The Distillery Church

Outside the walls

GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE. – Mark 16:15

I quote Mark only as a reminder of why we are here. Why is the church here? It is here on earth to preach the Gospel to all nations. Well many people see the “Gospel” as merely the four books at the front of the New Testament. The Gospel is MUCH more than that.

The Gospel is a way of life. It is life. The Gospel, or “Good News” is all of the good parts of the Bible and all of the goodness of God. Notice I said GOOD as oppossed to BAD. Now the call is to preach, right? What about those of us who don’t or can’t preach?

The implication here is that we all are preachers, teachers, lovers, doers, activists, friends. It is our responsibility in no small terms to SAVE THE WORLD! Yeah, we gotta bring it to them.

So the purpose of the church is to SAVE THE WORLD. So how do we do that? Do we build a gigantic fortress with marble floors and vaulted ceilings and a monster pipe organ? Do we invest in only the best oak pews to fill the “sanctuary?”

Do we hire a band that can perform the best “worship” hits of the 90s? Do we invest thousands of dollars into projectors, computers, lighting, musical instruments, and graphically pumped programs designed to make the whole experience hip, and artful as we gather together in our little meccas worshipping God with “hearts and hands?”

Okay, I got a little dramatic there, but I think you get the picture. To quote Julia Pickerill from the Vineyard, “When Jesus wanted to save the world, what did he do?”

“HE WENT TO IT.” Remarkable? Innovative? Not really.

What I am proposing is a community of people that actually care enough about the people in the world around them, so much so that they will leave the convenience of church-as-we-know-it, going out into the world to participate in it, thereby meeting people who need “Good News” so that they can share it with (preach it to) them, thus saving those people through gained access to a God that actually cares a great deal about them.

God is already at work in the lives of the people OUT THERE. Won’t you join Him? Go ahead, set off the alarms and intrude into the community around you.  He is waiting on the other side to partner with you.

How does this look?

At the DISTILLERY we find that the real life of the “Church” is lived outside of the walls of the church building.

“Church” occurs at work, at home, at the bar, the bowling alley, the restaurant, the night club, and everywhere in between.

We value these encounters that occur in your real life and legitimize them as official church activity.

No organized home groups, no weeknight Bible Studies to attend, no Wednesday night church services, no MEETINGS – JUST LIFE.

We have one weekly gathering for those folks that choose to attend, who are seeking corporate worship, prayer and scripture. Rather than a “seeker-sensitive” service, our gatherings are for Jesus followers who are walking out their discipleship.