To say I am grateful for the Westpoint Church family would be an understatement. Once again, we had a "family meeting" in which grace and unity was apparent. It is truly awesome to witness the love and wisdom God is growing in and among us as we walk this journey together. Thank you so much for your insight and input, your concern and commitment. IF YOU HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP THOUGHTS OR QUESTIONS, please email them in to us. And please be praying for wisdom and discernment as we walk through this decision together.

Regarding the ongoing vision and mission of this one-among-many local church expressions, may I take a moment to share a gentle reminder about what I pray will stay at the forefront of our hearts and minds regardless of what happens with this West Orange Baptist decision.

I pray that we would love Jesus and love one another as together we love neighbors and nations committing to make disciples in the rhythms of our daily lives. I also pray that we would continue to be united around mission with Jesus as He makes us to become the local church expression that He intended us to be.

The vision and hope of Westpoint has not changed from day one in February 2004.

Be the church together, do life together, give ourselves away together, make disciples, and hope to see followers and thus new expressions of His church multiplied. Live sent daily learning and living the ways of Jesus with our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, our local community, our world, and even online.

What has changed is our gratefulness for the Gospel and our understanding of His intention for His church. These have hopefully grown to be more as He intended, along with our awareness of and appreciation of His near love and redeemed purpose for our lives. That He is "God with us" continues to wreck and restore and send us daily.

God loved us first, loves us regardless, and has demonstrated it clearly. That "gospel" is inviting and transforming and compelling, drawing us to God and growing us in Christ and sending us with Him. That mission with Him includes but is not limited to attending a gathering on Sundays and for sure includes a command to make disciples of Jesus together as we are going among neighbors and nations. The making of disciples of Jesus, if done like He did it, occurs in the rhythms of the daily and creates among us a need for each other so that we will keep going on mission daily with Him. That "mission to" happens via "mission together," both as one local church expression as well as in unity with other local church expressions, hopefully resulting in "on earth as it is in heaven" in our community beyond just attracting a crowd to our respective Sunday gatherings. As we thus love one another doing life together and proactively caring for one another, as we also love neighbors and nations engaging our culture and giving ourselves away together, as we actually make disciples in the daily learning and living the ways of Jesus with others, and as we furthermore think and live beyond just a "MY church" mentality, we will see thru the maturity of our unity around mission people believe in the One who was sent (John 17:18-23) and thus new expressions of His church arise.

Will you pray with me this prayer?

"Lord, have Your way among us. May we live sent lives first and foremost and with utmost energy and intentionality to and alongside our families. May we actually know our neighbors' names and be growing in an active friendship with them. May we care about our coworkers' interests above our own. May we serve in an ongoing, relational manner just one way locally and one way globally, giving ourselves away alongside family and church family. May we also grow in friendship with those whom we serve. May we actually make disciples. Please help our pastoral team and vision team to actually equip for making disciples and to cultivate for genuine care and compassion for one another. And Lord, please help us to never again choose to just "go to church." May our gathering never be an event where we serve ourselves, but rather may it be a celebratory time together where we worship You and then are sent with You. Please, Lord, teach us Your ways that we might learn and live Your ways together."

Jen and I love you. We are grateful for you. We are praying and hopeful that we will cultivate for and get to see "on earth as it is in heaven" in each of our families, in our church family, along the pathways of our daily lives, in our community, and around the world.

-jason