Evergreen Christian Community

The Big Idea: Your greatest influence rises from the intersection of your pain and God’s power. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 The Four Elements of My Story: 1. The DITCH Jesus found me in. 2. The FAITH of my fathers. 3. The BATTLES I currently face. 4. The HOPE I possess. The Gift We Give: HOSPITALITY Hospitality makes ANXIOUS DISCIPLES into POWERFUL WITNESSES. Hospitality requires CONCENTRATION. CONCENTRATION - the ability to pay attention to the other. “For the other person to open and talk requires a withdrawal of the counselor. I must withdraw to make room for the other… This withdrawal, rather than going-out-to-meet the other, is an intense act of concentration, a model for which can be found in the Jewish mystical doctrine of Tsimtsum. God as omnipresent and omnipotent was everywhere. He filled the universe with His Being. How then could the creation come about?... God had to create by withdrawal; He created the not-Him, the other, by self-concentration… On the human level, withdrawal of myself aids the othe