A Seat at the table of Lament

Missio Mesa,
As a church family we are learning to lament. This is a new way to come before God for many of us. We feel awkward here. I get it. I can too. But embrace it. Press into it. God is present with us. He will not leave us.

I've been so encouraged by the spaces we've worked so hard to create together. Spaces to humbly welcome and be with children, women, and men who are sad, who are hurt, who are angry, who are confused, and who wonder if things could ever really change. Spaces that lead to healing and renewed hope.

Family, We know that power is often abused. Today we mourn the death of George Floyd. I know newsfeeds will be inundated for a few days. We will be overloaded with images and opinions. Some of them helpful. Many of them not. I know we will wonder can we really engage with one more area of suffering in a world currently confused, crippled, and constrained by responses to a disease. That the invitation to participation at this table, at this time, is one we may rather not accept. But I want to lovingly urge us to still take our seat at the table, but it may be a different seat than you expect.

I invite us to a seat that rejects the desire to put our heads in the sand of shallow doctrine AND the compulsion to self soothe by anxiously acting. I invite us to sit in the seat of consideration in the presence of God for a while.

As a pastor my invitation to our church is to...
Pause to consider. How do we marginalize others? How are complicit in the suffering of others? Friends, let's not deceive ourselves, none of us have waded in the waters of our idolatrous and racially divided American culture and not gotten wet in the process.

My invitation is to...
Let the Spirit of the living God meet us in that space- don't rush through it. Let us find ourselves moved to repentance and reoriented with a hunger and thirst for justice. Let him bind up the wounds, apply His healing salve, and give renewed energy. That may not be a quick process, but we must linger as long as it takes.

And then, dear God, let us act with an enduring hope that has one foot firmly planted on the death and resurrection of Jesus and another on the reality of new creation that is sure to come. Our hope is in Jesus and our hand is to the plow of justice in Mesa and beyond.

With you as your Friend, Pastor, & Fellow Repenter-

- Kevin Platt

Here's a prayer from the book of common prayer that I urge you to pray with your roommates, families, and friends.

O God, who created all people in your image: We thank you for the diversity of races and cultures in this world. Show us your presence in those who differ from us, and enrich our lives with their fellowship, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer 2019)

4 Ways to Cultivate Gratitude and Hope in the days of Covid.

Hey friends,

Here are a few ways we can gather the beauty, hope, gifts of this season. Not all of these will fit all of us. Some may fit in a week or two, but let yourself notice which ones stand out to you and try them out as you can ☺. Give yourself time, but also be intentional in how you cultivate hope, gratitude, and peace during these times.

1. Words

• Write down or focus on words that give you hope, whether it be from a friend, from the Bible, or even social media.

• Take them in, hold onto them. Let them last longer and sit with them, maybe even share them with others who need to hear hope. These words are meaningful and shouldn’t be moved passed too quickly.

• Place these words in front of you- around the house, on your phone, in your journal. Keep looking at them.

2. Nature

• Walk outside and gather the beauty, consuming with your senses. - What are 5 things that you are thankful for? Make note of them with pictures, journaling, or just in your memory.

• Pay attention to the beauty of nature (trees, flowers, grass, fresh air) or just a chance to reflect differently in the fresh air. 

• Enjoy the fresh air!  When you are alone in nature you expand your bubble to 12 feet of fresh air and enjoy that space.

• Write down the beauty/gratitude you notice (phone, post it, phone), gather that experience for later.

3. Prayer

• To be honest you’ve probably been praying while doing the first two, but this is intentional time in prayer with the God who is present even in the struggle.

• Start by thanking God for what He has provided for you and others, what you notice of His provision, even if it feels small (I slept well, I could speak to my friend, I ate today, I have people to support me/support each other).

• Move into lifting up the needs of others first, then your own. Both are important.

• Sit in a position of receiving his love for a few minutes without words. This is so important. Let yourself be, without needing to do anything. This can be challenging at first, but very rewarding as you let yourself not do/serve/act but be in His presence and simply accept His love. Spend unhurried time with your God. He is waiting for you.

4. Share it!

• Create a gratitude tree and have each person add to it each day by cutting out leaf shapes and writing one or more things you are thankful for

• Post it wall: gather post its on a wall to share the things you are thankful for at a certain time each day.

• Reach out to someone who has been a blessing to you each day and let them know what exactly you are thankful for. Kindness and gratitude go a long way in encouraging others.

There are so many little small steps that we can naturally include in these strange days.

With Gratitude and Hope-

-Noel -

Lets Talk About Sex

I was once told, “if you want to shrink your church talk about money, if you want to grow your church talk about sex.” So is our conversation about sex a church growth experiment? 

Yes AND No.

First of all Yes. 

