Life in the City: Holistic Mission

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Welcome to the life in the city podcast from Antioch Community Church in Northeast Minneapolis where we explore what it looks like to be a loving family, inviting all people into the life, changing way of Jesus Christ.

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We’re glad you’re here.

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Well hey everybody, welcome back to the Antioch podcast.

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Life in the city podcast.

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This is one of our I think our third episode.

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A third real episode, yeah, is little iffy.

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Little teasers, but yeah, yeah, little single one.

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Welcome, but I think this will be.

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This will be our third episode and we have a couple of firsts this time, but we’re going to get into that.

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First of all, Rachel.

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How was your weekend?

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I had a great weekend.

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My husband and I enjoyed enjoyed.

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Our first kind of like night away from our six month old daughter.

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And so it was kind of a strange feeling but really fun.

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We went to a wedding for some friends of ours.

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It was a pretty unique wedding because the groom was a first generation like Russian immigrant and the bride is like a typical Midwesterner, so even looking.

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At the wedding, like you could tell like.

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1/2 of the room looked like white Midwestern Lutheran, right, and then the other side was like, really chic.

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Like Russian heritage kind of people, we unfortunately sat on the Russian side and like stuck out like sore thumbs because we’re sweet Midwesterners as well.

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But it was a really fun time, and it included.

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A vodka toast at the reception, which was very old.

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And you.

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Week was not.

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Prepared for that.

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How many toasts did they?

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Make is the real question.

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Lastly, there’s only one vodka shot, but there were many toasts and so was the lab.

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They only pass out one of those, yeah, but it was a fun time had by all, and my husband is a shameless dancer, and so that’s just really fun to watch too.

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He’s a little shameless in general that’s true with that hair right now.

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My gosh, somebody, if you’re listening to this, tell my husband to cut his hair, please.

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You really got a rocket.

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Well, how was your weekend Coley?

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Ah, it was good.

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I mean, it was a.

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It was a little heavier than than some weekends.

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We had our congregational meeting after Sunday service.

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At the time of this recording.

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This was yesterday, but.

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Yeah, I mean, I thought it went really well.

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We got to talk about the pastoral transitions that we’re going to be experiencing in the next six months or so, and people got to ask questions, but I thought it was.

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I thought it was a great conversation.

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I thought it was really good to hear from Andy and Matt.

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Their hearts and.

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And it was cool to see the elders kind of be honest about like how.

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It wasn’t easy getting to this point, but we are excited and at peace now.

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So like we’re going forward from there, but we actually I forgot.

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So this the beginning.

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We have a guest with us today, this.

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Is one of our flow, yeah?

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Well, first, if.

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You can hearing a lower tone in the background.

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Not much lower.

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It is not Rachel with the cold.

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We have Pastor Darius our our last man standing.

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Barely standing at that so.

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What if you call yourself old faithful yeah.

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Oh, faithful like the geyser at Yellowstone like.

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I’m still here.

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We’re not losing him.

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OK, let me tell you a little bit of background on how I know Darius and how he interacts with my family on a regular basis.

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So Darius, if you’ve ever met him, he does have some medical needs which require the use of, well, some medical devices in his body.

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Spring retreat 2022.

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I am walking to I don’t know maybe dinner or something with my husband and I see Darius over on the side of like The Walking path and he’s opened up this little case that typically he carries his medicine in because like you know, Pastor Dart.

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He’s got some medical needs and he has to have some medicine.

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For that medicine remotes for my body.

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Yeah, he’s got lots.

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Of your nearly bionic, that’s true.

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And so I see him open it up and my husband walks over and reaches his hand out.

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And I’m like what is Joel?

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Doing like Darius can’t just give him.

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Medicine, like he’s not prescribed.

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This is a transaction.

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This and I kid you not.

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I look over and Darius pulls out of his medicine.

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Bag, just like Skittles.

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And puts them in jewels hands.

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I’m like loose Skittles just pulled in there and I’m like oh this gives me more like yes there might be medicine in there.

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But also this.

