We had a great time of praying, dinner and just sharing as a team to get ready for our Grand Opening time. This is only the beginning. We’re so excited that God has called us to start a church like this in a diverse, changing community!

You’re invited to our Sunday Grand Opening at the Germantown Regal Theater, 20000 Century Blvd., Germantown, MD 20874 at 10:30 am. It’s going to be an incredible time! The theme for Sunday is … A New Start in Life. Hope to see you there.

I can think of just one thing that gets in the way of us experiencing all that God has for us: selfish ambition. When we start believing that it’s all about us and our abilities to do whatever, we’re in trouble spiritually. I wanted to write about this because another pastor has succombed to this and his church is suffering. It’s heart breaking. I’ve seen all too often in ministry. I sense that God has let me see upclose and shown me what it can do to leaders and churches.

Ambition by itself is not unhealthy. It’s great to be passionate about a vision or mission as a church. It only becomes unhealthy when it overtakes our passion to submit to God and serve others, and we begin to believe in our own power to make things happen. The opposite of selfish ambition is humility. Jesus didn’t seek upward mobility. Instead, he sought a downward lifestyle.

Selfish ambition has destroyed more people, more marriages and more lives than just about anything else (in my opinion). It may be the one thing that gets in the way of experiencing life the way Jesus intended.

We pray that as we launch TCU that our team will continue to stay focused on humility and others first. Thankfully, we have experienced that kind of heart attitude as a Start Up Team!

There are so many books out there on the issue of spiritual growth or becoming more spiritual. It’s confusing at times. I think we have to get back to simplicity. Here’s a suggested definition of what it means to grow spiritually: the life with God the the Bible talks happens naturally and freely within Christians.

As a church, we believe in demonstrating God’s unchanging love to all people. With all of the criticism of church today, we need to show that we genuinely care for people. Just recently, we stumbled into a way to do that here in the busy, stressed out DC area. We provided an outlet for families to come and enjoy a free night out - together. There was something for kids and parents too. It was a great way to provide an environment where people could connect in a relaxed, casual setting. Doing ordinary acts of kindness is a great stress reliever for the recipient.