Coffee Community

Experiencing Isaiah 61

Our Isaiah 61 House Church began on Sunday, September 4, 2005 with 13 adventuresome folks, previously meeting at Dan & Jody Mayhew’s home, joining with Rich & Kimberly Hagler who were sensing the Father’s call to start a new house church.

Building on “hearing and following the leading of the Spirit” DNA that the Mayhew’s modeled, Isaiah 61 is a gathering of believers who desire to intentionally and experientially submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus as He disciples us and to walk together with all others who share that desire. As His Body, we believe our corporate, committed discipleship journey includes living out Jesus’ own Gospel ministry, which He announced in quoting Isaiah 61:1 There He declared,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19).

The church gathers at Rich & Kimberly’s home every Sunday morning starting at 11 AM, to live out these Kingdom values over the course of the day (and by extension, throughout the rest of the week). Based on 1 Corinthians 14:26, the Body-life begins with an extended time of Spirit-led, spontaneous praise, worship, Scripture reading, prophetic words, and prayer to the Father, which then transitions into sharing and ministering to one another over what the Lord has been saying and doing in our lives as He disciples us. The gathering continues with a meal around the table and informal fellowship lasting into the late afternoon (and sometimes the evening).

Since we first started meeting together, we have been humbled and blessed by the growing sense of the Father’s intimate presence, out of which the Spirit has been actively ministering in many areas of our lives and relationships. That ministry has been both good and challenging as the Father has been shaping and sanctifying each of us to look more like His Son.

As a result of these intimate interchanges, the group has been growing in love for one another and bonding as a community, often meeting together informally in smaller groups for prayer, fun, and fellowship throughout the week. The church includes both singles and married couples in all walks and stages of life, spanning the ages of the mid-20’s to the early-70’s.

Finally, the Father has been pleased to give us 2 huge additional blessings. First, the Lord has been adding a number of newcomers to our Body, both unbelievers who are being drawn to the Father’s glory and are now in various stages of the process of being saved, as well as believers who have been previously either disconnected from or dissatisfied with their church experience and “are looking for more.”

Second, our church is experiencing the joy of becoming “parents”, seeing a number of our excited members and friends who have been blessed in Is 61, now planting their own HC’s in Portland and beyond. It’s been a wonderful and wild ride following “the Wild Goose” so far (which is how the Celtic Christians referred to the Holy Spirit), and we are looking forward to so much more!