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Is apparently a type of medicine for him to is sugar, so just know that Darius is fueled on many different things even what’s not.

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Prescribed the joy of the Lord is my strength.

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And sweet tarts help.

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That’s great, that’s awesome.

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Well, Darius, in case listeners don’t know why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and then we’ll kind of get into talking about the core value of holistic mission.

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But for starters, who are you and how did you end up as a pastor at Antioch?

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The world may never know.

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It’s like that Lollipop.

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How many licks does it take?

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Who knows how long it took for me to become Pastor here?

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Yeah yeah.

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So I’m Darius hubbart.

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Well, this is me.

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My wife, Jennifer and our five kids, which was an interesting weekend.

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We we like to play.

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I like to play games with the kids.

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Yeah, and so we were playing.

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I’m just going to say Christian things don’t always make sense by the title like confuse you like they name something and you’re like.

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Oh, this is what it is, it’s totally.

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Wasn’t that so?

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It was a game.

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It’s called 20 questions.

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OK, yeah.

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And so it’s like.

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Person, place or thing in the Bible and you guess it but like.

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Oh, there was Bible themed.

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It was Bible thing.

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But then, like the point, the the questions wasn’t.

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You had a car and he had the title like what am I?

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And then at the bottom he had.

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The answer.

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Oh, that’s 20 things in the middle, but that was really close to the answer, so it’s like why is this name 20 questions.

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It should be.

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Top 2020 clues.

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Any like, yeah?

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OK, and then he yells he he he was.

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He was doing my youngest, he’s eight.

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He was doing better than most of.

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The other kids and then like I’m racking up carts and he’s like.

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I’m done, you’re a cheater.

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You’re a pastor.

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How can you be playing this with us?

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You’re cheating.

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You’re getting all the answers.

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That’s awesome so.

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You felt you should be disqualified.

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I should be disqualified.

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’cause you’re a pastor, yeah?

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That’s all you hear about a pastor being disqualified.

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And Jack is me, but.

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I’m still the same one.

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Here it’s.

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Qualified for cheating at a children game, yeah.

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Cheating in a children’s game.

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That’s awesome, and so we so.

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But it was fun.

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It was a fun weekend.

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But yeah, so me and my five children, I hear.

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I think when I came to Antioch I only had.

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3 1/2 she was pregnant.

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Like she was pregnant with David, but yeah, uhm, I was at a traditional African American Baptist Church in South Minneapolis at the time.

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And I was decided to.

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Going to college legally blind in a wheelchair.

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The best time you go to.

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College, so let’s go back to school it.

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Should be a great.

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Time, but yeah, I was making.

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’cause you?

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Always legally blind in a wheelchair.

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Not always, yeah, that happened in my early 20s and I’m not legal.

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We blind and in a wheelchair now, so that’s we don’t.

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Have all day.

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For this thing.

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We’ll do it.

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We’ll do it.

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We’ll have you back for like a antiocha member highlight or something.

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And yeah.

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’cause there’s a lot there and something I don’t think I even know the full story of either.

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There’s a lot.

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Yeah, yeah, so it was a it’s a lot to that and so it’s, uh I, but I had some friends that was making in class and a couple of all of them went to hope downtown and there was at this time there was this men gathering called Fight Club.

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We didn’t fight, I’m sorry.

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Can we pause there?

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I love how like men ministry in churches.

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They’re always about this like Fight Club.

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Like, really manly, yeah?

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Then they changed it to gospel man later, like, oh that’s it’s a little bit better.

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But and so I was like, what is that?

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Are you breaking the rules though?

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’cause you’re talking about Fight Club right now?

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It’s not existing anymore, so it’s fine.

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OK, OK.

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And so we made.

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So he invited me to it, and it was like basically it was a gathering of Christian men from all different churches around the city.

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And they came in for like a themed conversation.

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They had guest speakers and it really evolved into like having local preachers like you get to know other preachers and people in the community.

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Lot of networking, kind of.

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And so they gathered together.

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So it was like a full day kind of thing, yeah.

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And so I I went two years in a row and at the time I was.

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Lord was really leading me to leave.

