Prior to a recent gathering, I had a brief conversation with someone attending for the first time. In a passing comment, he unknowingly put words to our deepest desire.

“I was told the presence of God is among this community.”

Nothing could capture our heart more purely than those words. Our aim is not a service. It is not a sermon, a building, a number of people, a budget, or even a ministry. Our desire is nothing less than His very presence, and above all else, our desire as we gather is to welcome Him.

Like Mary of Bethany, this means we start from a place of humble adoration, pouring ourselves out before Him, desiring nothing more than His nearness.

Without His presence, nothing else matters. The best sermons, worship, programs, and ministries become little more than religious activity — a form of godliness that lacks its power. 

But when Jesus is present, everything changes. This is why the presence of Jesus is the center of our life together.

And in His presence, we discover something remarkable. We discover that we are loved — that the heart of the Father delights in His sons and daughters. 

This is why beloved identity is so important to us. The Christian life begins not with striving, but with receiving love.

And from this place, we discover that this love intends to reach to the most intimate places in our hearts, where we are known, fully and completely, and where the life of Jesus heals, restores, and finds a resting place within His beloved.

This place of connection is the starting point of what the Bible calls abiding. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells in us and we dwell in Him. His life becomes our life. This place of union with Him becomes the foundation of everything else in the Christian life. And only from this place does lasting transformation occur.

We hunger for Scripture because we want to know Him.

We pursue holiness because we cherish the sacred purity of His abiding presence within us. 

We welcome the gifts of the Spirit because we expect Jesus’ presence in us to continue doing the things He has always done.

We embrace mission because we have begun to see creation with His eyes, and His love compels us outward.

We practice life together because we learn that we were made to live in community with one another.

We celebrate baptism and gather around the Lord’s Table because we believe Jesus meets His people through the gifts He has given His Church.

To be clear, each of these are good gifts. But none of them constitute the center. Only Jesus can occupy that space.

Throughout church history, different streams of the Church have uniquely preserved these different treasures. Some have guarded the riches of Scripture. Others have cultivated deep prayer, holiness, mission, spiritual gifts, community, or sacramental life. We are grateful for them all.

Our desire is to receive the treasures God has preserved throughout His Church, drawing upon the wisdom and practices of the faithful saints who have come before us, and orient them around the presence of Jesus.

At the end of the day, Abide is simply a people learning to live from His presence.

Everything else is fruit.