Jeremy L. Berg

Our house on Cedar Lane will forever be remembered for some of the most significant ministry gatherings and conversations that have impacted the course of our lives.  Here’s a few:

Sometime in 2006 at a youth concert, I announced the launch of the “Way of the Revolutionary” Bible Study to be held in our living room on Monday nights. Over 100 Mound Westonka teens received the invitation, but only one student showed up that first gathering. His name was Charlie Crea and we shared a Jack’s pizza on the back deck and spent the next hour dreaming of the Jesus Revolution we wanted

to spread through the school. A mustard seed moment for sure. Charlie was faithful in recruiting others, and for the next couple years we had a living room full of teenagers each Monday night from all backgrounds — Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Evangelical, etc. — all sitting under that teachings of Jesus and scheming together how to bring the light of Christ into their schools. I’ll never forget those Revolution gatherings — Bible Studies, Q&A nights, singing songs, sitting by the fire, and more.

In the summer of 2010 we held the most nerve-racking gathering of my life. In short, God called Keri and I to start a new church in Mound. We made a list of all the contacts we have in the Mound area and invited them all to our very first “Vision Barbecue” that July to hear about the vision for MainStreet. Going public and putting this precious dream out there for others to consider (join enthusiastically, ignore quietly, or reject clearly) was very scary.

We set up a bunch of tables in the backyard and grilled up some food and PRAYED LIKE CRAZY that someone other than our parents would show up and consider the call to join the adventure. People showed up. We shared the vision. We ate. And we were off and running — or crawling really slowly — toward the realization of the MainStreet Church God would birth over the next couple years. But it all started with a BBQ at our little house on the hill.

From that moment on, our little yellow house has been the home of countless ministry gatherings, spiritual conversations and Holy Spirit moments — most of them revolving around yummy food. Far too numerous to count but some moments come immediately to mind:

• Mike & Julie Brown sitting around our dinner table in the spring of 2010 and giving us the “green light” to begin planting MainStreet with the blessing and support of the Covenant. Happy tears all around.
• Former youth group students from Burnsville coming over to share how God’s been moving in their lives as missionaries for YWAM.  This house glows with the light of Christ when they come over!
• Our Crown College Lifegroup watching the Passion of the Christ movie on a Good Friday and sharing in an emotional communion time together.
• Hosting the Backyard Vacation Bible School last summer in our backyard and watching Keri transform the yard. Then cramming a bunch of screaming toddlers into our tiny house when the storm rolled in.
• Growing our current Lifegroup and all the real, honest conversations we’ve had and the ones to come.
• Conversations with so many MainStreet families around our dinner table talking about getting baptized, getting married, and other ways God is working in lives.

We’ve even had two “roomers” living with us during our time here. We’ve never had much room but we’ve enjoyed sharing it with others when needed.

Our new home God is blessing us with is much larger and will be much more ideal for hosting gatherings and doing ministry. But all good Kingdom things start small like a mustard seed! We will truly miss our little yellow mustard seed house on Cedar Lane. The Kingdom grew in us and through us during our time here.