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The situation was kind of like in them.

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Really legalistic situation, and so I was planning to leave, but at that time I didn’t.

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That was the first church I ever went to.

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Yeah, and so I was got saved in my early 20s.

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I was like, well, I don’t know anything else about this so I didn’t want to leave.

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Nothing else was it was comfortable and so, but I went two years in a row and got.

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Introduced to this short guy preaching, I was like oh, I really like that guy’s preaching and then I found out that the church was the church was near where we live. We live in north Minneapolis and he was in NE so I was like.

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OK, this must be a a sign from the.

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Lord like yoga or place and so.

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I started visiting and we never left.

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And that short guy was Andy yeah.

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There was anything else?

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Just to be.

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Clear yeah, I can call him that ’cause he like what 2 inches tall and I mean?

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Yeah yeah, you want to talk.

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Uhm, so you guys started as just members or like it started attending you became members.

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You’ve started attending became members started.

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Leading a community group over in north and then that just kind of evolved into becoming kind of like the elder team.

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Kind of checking that out, seeing what that was all about, and then I end up joining the older team and then.

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Pastorial residency and then full pledged pastor.

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And your official title right now is pastor of Community engagement, correct?

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Yep, that is.

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Correct, what does that mean and what does that?

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Look like really is I.

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I just get the privilege of talking to a lot of people and but yeah, and so I.

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I’m really like.

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Our biggest thing is we have a grocery ministry and that’s just engaging the needs of the community.

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Around us, so it’s really my job is to figure out like what what is the biggest needs in in the community and how as we as a church and as a body.

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How can we engage that?

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And so it’s really us engaging the community around us.

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Yeah, and I know you’ve done some work in the past and continue to do of, like always, reassessing who is the community around us.

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What is what do they look like? What are the demographics? What are the real needs? And I think some of that research LED us to learning more about some inequality with with food access in like 2019-2020, which seemed to be such an appropriate time.

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To learn about that to start fulfilling some of those needs in 2020.

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Yeah, ’cause the the our plan was never really grocery ministry.

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I think I think the.

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Or kind of put that in our lap and it and it exploded because of his Providence.

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And so.

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But yeah, so we was doing some research.

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Like how do we as I’m looking into taking on this job in 2019? Like what do we do now? I think it was actually before that because me and Pastor Andy.

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Uh, we had took a trip called uh, Socofer journey where it’s come.

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Brothers and sisters in Christ’s of different colors, we take the journey. We visit a bunch of prominent places in the South and it really touched on slavery and really like the black experience in America. And really they how we partner together as as believers and like not overlooking this.

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But how are we?

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How are we using these hard things and these harsh truths to draw us closer together and draw closer to God?

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And so we visit like the slave museums and the lynching memorial which.

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It had history for Minnesota in there as well, and so we did that and when we got back from that was like we didn’t want to like just.

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Visit this week together and then that was it.

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Like how do we use this as momentum to push the church forward?

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And so we started doing assessments like well who is in our community and like and so and that led to us finding out.

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Like food was a big issue.

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Access to food was a big issue in this community.

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It’s a very diverse community.

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It’s more diverse than people think when they think of Northeast you think of arts and and fluid and all these different things, but like there’s pockets of minorities who don’t have access to food and other things.

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And so we.

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So we really looked into that and like what now what do we do?

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With this so.

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We like, well, we don’t know like well, we just did this a couple journey trip.

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How about we just we start partnering with other churches and doing a video series just so we.

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Can learn more.

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About that and having discussions, and I think.

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Two years prior to the GHOSTMANE, we weren’t even thinking that far ahead when thinking and didn’t know what, uh, COVID was. And so I took the job in 2020 and was like, OK, let’s chat.

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Those were doing precedented times, not unprecedented.

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Yeah, yeah it was just.

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Times right, yeah?

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Normal times like.

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Four times, yeah.

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So before the before and after and so it was really like, what do we do at that point and we was then we was that’s when we started like oh let’s maybe partner with organizations and hosts.

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Deal and then.

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But I think we hosted right, yeah?

