38134 & 38126

These numbers mean nothing to most of you.
However, for prayer warriors at SVC, these numbers stand for two zip codes that we have been praying over since the beginning of the year. To put it another way, these two zip codes represent our mission field and we are asking for God to bring his kingdom into every household represented in these areas.

Statistically, Memphis isn't a city to brag about.
The murder rate is 2.52 times the national average.
Forcible rape is 1.84 times the national average.
Robbery is 3 times the national average.
And I could go on.
Thanks to Detroit, we are no longer the number 1 city in the US when it comes to violent crime.
Racial tension and disparity between the rich and poor is intensified in this city.

But God is still up to something.

We serve a God who chose to enter into the mess of the world in order to redeem it. He didn't walk with the elite...he walked with the poor, marginalized, oppressed, sick, and downtrodden. With a few words and a gentle touch he was able to reverse people's fortunes. He was able to break generational cycles of addiction, bitterness, anger, poverty, and sin.
Jesus is raising up people in Memphis who are ready and willing to get serious about reconciliation and redemption. The power of the empty tomb is still transforming this world. This power is resurrecting one life at a time.

Our prayers over 38134 & 38126 are becoming dangerous because these prayers are teaching us that we can't just "do church" in the safety of a building, but instead we have to join Jesus in the crevices of life. To pray for God's Kingdom to come on this earth means that we have to respond to the voice that speaks back to us saying, "I am at work in this world and I am serious about using you to redeem it."

When you begin to care about a community to the point that your neighbors are entering into weekly prayers...prioritizing the budget changes, the questions about mission/vocation changes, and the conversations among leaders change. No longer is religion about budgets and buildings, but it is about truly becoming God's people on this earth...and God can do something with that.