At AWAKEN 2020 We’re Redefining Church

It was what you did. The Sunday tradition. You’d get dressed up, stroll down those velvet carpets, and sit politely in the wooden pew. Finally, somewhere in-between your doodles and counting the number of times the preacher said “Thou,” you’d ask the biggest question on your mind all day, “What’s for lunch?”

When you got older, things changed. You had better things to do. And if you’re honest, drinking with new friends was a lot more fun than fake smiling around the ones who aired everyone’s dirty laundry but their own. You and God were still tight, you just decided you weren’t much of a church person. Maybe you’d go back “one day.” But honestly, why bother?

Is that really all there is to church?

Why is it that the church has traditionally been known to bring hope in trial, and also known for hypocrisy, judgment, do-gooding, and a number of things contrary to God’s Word? Why do so many of us settle for a watered-down version of Christianity? A sleepy, unsatisfied life where we’re half in on God and searching for happiness?

What if, instead, when you showed up, you were greeted with a smile that seemed genuine? You heard people talking about their struggles openly as if they weren’t afraid of what anyone would think or say?

What if when they spoke about someone, you found yourself wishing they would say those kinds of things about you?

What if there was an aura of authenticity and hope even amidst struggles? What if people were laughing and having fun? What if people seemed alive?

What if all around the world, young adults were standing up against the apathetic, uninspiring version of Christianity that is widely accepted as the norm?

What if Sunday and Monday and every day, they were living the purpose-filled life God intended for them, confessing sin and finding healing, pursuing one another and bearing each other’s burdens in loving, real relationships?

What if lives were being radically altered and numbers added to them daily because young adults dared to respond to the grace of a Jesus who actually died and whose resurrection has real implications?

We’ve seen it happen. We’re watching it happen. Here in Dallas and across the world, young adults are coming alive, experiencing freedom from the things that keep you up at night. They’re allowing God to repurpose the messy parts of their lives and locking arms with like-minded young adults. They’re changing the world, experiencing church like God always intended. And we believe what is happening here can happen wherever you are.

That’s why the theme for AWAKEN 2020 (The Porch’s national conference) is “redefining church.” Culture has fed you a false picture of the church. So, we’re going back to the purpose-driven, exhilarating, people-serving idea of church that God intended from the start.

Skeptical? Join us for these three days in Frisco, Texas to study what God has to say about His Church. Throughout the weekend at AWAKEN, you’ll get a taste of church God’s way. You’ll be freshly inspired by catching a big vision, and by seeing how that plays out practically. And you’ll find, through biblical teaching, that you have a part to play in God’s incredible design for his bride, the church.

This year, we’re redefining church – the way God designed it from the start. See you at AWAKEN conference Memorial Day Weekend 2020.