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One I think we tried to host one.

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It was more like a gathering of us, US and eating and so and then after that.

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He was like.

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Look over here.

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It was like we can’t do any of this that we was planning on doing what?

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Do we do now and we said, well, why don’t we just purchase a whole bunch of food and thought in people trunks?

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And that really involved to like that literally what happened in the hot in the heat.

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Literally what happened to.

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We had no plan really like let’s just get a bunch of stuff in coolers and throw food in people.

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Trunks and that over time that evolved and we went from serving about 15 families in the beginning. And now I think we have 211.

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Register families wow.

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And so yeah, it’s just been.

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It’s just been a blessing to see that grow, not because anything we do, and I think it was one it was needed and something that was needed that existed before we even thought about it.

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And so, but God put us in a position to step into that and not create something new, and so I don’t think we always need to create.

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Things know like figure out who’s doing something well in that and how can we bring the gospel in that?

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Even if it’s not a Christian organization, we can partner with people who are doing things well.

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And bring the gospel into it, and so.

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Wait, yeah.

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And that’s really what God allowed us to do, and it’s just been a blessing to really engage with these people.

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Meeting needs, but also getting to know them and hearing their stories.

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Yeah, so that kind of ties us into what we’re going to talk about today, which is holistic mission and I think you kind of mentioned this Darius is sometimes the mission is not necessarily something that we come up with necessarily, but God gives us the mission and then sometimes puts things into place.

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Yeah, and that’s a great example.

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Two of how holistic mission is our core value.

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That’s like the we talked about the iceberg last week.

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That’s the belief.

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The value below the surface and what you end up seeing is the grocery ministry.

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The program of grocery ministry.

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It’s not that we have a value of grocery ministry.

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It’s that we have this core value that we look at today of holistic mission and grocery ministry is at the moment one of the ways that that’s come.

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Hang out well, let me read the core value, holistic mission and then we can talk about it so good.

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All right?

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God is a missional sending God.

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As the father sent the son we have been sent out into the world by Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Acknowledging we are hopeless apart from Christ, we desire to become friends of sinners as we guide lost and broken people to Jesus.

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We believe in the power of the gospel to transform people, our city, and our world.

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Therefore, we believe the gospel must be both tangibly demonstrated and courageously declared in our culture.

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There you go.

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So Darius, how would you?

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How would you define mission?

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Yeah, I think like we go to like the that we do like the basic definition of mission like a mission is like giving to someone.

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Anyone in particularly, it’s like it’s an important assignment, so we have been as like so mission for believers is we have been given that import assignment to go and make disciples of the world and teach them.

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Everything that Jesus has taught us.

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I like that definition, an important assignment that’s good.

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I don’t think I’ve actually heard it described that way before.

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So is it?

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Is it like just evangelism?

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It is not.

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I think we, I think when we think of mission like that’s the first thing we we think of.

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And so I think you really have to look at who is our greatest example like of Jesus.

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Like when he evangelized like he went and he he preached the gospel to people.

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I mean he shared the good news to people.

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Share God.

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Word for for them which Old Testament but like he shared these things.

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But there was always a proclamation and a demonstration, or it was a demonstration, then a proclamation like it was always one and the other.

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So like it’s we like to separate things and highlight things that we feel are most important based off of our culture or ideals or things like that, but like.

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With the gospel, there’s no separating the.

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Yeah, and I think I love that you pointed out like let’s look at our greatest example of Jesus, and I think we see so much evidence of even as he teaches his disciples, thinking of like the sermon on the Mount to the when he ends that he basically tells them this is how I know that you’re mine and that you love me is that you’ll do these things for the least of these right.

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You clothe them and you feed them, and basically when you do that, you’re doing that for me as well.

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And you’re right, it is gospel, proclamation and demonstration that we’re called to as the church.

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Yeah, and I think thinking back to when we put these core values together for 215 years ago, whatever it was, it’s one of the reasons that we felt the need to clarify with the word holistic because it’s not just evangelism, but so. How do you Darius as you think about like your job?

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How do you think about trying to?

