If you're a member of a Sunday Volunteer Team, or if you're ready to join a team, we would love to invite you to the Launch Conference at CITYCHURCH on Sunday, September 8th, from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. During this conference, you can expect preaching and vision casting from

Pastor Dean, a full band with an extended time of music, a time to share

the Lord's Supper, a time to focus our vision and passion for creating

irresistible environments in Tallahassee, and a breakout time with your

ministry area for dinner, relationship building, and training. Make plans to join us and sign up online today!

This December, CITYCHURCH is partnering with Orphan's Heart Ministry to send a team to the Dominican Republic to help build homes for families in need. For dates, sign ups and more information, contact Michael Mears (Michael@citychurchtallahassee.com). 

All of my life, I have grown up with Christian parents and a Christian school surrounded by Christian people who have perfect Christian families who have Christian ideas and values for their lives and live in Christian neighborhoods and have Christian cars and Christian board games and Christian DVDs. As a kid, I just always tried to do the right thing, obey my parents, and hide my sin as much as possible so that I could fit into this perfect Christian "mold." I had as many Christian friends as possible, and I did all the right Christian things. You get it.

But my family was not typical of this Christian "mold." We didn't fit that perfect picture of what, I thought, the Christian family was supposed to look like. I was insecure and almost embarrassed that my family didn't look like my friend's families. We were different. I learned and experienced things that made me feel older and different from what my friends were learning and experiencing. My parents were relatively new Christians, and had a lot to learn about what it looked like to follow Jesus. My parents were both previously married, and as a result, my family is very blended. Out of us six kids, the three oldest siblings are my half-siblings, while the two youngest are adopted, making only one sibling who is my full-blood sibling. Ranging from ages 9-33, family gatherings in one household are interesting. Christ is preached throughout our home, but not everyone is on board. Following this paragraph was probably difficult, but I still get confused with who goes where and who does what. My parents have a joke that they have "yours, mine, ours, and someone else's."

Sometimes, witnessing to family can be the hardest to do. We grow up loving them as family, but for some reason we fail to see them as souls that need saving. Rather, we see them as an obstacle to overcome to "move on" to a bigger world with better opportunities to meet and minister to other people. But I've been challenged to pray that the Holy Spirit would give me wisdom and discernment in conversation with them, that I may be a vessel used to lead them to knowledge of the truth. Looking at my diverse family, I am reminded of the diversity of the body of Christ. We were all adopted into a love everlasting, much like my siblings were adopted into my family. The sacrifices my parents have made are huge, but don't hold a candle to what Christ sacrificed on the cross when He shed His blood. So while my insecurities amongst a sea of "perfect" families are overwhelming at times, my identity lies in Christ and His overwhelming grace and love that I didn't deserve.