One Week, Two Week
Red week, blue week.
My favorite Mongolian grill, Lee’s repping some Coram Deo adverts.
One, Two, One Two
So the last week has been bananas! Let me fast track you through it.
We locked in a location.
Opened a bank account.
Got finances and payroll dialed in and the bones for a budget established.
Friday a team from Texas (the second time the Lone Star state has thrown down the gauntlet!) canvassed all the businesses on Main St., Mohawk, and Olympic with posters and flyers. The team was amazing, energetic, and killed it!
Also Friday a very generous donor provided funds for tracts, copies of the 1689 LBCF, and several other church book resources. Unbelievable.
Saturday I led my last Men’s Breakfast on the office of prophet for men, from How to Lead Your Family by Beeke.
Saturday I was accompanied by 10 brothers and sisters (from various churches) in canvassing the Pioneer-Mohawk window. We handed out or left between 350-400 flyers to the neighborhood. That’s roughly 70 blocks worth of walking collectively. I’m floored.
Sunday, we gathered for the Lord’s Day, I taught my usual class on spiritual warfare. Then we had a business meeting. The church showed sincere concern and delight as we discussed the church plant. The church voted to provide generous funding for us for the next year.
A few weeks ago my van broke down, so we’ve been roughing it with one vehicle. Sunday, I was handed the keys to a new vehicle. An amazing testimony of God’s goodness expressed through His body.
As I write this I have setup our Google business and Google voice number (541) 321-8947.
THIS WEEK
Get together a church constitution and by-laws.
Finalize open house details: logistic, food, details.
Finalize our church covenanting ceremony.
Get the location setup for our open house.
Put together our open house materials for handouts.
Prepare for my final Sunday class.
Possibly make a few videos (if Rachel gets what she wants).
Turns out this email has turned into a big to-do list. You’re welcome!
Overall, this last week has been one big testimony of God’s provision and goodness to us as we finally officially begin this journey. Thank you. If you have prayed for us, thank you. Please continue that important work on our behalf.
So that leads us to this Sunday, our first big day! The open house will be a time of hospitality. Our goal is to extend a warm invitation to the neighborhood through delicious food and winsome conversation. Eventually the formal informational time will begin where I introduce myself and the church. My goal is to offer clarity about what our church is and what we teach and believe. I will walk a fine line of explanation without being too wordy or heady. Just enough to be clear without losing them. You better start praying for me now. Probably most important to me, however, is that I will get to share the Gospel with whoever shows up. I am greatly looking forward to that.
If you would like to come and support us, even if you’re settled where you’re at, please do! You won’t be taking up a seat. This isn’t a sales meeting. We have received an enormous amount of support that has made our hearts swell with love from people that won’t be coming with us. That’s because our church is not the only outpost for God’s Kingdom. We’re not building an empire.
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One last thing, since I wrote this Sunday night, I have a few more updates. I met with Matt from the location we’re renting to go over some final details. I got an unexpected request from him. He mentioned he led a Bible study for his students that wanted to participate during the week, but felt like it was something maybe better suited for someone else. Lo and behold, I show up and he asks me if I would be willing to teach mid-week to youth. I thought about it all of 0.003 seconds and said I would be overjoyed to do that. The way God provides just never ceases to amaze me!
OPEN HOUSE
DATE: 7|26
TIME: 5-7pm
Dinner Provided
Church Information
Q+A
FIRST SUNDAY
DATE: 8|2
TIME: 4-6pm
ADDRESS
612 Main Street,
Springfield, OR 97477
Confession
I have on embarrassing confession… I did not take any photos during our neighborhood canvassing. Thankfully Rachel did, but I did not get any group photos. This bummed me out. I may never recover from this shame. If there’s no photo, did it even happen?
Thank you to those who came. You know who you are and our church plant wouldn’t have this much momentum without you.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for the Lord to strengthen our team, family, and myself as we embark on this huge leap of faith. We are beyond excited and are trusting the Lord for whatever He brings us.
Pray for the daughter of a brother of ours who pastors a Hispanic church in Creswell. She’s fundraising and planning a mission trip to Japan at the end of this month. If you’re interest in learning more check below or giving directly.