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Engage the community in a holistic, quote, UN quote way, like? What does that mean? Or what kind of?

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Things do you think about?

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Yeah, I think is when I when I picture I see like how if my mission just simply as a believer is to spread the gospel, share the gospel with people.

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And then I’m looking to Jesus as that example so I am pursuing what he did.

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I’m pursuing that example that he gave us.

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So if I’m doing this holistically, is just a pursuit to carry out that mission and meet that whole that person whole needs?

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What are the needs in their life that are?

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Creating a barrier to the gospel, and sometimes those are physical and spiritual like you can’t just meet spiritual needs.

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And say, OK, they’re they’re good now like they’re good, they’re gonna follow Jesus like no.

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Sometimes it’s these physical things in their life that are blocking and hindering them from living out the gospel or believing the gospel.

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Especially when you’re dealing with communities and parvae.

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If I’m hungry and you tell me Jesus is the bread of life.

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Like, can I really believe that if I don’t have food in my belly and like that’s a barrier to me, believing that Jesus is the bread of life and he can feed my soul but my physical body is not fed and so like it’s like, how do we can?

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Right?

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How do we meet those needs for people and draw that connection?

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Because he left that job up to us as his disciples like, it’s our job to meet these knees.

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You look at Jesus and whenever he goes to do a healing, which is the demonstration of the gospel, he heals someone and then he tell them that ghosts and sin no more like he meets that fifth day.

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They physical needs to be healed.

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They needed that physical that fits because it hindered them.

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From being whole and hindered them from hearing the word of God in their contacts, and like they couldn’t hear the word of God, you look at the man at the at the well.

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I want to be whole.

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But I have no one to put me into the water when it started out at the pool of Bethesda, and so it’s like.

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Oh, at the at the pool.

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And then you look at the woman at the well like Jesus met her physical need.

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Her physical need was she needs to be shown that her life was sinful.

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She needed to be known that there was a man out there that cared more for you.

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Then what these other men you would get they was getting from you.

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And and in turn.

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He was able to show like no, you really need God.

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Yeah, those felt physical or even relational needs.

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Sometimes people can realize, and once those are met then maybe there’s an opportunity for them to realize they have more than just a physical or spiritual need.

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And that’s where we as the church can obviously hopefully step further with them.

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Once we partner with them in meeting those physical.

00:21:20

And relational needs as well.

00:21:20

Yeah yeah, when we always praying as a, you know as a group when we are getting ready for the grocery ministry.

00:21:27

Our prayer always that God uses this up as an opportunity and as a open door to the gospel as we meet these needs, they see us love each other well and love on them well and it’s relational.

00:21:41

God is relational like he’s he’s relational.

00:21:43

He sends he sent Jesus, he sends us.

00:21:46

And so why wouldn’t he want us as his disciples if we’re following virtually follow him?

00:21:52

We want to have that desire and need to build relationships with people and meet those needs.

00:21:58

That’s good, so we’ve talked a lot about the grocery ministry, but what are some other ways that antiok is living this out?

00:22:05

I think you really.

00:22:06

You see that in their relational part, like the way he said they know you are my disciples.

00:22:11

Why you love each other?

00:22:12

I think one of the things that drew me to antiok coming from a completely different culture, and it was the way you seen how people genuinely loved on each other.

00:22:23

And I think when meeting.

00:22:25

We meet we try to meet each other.

00:22:27

Those needs that sometimes can be even for us.

00:22:30

Believers can be a barrier to.

00:22:32

I’m I just had a baby like we.

00:22:35

We had a.

00:22:35

Lot of those too, and so it’s.

00:22:37

We’ll talk about intentional multiplication.

00:22:39

That’s a whole nother.

00:22:42

And so, but yeah, like we share meals with someone sick, we’re checking on them.

00:22:47

I think we really love on each other really well, and I think that’s just a is a way that we, we do that here at antioche.

00:22:55

We got our community groups who are their relational with each other, who are studying the world together.

00:23:01

Who are growing as not just.

00:23:04

And then we talked about like doing things in Word.