I said on Sunday that I unapologetically want to see us grow up as mature followers of Jesus. I want to see us enjoy God’s presence more.  I want the good news of Jesus to inform more and more of our lives. And for our lives to continue learning to run the True Story as our iOS not just an app. This means we can’t NOT talk about sex.  If we are going to be faithful to the commission of the gospel in our cultural moment we MUST dialogue regarding our sexuality and how sex finds both it’s origin and purpose in God’s Story.  

But... Why? 
Great Question. First, we need it. Yes, us. The adults. That’s why on March 26th we are inviting everyone 16+ to be a part of this conversation. Many of us are struggling with sexual addictions, the haunting residue of our sexual history, and mourning the misinformation or lack of information we were given regarding sex. Single. Married. Dating. Human.

Many of us grew up in environments that were either extremely silent about sex OR that were significantly shaped by overt sexual sin. Many of us have learned about sex from ill informed friends, locker rooms, and secret internet searches. And this is destroying marriages, relationships, friendships, personal integrity, and joy in the presence of Jesus. But good news... There is a better way. 

Secondly, our kids need it.  We have 20-40 little image bearers who are being raised up in the ways of Jesus as part of our community right now.  We have a class full of 5-8 year olds about to graduate into a world most of their first exposure to pornography will statistically happen between the ages of 8-11.   A world telling a story where sending nudes is the norm for dating relationships in Jr. High. A sexualized story is ALREADY being told implicitly if not explicitly to our children. This isn’t to scare us, but is to open our eyes. What if their first exposure to sex wasn’t a website, but loving, shame free, conversations from people who love them? We have the opportunity to tell many of our kids story first and better. This conversation is part of the plan for us to step into that responsibility. 

What if we could give them the gift of shame free conversations about God’s design for sexuality? What if we could create environments of grace for failure BUT also a better picture for human sexuality than what they’ll find in the school books and internet searches?  What if we could be for them what so many of us wish we had as we disciple them in ALL the ways of Jesus? 
Yes, this is about growth.

But Here’s the No. When I was coached to talk about sex to grow the church it was gimmicky. It was about more people in seats, not more depth in the story.  It was a bait and switch.  Talking about sex to get more people to show up is part of the problem, not the solution. This isn’t to prove that we are hip, trendy, or cool.  This isn’t for more instagram likes, Snapchat stories, or facebook shares...

To be absolutely clear- this conversation is not clickbait, but is to better equip us as followers of Jesus and participants in God’s True Story.  I hope to see you there. 

Following Jesus With You-

Kevin 

---

House Worship

Here’s why we are engaging a fresh space to make time to slow down, be in scripture, sing some songs, and listen to the spirit together.

Why? 

It’ all started with our 24 hour prayer. After the 24-hour prayer time, we spent moments as a family speaking words of encouragement, truth, hope and love over one another. Words and truth we HEARD God speaking to us. That’s pretty amazing, right?! Because we stopped long enough to listen. One of the things I heard from Spirit over the next couple of weeks was a consistent reminder that I needed “space to listen”. If I wanted to hear Spirit speak, see Spirit move, be connected to my Missio family through Spirit’s presence...then I….we need to consistently and regularly be people who slow down and take time together to listen. 

What? 

House Worship will be a space to listen. Quarterly, we are going to have time as a family to intentionally perk our ears up together and listen close to what God is speaking over our community and our city. This will be a supplement to the regular rhythm of gathering on Sundays, not a replacement or a substitute.

The gathering we do on Sunday’s is done with intentionality – to be together in God’s presence, to remember Jesus, be invited to the table, and to be reoriented in the True Story.

House Worship will also be done with intentionality. We want to make space to listen. To respond. All our Missional Communities are invited together into this space. We will come together and lean in and intentionally orient our hearts together to what the Spirit is doing in and through us. We will sing, read scripture, pray and we will be silent – in hopeful anticipation that we will meet God because we know God is always eager and ready to meet us. 

I hope to see you there!

Brittany Johnson

**Kids who have graduated from 2nd grade are welcome to join us. As parents, check in with these older kids and make sure they are willing and ready to participate in this type of practice.  

The Collective is Joining Missio Mesa

Thanks for visiting for checking out the Collective Church. We have some exciting news we are finally ready to share with you! We are joining up with Missio Dei Mesa to continue seeing the good news of Jesus spread throughout the East Valley. Our leadership, missional communities, and ongoing desire to see people experience the gospel are coming with us, but we are gathering in a new place with a new(er) community.

We have enjoyed sharing life and ministry together as a faith family called the Collective, and are looking forward to this next season of growing together with Missio Dei Mesa to make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus.

• Our new Gathering time is 4.30pm on Sundays

• Our new Gathering location is 19 North Robson, Mesa AZ 85202

E-mail us with any questions

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