My bro Matt Lollar (guy with the gimpy arm) is part of TCH Abbey (our sister church). He's new to TCH, but has settled so quickly. His insights are spot on.

he writes:

“It is really exciting to see the community of God in action, loving and serving one another, and not just on a surface or material level, but on an intimate, spiritual level. . . We have a core group of about 20 people who are committed to the gospel in our church and it is great to see. Our church is not a "good" church by some people’s standards. We are a rough bunch! I feel that our lives are very exposed to each other, we see the nitty gritty and the hidden sin, not all of it of course but I feel we know each other much more than I have known other people in previous churches. Many times I have been to churches where I knew people and I thought they were such Godly, sinless people, but that is because they hid their true heart and put on the righteous one while around other Christians, I am guilty of doing this (fear of man). In The Crowded House Abbey we are exposed, and it is a beautiful thing because the gospel was intended for the wretch and the outcast, for the sick and broken, the sinner and evil doer and there is no need pretending that we are not those things. I hope I am not sounding like we are boasting in our sin, but rather I would like to mean that we are boasting in Grace, and we try not to be afraid of the fact that we are weak and helpless, we are the outcast, we are the people who are in need of a saviour! So please pray for our church as God begins to mould us in his image, it is a hard thing to go through!”