What: “The Overpass”
When: every Sunday evening, 6-7pm (doors open at 5:30pm)
Where: Iron Grind Coffeehouse, 116 N. Auburn Rd. in Auburn
Who: Adults, Teens, and Children
Cost: no cost, but $5 cold & hot drinks will be available for purchase (proceeds to go for local & global missions)
LINKS:
The Overpass Facebook Page
The Overpass Promo Video
Video Credit: Michael Pieper at #mpmedia3
Did you grow up not attending church? Have you not been to church since you were a child? Did you have a bad experience at a church or get hurt by someone in the church and then stopped going? Do you feel that the church is full of people who don’t practice what they preach? Do you believe because there are so many different religions and churches out there that it is impossible to figure out which ones are “real”? Do you feel that you’re generally a good person and don’t feel the need to go to church? Do you think that you’ve done so many awful things in your past that you couldn’t possibly enter the doors of a church? Or do you just have no interest in joining a local church?
According to research, these are some of the most common reasons why people choose not to attend a church regularly. Our family has had both heartbreaking and amazing memories at the churches we’ve attended. Our family’s belief is there is no perfect church. And after visiting an indigenous village that didn’t even have a physical church building and seeing firsthand their strong faith in God, we also believe you don’t have to physically attend church to be a Christian. While the Bible does say that this is the exact plan that Jesus and the first missionaries had for us, we know that sometimes “religion” and “faith” and “church” can leave a bad taste in people’s mouth. Sadly, it makes many decide they want nothing to do with gathering together as Christians.
The reason our family chooses to attend church is because we need to be encouraged weekly to maneuver through life. We acknowledge we are not strong enough to be good people on our own efforts. We must continue to study the life of Jesus and examples of strong Christians in our Bibles to become the best version of ourselves we can be. We want our kids to hear weekly from adults on how much God loves them and how they have a unique role in God’s story. Church can be a place of great encouragement and offer amazing opportunities for families to make lifelong memories together.
But whatever your reason for not wanting to go to church, we believe we have the next best solution: The Overpass. If you live near the Tri-City area in Michigan, we invite you to look at “church” differently than you’ve ever done before.
We will be holding an informal time to gather as adults at a local coffee shop once a week to watch short video clips of teachings from powerful pastors around the country. We will have a discussion time for topics such as church, Christianity, religion, God, and the role these have in the world. We do not claim to have all the answers, but we do commit to creating a safe environment where you feel comfortable to learn, grow, spiritually wrestle, and CONNECT with others in your community. There will be 2 rooms for different ages of children with supervised childcare for kids to color and play together. (Teens are welcome to come with their parents to listen or be with the children.)