but nonetheless, the ache for eternity grows with every passing day. Now, this certainly isn’t recorded doctrine, but when we try to imagine what that great and glorious day will be like, we imagine meeting Jesus in the air, checking out our perfectly fit bodies, standing before Creator God confidently as He finds our names written in His Book of Life. Then we imagine being welcomed into His House, and as we walk into the room, we imagine hearing all of the saints that have gone before us cheer for us while they sing and shout! And then we imagine being taken by the Holy Spirit to show us our little corner of Heaven, to receive our rewards, to enter our rest, and sit at the banquet table. And while we stroll on those streets of gold, we imagine bumping into the people with whom we’ve walked and talked with during this lifetime. And no matter how long or good or bad or smooth or rocky our relationship was here on Earth, in Heaven, we imagine there’s just hugs and smiles and joy and exuberant love for one another…a true Homecoming.

As we think back over the last decade since we moved to Boston from Baton Rouge to plant the little church in our spirits, we recount how Elohim literally created something from nothing before our very eyes. It’s not hard to see how God so intricately placed the right people at the right time with the right skills for His exact purpose: to build a life-giving, Jesus-preaching, Bible-believing, Holy Spirit-filled church in one of the least churched and wealthiest zip codes in America: Newton, Massachusetts. His power and his grace alone have sustained StoryHeights Church all 3,964 days (since we rolled into Boston with our Penske truck until the writing of this letter).  And while we’re so grateful for God’s mighty grace and His mighty power, we are not foolish.  While we fully acknowledge that God is who builds His church, we also honor the hundreds of people over the course of the past ten years who worked as the hands, feet, smiles, and hugs of Jesus and laid down their lives to see StoryHeights Church become what it is today, one story at a time.

And so as we asked the Lord how to properly worship Him and celebrate this huge anniversary as a family, it came to us:  Why do we have to wait until Heaven to have a homecoming?  Let’s get the party started early!  Whether you live in Massachusetts anymore or not, whether you left this church happy or sad or angry, and wherever you find yourself on the faith journey, even if you don’t even identify as a Christian any longer, we want you to know that we hold so precious every minute you gave in service, every talent and touch you offered, and every penny you gave to building this real, exciting, serving and powerful Church of Jesus Christ, and we want to thank you, honor you, and party with you! Church is hard. Life is messy. All the power of hell is always fighting against us, but it’s easy to see that it never prevailed! We’re thriving, we’re advancing the Kingdom of Light, and shouting the Greatest Story Ever Told! And the one thing we all have in common is that we all need a little more friendship, a little more kindness, and a lot more joy in our lives.  That’s what we hope to create during our Homecoming weekend in October.

This celebration belongs to everyone.

So please consider this your invitation from us and everyone who calls StoryHeights their home church to mark your calendars and join us for a long holiday weekend in Boston in the fall to commemorate, to catch up, and to celebrate all the Lord has done with you, because of you, and through you over the last ten years! It would be our greatest honor to host you! We cannot wait to welcome you home.

Sincerely,

Pastors Tyler & Crystal Tullos