Every Tuesday night, about 75 young adults in their 20’s and 30’s gather together in one little building.

This is a recipe for major disaster.

Young adults, like everyone else, are sinners. Not only are we sinners, but our generation specifically is known for being overzealous, indecisive, impatient, frustrated, and short-sighted. So when you gather a big group of us in one room, it’s a miracle that a fight doesn’t break out every time. Singles struggling with all their friends getting married. Newlyweds struggling with the reality that marriage didn’t solve all their problems. Everyone comparing themselves to everyone else, desperate to keep up with whatever the new trend is. Regretful decisions made on 6th street. Crushing depression from not getting the job. Anxiety about new responsibilities. We struggle with pride, bitterness, insecurity, immorality, comparison, and fear.

We are a mess.

But our community is growing. Why in the world would anyone want to join something as disastrous as the mess I just described? Well, our community is centered on someone named Jesus, and he is not afraid of messiness. So yes, our community is jacked-up and imperfect (understatement) and we admit that.

“Church is not an institution for perfect people, but a sanctuary for sinners saved by Grace”
-Charles Spurgeon

We acknowledge our inability to get it right, and confess our need to be rescued and reformed by God. We aren’t going to pretend like we have it all together. And want to know what’s weird? This is attractive to people: To know that you can be open about your mess and still be loved is an attractive idea.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”
-Tim Keller

The gospel is the reality that God fully knows the depth of our sin, and yet he trulyloves us anyway. He sent his son Jesus to pay for sin on the cross, bury it in the grave, and rise victoriously to offer his life and righteousness to anyone who would believe in him.

This past Tuesday we saw from Acts 13 that the church in Antioch, which started out as a idol-worshiping mess, was being transformed by this gospel, and by the Spirit of God. Diverse relationships were being formed across all borders, sacrificial decisions were being made for the sake of mission, and even under extreme suffering Jesus was saving souls and bringing joy to his people. What does this mean for us?

Jesus is not afraid of your mess, your sin, or your past. He is powerful enough to take it all, and loving enough to take you from where you are to where he is calling you.

So we gather on Tuesdays as a bunch of imperfect, messy people, to find honest community and authentic friendships, to hear from God’s word about this amazing gospel that we so desperately need, and to sing and pray to the God who delights in giving grace to messy people like us. And we have seen God do amazing things:

• People are getting saved and baptized.
• People are getting sent as missionaries all over the world.
• People are loving and serving their neighbors, co-workers, friends, and families.
• Friendships are being restored.
• Addictions are being broken.
• Hearts are being healed.

The gospel of Jesus is being proclaimed on campuses, in office buildings, and across little round tables at Starbucks. We are a mess, but God is at work. If you want in, come on. We are praying for God to do even more in our hearts, in our city, and in this world.

-Holland Greig

The Well is the young adult ministry of Wells Branch Community Church. Check us out Tuesdays 8PM.