I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
Crouched within the deepest recesses of our soul, it lurks, gnawing voraciously at each of us. Other than air, water, and Jesus, it’s the most sought-after need that we possess. No, it’s not the latest smart phone or the newest hunting rifle or the most stylish purse. It’s a new beginning. A fresh start. A do-over. Whether it’s a fresh start at life or church or whatever, we desire it with such ferocious desperation that we opportunistically snatch it up. The idea of a fresh start conceived Refuge Church. And it can change you, either for the first or the thousandth time.
To both the founders, and those who’ve come along the way, Refuge represents a fresh start. For me, it’s been only the second “church” I’ve truly felt at home with. It reminds me of a beloved book, Les Miserables. Referring to his protagonist and the product of grace, Victor Hugo writes:
“…And he thought that at two critical moments of his life two of God’s houses had taken him in, the first when all other doors were closed and human society rejected him, and the second when society was again his enemy and the prison gates were again open: without the first he would have drifted into a life of crime, without the second into a life of torment. His whole heart was melted in gratitude and his love magnified.”
This is me. A man “melting in gratitude” and with a “love magnified.” To the fresh start Refuge afforded me. But above all to the One behind Refuge, and the church worldwide, Jesus Christ.
Remember your fresh start. Both in life and at Refuge. Thank God for it, then ask yourself if the quote can be said of Refuge - that “we take people in when all other doors are closed“ to them.
