Austin Mustard Seed » Gatherings

This Saturday: Ronald McDonald House

John Chandler — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:09:29 +0000

For our community gathering this weekened, we are preparing a meal again at Ronald McDonald House. It is located by Dell Children’s Hospital (1315 Barbara Jordan Boulevard in Austin). We’ll be preparing dinner on Saturday (not Sunday!), and we’ll meet there at 4:30. We should be done between 6 and 6:30, so if anyone wants to get dinner together afterwards, that sounds like a grand idea!

If you are able, please let me know by Thursday if you can come so we know how many hands will be available for meal prep.

Practices: Fasting

John Chandler — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:39:14 +0000

This Sunday, we will once again talk about spiritual practices that help us pay attention to God’s activity both within us and around us.

We’ll begin with a time to share our experiences of reflecting on God’s work in the last year. Specifically, we’ll talk through the questions we introduced in November:

What have been the high points this year?
What have been the difficult times this year?
How have you grown this year?
In what ways have you not grown this year? Or even gone backward?
Where have you seen God at work this year?
If you project this year forward, who will you be in five years?
Who do you want to be in five years?

After that discussion, we’ll introduce a new practice to explore in the month to come: Fasting. Fasting is one of the most tangible of the spiritual practices, meaning it can be among the most challenging and rewarding at the same time.

This Sunday: The Big Picture

John Chandler — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:59:36 +0000

This Sunday will be our first regular gathering of 2012. We’ll start the year off with a step back to look at the big picture. It will be at time to remember why we exist as humans, and why we exist as a church community, as we look at God’s work in this world. And my prayer is that out of this, each of us can recognize God’s invitation to be part of that work.

Of course, we’ll start with dinner together as a tasty and tangible reminder of God’s goodness and provision. See you Sunday at 5pm.

Merry Christmas

John Chandler — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:42:24 +0000

Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.

Merry Christmas to all who are connected with the Austin Mustard Seed community. With so many of us traveling or with family, we will not gather on Christmas day.

This Sunday: Luke’s Take on Advent

John Chandler — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:25:33 +0000

This month, our normal rhythm for Sunday gatherings continues to be disrupted — but a good kind of disruption. Disruption isn’t always bad, and it was the disruption of God showing up in human form, as a baby no less, that we reflect on this month. In what has become our annual tradition, we will focus on the stories of Advent as they are told in the Scriptures.

This Sunday, we will read through the arrival of Jesus in this world as Luke chose to tell it. We will read through Luke 1 & 2 together. Take some time to read them this this week, not only as means to prepare not only for our discussion on Sunday, but for a meaningful Christmas season as well.

This Sunday: Matthew’s Take on Advent

John Chandler — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:03:56 +0000

This month, our normal rhythm for Sunday gatherings will be disrupted — but a good kind of disruption. Disruption isn’t always bad, and it was the disruption of God showing up in human form, as a baby no less, that we reflect on this month. In what has become our annual tradition, we will focus on the stories of Advent as they are told in the Scriptures.

This Sunday, we will read through the first few chapters of Matthew together, reflecting on the arrival of Jesus as Matthew chose to tell it. Take some time to read Matthew 1-2 this week, not only as means to prepare not only for our discussion on Sunday, but for a meaningful Christmas season as well.

This Sunday: Adopt a Family Shopping

John Chandler — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:54:35 +0000

For our December community project, we have adopted a family through SafePlace. SafePlace is an organization that provides protection, shelter and healing for families facing sexual or domestic violence. We are adopting a family of six: four girls and two adults.

We’ll collect contributions from those in our community who are able to do so and then shop together this Sunday, December 4. I’ve been provided with a wish list for the family, and they ask that we spend $35-75 on each individual, so we’ll try to collect between $210 and $450. (Anything over that, SafePlace has a list of extra needs we can help meet.) You can bring a check that day, payable to Austin Mustard Seed, to count your contribution as a non-taxable donation. Or, if you aren’t going to be able to be there to shop with us, you can make a contribution ahead of time. See the Giving page for information on contributing online or mailing a check. (If you do give online, please let me know, as I don’t receive immediate notification of that and I want to make sure we count your contribution.)

We’ll shop at 10:30am on 12/4 at the Target at Great Hills and 183. We’ll meet in the Starbucks in the front of the store to caffeinate and break up the shopping list. To complete the morning, we’ll go to lunch together after we shop.

See you Sunday!

A Holiday Break

John Chandler — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:54:59 +0000

With many of us out of town, or traveling back, we’ll take a break this Sunday, November 28, and not have a gathering. Maybe it can be a good time to begin some year end reflection or to wind down after a busy holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Sunday: Practices

John Chandler — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:01:03 +0000

This Sunday, we return to our monthly discussion of practices. We’ll look back at our conversation on prayer last month, and how our experiences with prayer have been over the last month. Following that, we’ll introduce a timely new practice as we prepare for the last month of this year: Reflection.

We’ll gather at our usual Sunday at 5pm, starting out with a shared meal before we move into our discussion. See you then!

John 7: Leaving an Impression

John Chandler — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:25:25 +0000

This Sunday, we are moving on in our trek through John to John chapter 7. As we see so often in John, we have a story of Jesus leaving an impression on a crowd through his teaching and his presence — a good impression on some, but not so with others. Take a few moments to read through chapter 7 in the next few days and see what kind of impression Jesus leaves on you.