00:23:08

Like, yeah, we say we’re family and word, but you look at us and we living that out indeed as well.

00:23:14

Like they’re really growing as a family together, and I think those are some of the ways that we are living that out.

00:23:20

As a church, yeah that’s awesome.

00:23:22

Rachel, do you have any other?

00:23:25

Organizations or ministry like in the more formal sense that that community groups are involved with.

00:23:34

Yeah, I know some of our community groups have been involved even in years past and things like arrive ministries, our group that my husband and I lead as well has been able to.

00:23:45

Be a part of that and others have done things like that as well.

00:23:48

Kind of seeking out.

00:23:49

What are some needs in our area and arrive ministries is a great example of an organization that was already established in Minneapolis that seeks to welcome people who are coming into the state specifically in Minnesota in the Twin Cities area on refugees.

00:24:06

Status and.

00:24:08

Obviously, yes, they help provide a place to live and some being able to provide them with resources to eat and find jobs.

00:24:17

But knowing that people often coming from more environments and cultures that are what I would like to say.

00:24:23

A warmer culture and.

00:24:26

More relational, providing them with a community.

00:24:29

To help welcome them and care for them in a way that Christ cared for people, right?

00:24:34

Meeting those relational needs, sometimes meeting those physical needs if they need things like furniture or Oh my gosh Sydney DS and I at one point gave driving lessons and and it I we were probably not the best teachers.

00:24:50

But it and it.

00:24:51

There’s probably a lot of prayer in that car.

00:24:52

When we did that too, but it was one way in which you know we had some extra time.

00:24:56

During a summer break.

00:24:57

And could do that and I I see groups in our church that I’ve done things like this and I know other community groups seek to do things in their community.

00:25:06

I think the ORAM Community Group set even apart clean up day and that’s a little different ’cause it’s not necessarily interacting with people, but it’s seeing a need in your community and thinking, how can we meet this need so that.

00:25:17

Other people in our community can enjoy this space.

00:25:20

Can you know?

00:25:21

Be free of some distractions and maybe some unsafe environment.

00:25:27

So I think that’s one way that I see our community groups is kind of like choosing like how do we want to engage people in the neighborhoods in the city that we are living in and I love seeing how each community group does that a little differently too.

00:25:42

Yeah, I’m glad you brought up that point.

00:25:43

’cause that’s another way that our church do that.

00:25:45

Well, like, we just don’t say hey only do your mission and your calling is just wherever the church is located because we know a lot of people don’t always live near their churches, but it’s a both and like, yeah, we want you to, Sir.

00:25:57

Serve where the church is locally, but you have a mission field in where you live where you work where you play.

00:26:05

Like there’s a mission field out there everywhere and where you can meet those tangible needs in peoples lives.

00:26:10

Yeah, and I think entering into 2020 back at the beginning of COVID I know the government was giving out a lot of like assistance to people, right? And uh, we had a ton of people in our church. Basically say you know what God has.

00:26:25

Bless my family with security and a job, maybe in a time that other people do not have this and a lot of people took those stipend checks from the government and turned around and gave it to the community care fund, which is so generous.

00:26:39

But it was such a great way to see our church family raise so many funds to them.

00:26:46

Be able to use that for the grocery ministry, but also, I mean, you could probably speak to this more dargahs we get requests from our community on a pretty regular basis of people who have tangible needs that.

00:26:58

You know, for their family that cannot be met on their own, but we can offer that to our community, and it’s such a beautiful thing to connect with people to meet those physical needs.

00:27:09

Well, so there’s a lot of cool things happening, but we’re not perfect where where does Antioch need to grow in living out this idea of.

00:27:18

Holistic mission

00:27:23

Yeah, please feel free to preach.

00:27:26

Yeah, I’ll just sit.

00:27:27

Back I think.

00:27:30

Like, well, OK, so we talked about Jesus being our example I think, and it’s it’s part of the importance of it.

00:27:37

Like we, I think it’s like we know a lot of things like we.

00:27:43

We evangelical, like we pride ourselves on the knowledge of the of the Scripture and Bible, but like.

