City on a Hill

Spending a month in one city (in this case, Melbourne) rather than traveling all over the country has been an intentional decision. One of the reasons we have chosen to do this is community. Community, we felt, would lead to better understanding of culture, more local information about the area, invitation to participate in activities, and a sense of connection in a new place. One of the ways we find community at home is our church. We also want to use our sabbatical to grow spiritually. So, it made sense to find a church in Melbourne to regularly attend. 

We have a church in Lansing called Riverview that we closely identify with. It is part of the Acts 29 Network, which is comprised of churches with several key characteristics including gospel-centered teaching. So we decided to see if there were any Acts 29 churches in Melbourne. As it turns out, there are two such churches in Melbourne, both known as City on a Hill. One was on the west side of Melbourne, which is where we are, but not easily accessible via public transit. The other was located in the movie theater of a mall in the city center. The basement of the mall also just so happens to be a train station. Perfect. 

We had trouble finding the church the first Sunday, because it is a really, really big mall and at that time we didn't actually know the church was in the movie theater. Mercifully, we stumbled upon it and were only a few minutes late. We settled into the super comfy theater seats (maybe too comfy during a sermon) and were able to worship with Christians in another country. We learned some new songs and the teaching was gospel-centered and expository, which we relate to well. Pretty cool. 

The pastor giving the sermon that morning was actually visiting from the west side church and we were able to briefly meet him on the way out. We discovered his name is Luke and he lives in Altona near us, so we exchanged email addresses in order to meet up sometime. Pastor Luke ended up being the guy who loaned us his car for the Great Ocean Road. At that point, we had not even met up with him yet. We finally were able to meet him at a cafe and chat yesterday! Again pretty cool. 

City on a Hill church in Melbourne

Now for some reflection. I was hoping to expand our community through regularly attending a church, but I didn't really know what to expect. In order to facilitate meeting people, I was hoping for a greeting time. I must admit that I normally hate greeting times at churches. Yes, hate. They are usually forced and awkward making them feel insincere. As it turns out, there was indeed a greeting time. And, yes it was forced and awkward. In fact, once, we couldn't get anyone to talk to us. I don't bring this up to blame. I bring this up to reflect on myself. Now having been the outsider who actually wants to meet people, I have been convicted of making an effort to meet new people when I have a home church again. Brandon and I have previously discussed intentionally meeting new people at church and actually inviting them into our home for more personal, real conversation and community. But, we've only actually followed through once. Interestingly, the reason I started going to the church we attended in Holland is because a family did just that; they invited me over for dinner the first time I was there. And, you know what? I, and now Brandon, are still in contact with this amazing family. I know that something miraculous like that isn't going to happen every time I step out of my comfort zone. But, I still feel convicted to be more hospitable and sacrificial of my time as Christians are commanded to be. More than the sermons I've heard recently, this has motivated spiritual change for me. 

I've also been trying to cultivate spiritual growth on this sabbatical by personal Bible reading. I've been working my way through the New Testament and have recently been reading a lot about the early church, including Acts 4:32-35 which says, 

• "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy persons among them. From time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, and brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

Wow. Pretty radical for our self-driven, independent culture to hear. This is of course just a description of the early church at that time. Nevertheless, this has stood out for me for a couple reasons. First, because our friend group in Grand Rapids has been trying to create such a community, one that generously shares food, resources, time, emotion, and spirituality. We've been trying to build that community by meeting once a month and having intentional, deep discussion not just the surface "How are you doing?... Good." conversation. It's been challenging, but it's been real. And, I miss it. 

Second, because of Pastor Luke's example. He gave his car to us, strangers from another land. Crazy, generous sharing among believers as in Acts. And then he shared his time with us chatting about all manner of things over warm beverages. Simple, but meaningful spiritual community. 

So, yes, I think I've found both community and spiritual growth. Or at the very least I've found the beginnings of those things, which I hope would continue to root if we were able to spend more than a month in Melbourne.