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{"id":2375,"date":"2014-12-03T07:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/?p=2375"},"modified":"2014-12-03T07:00:36","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T13:00:36","slug":"creating-contagious-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/creating-contagious-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Contagious Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The battlecry of Mt Vernon Church is creating contagious<\/strong> communities of hope<\/em>. Over the past two days we\u2019ve looked at what it means to create<\/a> and what it means to live in community<\/a>. Today we\u2019re going to talk about what it means to be contagious<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

$\"CCCOH\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

The definition of contagious<\/strong> is:\u00a0(of an emotion, feeling, or attitude) likely to spread to and affect others<\/em>. That should be an obvious adjective for the church, but many times it\u2019s not.\u00a0Growing up I was a part of churches that had drawn the circle around a group of people and said in effect, \u201cThis is enough; this is all we are going to reach.\u201d I\u2019ve had the heartbreaking experience of seeing friends come to Christ but then be rejected by the church because they didn\u2019t fit the \u2018church mold.\u2019 They were good enough for Jesus; they just weren\u2019t good enough for the church.<\/p>\n

At Mt Vernon, we never want to draw the circle around those in the room and say, \u201cthis is enough.\u201d\u00a0We want to be contagious<\/strong>. This passion drives the way we present ourselves, the language we use, the songs we sing, and the sermons I preach. We approach church with the mindset every week that God is actively drawing people to himself.\u00a0He\u2019s actively working\u00a0in our community, and so should we.<\/p>\n

So we invite, we bring our friends and loved ones and even those we\u2019ve just met. We have medically-trained doctors sitting next to recovering alcoholics, and just about everyone in between. We go overboard with our Host Team (guest services) to ensure that everyone knows they\u2019re welcome here. You can\u2019t walk through our doors without being greeted six times. We\u2019re a bunch of saved people that have been transformed by the love of Jesus. It\u2019s a love we can\u2019t keep to ourselves. We\u2019re contagious<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"