00:27:50

Knowing is not always enough, like how are we knowing and doing those things like ’cause there’s.

00:27:57

There’s needs all around us and I think if we say if we say that Jesus is our perfect example, Jesus lived out proclaiming and demonstrating the gospel perfectly in life and in.

00:28:11

And so if we’re looking to that example we have, we have to think about that and say am I even striving to live that out perfectly.

00:28:19

I think sometimes in our privileges and in our comfortable city, we can say, oh, that’s just the pastors job.

00:28:26

Or that’s just that person, that’s their person calling, but it’s really a call that got.

00:28:30

Left to us all and.

00:28:33

And so it’s a calling for all of us to do, and impulse is not going to be comfortable like it is not always comfortable to serve the Lord.

00:28:42

We get this idea like that serving the Lord.

00:28:45

Now is rainbows and Bunny rabbits like?

00:28:47

It’s like it’s not always easy and I think that’s the point because we’re striving to build more like Jesus.

00:28:53

And he lived a life that was not comfortable.

00:28:56

And so and it’s really pushing yourself to be more like him.

00:28:59

So I think, well, we can.

00:29:01

That simple answer is like really living our life as truly like Jesus lives like that’s the easiest way that we can go.

00:29:12

But it’s also the hardest, like it’s easy to say it, but it’s sometimes it’s hard to do when you have a family.

00:29:18

When you have work.

00:29:19

When you have medical issues and all these things.

00:29:22

Sometimes those can even be hard for believers to do, but we have to push ourselves past that.

00:29:28

Or to even see ways that those what seemed to be distractions are opportunities to, you know, I I never would have had a chance to explain the reason for the hope that I have to this nurse.

00:29:39

If I hadn’t been in the ER or whatever.

00:29:42

And hey, that’s one of my life stories about medical issues like you and it’s.

00:29:47

And it’s part of my story is like, but it was like I had to.

00:29:50

And when I got sick it was really hard the first years.

00:29:53

But I had to learn or to learn to grow my dependence on God.

00:29:57

They had to look at it like well.

00:30:00

If my hope in my trust is in him, like I can’t let these illnesses be a barrier to like he’s introducing me to people, I would have never met in life.

00:30:09

So how are how am I?

00:30:12

Using this opportunity that he gave me, he has given me and I’m leveraging these opportunities well, and so I think that’s a we all have a way that we can leverage the gospel well in our lives and meet people’s needs and also meet them with the gospel.

00:30:30

Alright, so I’m going to bring us back a little bit.

00:30:32

We’ve talked about what mission is what, holistic means, how we’re living out, areas we might need to grow, but.

00:30:40

Why do we engage in holistic mission?

00:30:43

Why is this a core value of ours and like what’s the purpose?

00:30:48

Do we just do it because it’s something other churches do?

00:30:50

Is it something that makes us feel good?

00:30:53

But what is the true reason why holistic mission should be a core value of antiok?

00:31:00

Look at the heart of holistic mission.

00:31:02

What we’re trying to say is holistic mission is this.

00:31:10

And engagement of the heart of God like when he do things he don’t do things halfway like he do things fully and we we see that in Colossians one it tells us about how all things are going to be reconciled to God on things on Earth, things and then having like he’s going to reconcile everything onto him.

00:31:29

Myself, but then we also learn envisions is like that’s going to be at a point in time.

00:31:35

So in the space of this time, what do what do we do and why do we do it?

00:31:39

And it’s so like if this is the heart of God to reconcile all things.

00:31:43

If we’re his children and Christians, little followers like he’s our rabbi.

00:31:50

The Jewish they lived with their rub.

00:31:53

I lived, eat with a rubber.

00:31:54

They imitated their rabbi.

00:31:56

So if Jesus is our rabbi, how are we imitating him?

00:32:00

Well, and so I think that’s the why we love him because he loves us well and we want to imitate that.

00:32:07

And God heart is.

00:32:08

He wants to reconcile all things into himself.

00:32:11

And I think that’s part of the value we see that that it’s a value to our creator.

