accomplish incredible things in the hearts and lives of people in Imperial Valley and even beyond. People bought into the vision that God laid in Jeremiah and I. The vision of a church that people can come to and be challenged, comfortable and ministered to. People who had a pioneer’s spirit came alongside us, people who had a heart to see something new and exciting spring up. We have tried our best to build a church that will meet people where they are, not expect them to come to us.

In church work we often say that we are going to “Take Jesus to the people of the world.” The problem with that statement is that we aren’t taking Jesus anywhere. He is already there. He is already here.

We began Remnant to help people see Jesus in their daily lives, in the world around them. Once you realize how much Jesus is already around you, you begin to see Christianity in a new light, one that fits your life and who you are. After all, that’s who God made you.

So this Sunday morning at 11 a.m. at 715 Orange Ave. in El Centro, Remnant will meet once again. In the building will be a mix of age groups, from young to old. A mix of skin colors and backgrounds. What each person has in common is that they are looking for something new, something different, something they relate to, maybe in a way they never have before. And when they leave the service, they will have a new tool in their life tool belt to deal with whatever comes the following week.

Maybe Remnant is just what you’ve been looking for as well. You won’t know until you try. Check us out online at www.remnant churchivcom. You can see firsthand what God has done over the years.

Taking the remote control away from my wife … Jerry