00:32:17

Who has did a great thing for us.

00:32:20

He has reconciled us unto himself, and so why do we not value?

00:32:26

Someone else who is hurting who’s in need the greatest need that we could ever have was the need we was.

00:32:33

We were separated from God.

00:32:35

We was his enemies, but if you, while we were yet enemies God, he reconciled us to himself, and so I think he he made peace for us and so.

00:32:44

Why we do it?

00:32:45

Because it’s it’s the heart of God and if we value our savior and we value our creator, it’s a value to us as well.

00:32:53

And I love that you pointed out that restoration is not just a future thing, it’s a now thing you know in the Lord’s Prayer. We pray, you know your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is.

00:33:06

Heaven so we don’t just wait for like God to come in and say like, OK, he’s going to restore all things, but no, he’s given us a mission that we are a part of that restoration process here too on Earth, so we’re not supposed to like, you know, just sit back and twiddle our thumbs like God will take care of it.

00:33:21

No, we’re called to be and I love that you said like little cranks.

00:33:24

We follow our rabbi.

00:33:26

In doing that, restoration work and.

00:33:28

We’re not as good at.

00:33:29

As as he is right, we fail so much, but we can still be a part of that process, and God sanctifies us through that process too.

00:33:30

Not at all.

00:33:38

One thing that I think can be maybe disheartening sometimes or frustrating with that, though, is that knowing it will never be done.

00:33:44

Yeah, you know it can be.

00:33:46

It can also be disheartening if my hope is in like there will be no more poverty in northeast Minneapolis like or, there will be no more hunger like.

00:33:55

That’s not going to happen until Christ returns.

00:33:58

Yeah, but for now we can do what we can do.

00:34:03

You know to to whatever the Lord calls us to and use those opportunities to preach the gospel in season and out of season.

00:34:12

You know when people are hungry and when they’re not or whatever, and and recognize like I’m not the savior, I’m not going to be the one to ultimately.

00:34:21

Fix this.

00:34:22

But I can be.

00:34:24

Jesus was skin on as an old youth pastor used to say to me or use it.

00:34:28

Our youth group.

00:34:30

To be Jesus, you know four people, at least their first encounter.

00:34:34

We’ve making it possible for them to meet the Risen Jesus.

00:34:39

Well, awesome, thanks for joining us.

00:34:42

Thanks for having me.

00:34:43

Well, we’re definitely going to have you back, because yeah, people need to hear your story.

00:34:47

I think it’d be.

00:34:47

It’d be pretty fun.

00:34:48

There’s a lot of people that haven’t heard any part of your story.

00:34:51

And like don’t know the when we met you, you were blinded in a wheelchair.

00:34:55

And unfortunately, we cannot like compensate you for being on this podcast, but I think I can find some like sweet tarts or sour patch kids or something so.

00:35:03

Yes, maybe that should be our sponsor for this one.

00:35:07

Today’s sponsor is sugar.

00:35:10

Fueling Pastor Darius since.

00:35:13

1997

00:35:14

Second, awesome, well, this has been a really good conversation.

00:35:20

Pastor D.

00:35:21

We’re going to have to have you back to share your testimony very very.

00:35:24

Soon, but yeah, we’re going to continue with our core values discussion going forward.

00:35:29

We’ve got what is this?

00:35:31

Our second one we’ve hit, and so we have four more.

00:35:32

Yes, don’t see it before.

00:35:35

But as we’ve talked about wanting to interview you, we also want to interview other members of Antioch. We would love to hear more stories of what God is doing in not just our pastors lives in other people’s lives. So if.

00:35:46

U listener have a story that you want to share.

00:35:49

We would love to hear it and maybe have you on that would be awesome.

00:35:52

Hear your testimony as well so you can contact us at podcast@antiochcommunity.org and we will see you next.

00:35:58

Time have a great week antiok.

00:36:03

This has been the life in the city podcast brought to you by Antioch Community Church in northeast Minneapolis. Join our worship service at 10:00 AM on Sundays in the Waterbury Building or contact us at podcast@antiochcommunity.org. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.