09/24/07 UPDATE

Things have been rolling along here in O. Last week, we had my parents and a couple that are friends of theirs come up for the "Grand Opening." They also brought with them $2,605 that their Sunday School class had collected to buy a trailer for us. We purchased one for $2,550. Joe and Dad continued working on it throughout the week to install shelves at the front and additions to the ramp to make it easier to load. We had our first test run yesterday and it worked great. We have two carts and one shelving unit that store all of the stuff we need, so we can just roll it out on Sunday. Before, we had to store it all in our garage, pick up the trailer, load it on Saturday, unload and set it up Sunday morning, tear it down and load it in the trailer, unload it in our garage, and return the trailer. At this point, any step that you can eliminate is a huge relief for us, so this was a tremendous help.

Yesterday went well. We had 32 (26 adults and 6 children). Of those adults, 9 were first time guests. Every one of them came as the result of our mailings (last week 7 came as a result of the mailings), so they are working. We had a total of 12 new guests last week and all but four of them have come back or connected with the church. That means that we're doing a pretty good job of keeping those who come. If we can continue that formula, it will work out well - attract a lot of new people and retain most of them. We have to build a core large enough to provided infrastructure to handle new people and i think we're doing that.

One bummer from Sunday is that we did lose one couple for the rest of the year. Jeff has deployed for the remainder of the year and Kelly is going to join him. They'll be back in January, but they will be sorely missed until they return.

This week we will be continuing our outreach. We've used about any and all available means so far and most of them have worked pretty well. One big lesson I've learned - if churches would quit sitting around and debating what will work and what won't and start DOING something, they will find that God blesses just about all of it. There's no "golden bullet" that is the answer, but you will reach a few people with everything you do. Add a few people often enough and you've got a lot more than when you started! But i digress. . . we have a mission team from Arkansas coming up tonight through next Sunday. They are focusing on going door to door with the goal of sharing the gospel with people. Please back us up as we carry out this work. Pray for God to open the hearts and minds of the people we will visit. Pray that the people He is drawing will be home. Pray that we will be given an opportunity to share the gospel. Pray that it will bear fruit. IT'S ONE THING TO PLANT SEEDS, BUT PRAY FOR A HARVEST THIS WEEK! We are praying that people will make the decision to pray to receive Christ and get involved in the church. Pray also that we will be protected from Satan's attacks and that he will be bound from blinding people to the gospel.

9/16/07 UPDATE




Yesterday went great. We only missed our goal by 210, but that was ok. That was our "God created, virgin birth, resurrection of Jesus, and Oh, yeah, Redeemer had 250 on their launch Sunday" goal. We had 40 people (30 adults and 10 kids) and it was an exciting time. We had the most "newcomers" we've had yet and most of them had positive feedback, stayed to help tear down, and said they would probably be back. There was someone there who had heard of Redeemer in almost any way imaginable - personal invitation, block party, mailer, I even paid a couple of people to come:). We had people who took steps to get more involved and filled some huge gaps that were needed.

I included some pictures from the service yesterday so that you could get a feel for it. There is a second post below with more pictures. We are meeting in the cafeteria of a Middle School. One thing to notice is our children's ministry. My parents came up for this service and I have them both working in a children's class. In fact, Jackson is even helping with the toddlers. From what the teachers tell me, they really want him and Andrew to help, because they are a big assistance.

I also included a picture of our "fellowship" time. This has really gone well the past two weeks and you can start to feel things "coming together" among everyone. We're now meeting every week and you can feel momentum building. It is starting to actually "feel" more like a church. It's really exciting.

This week we have another mailer going out to 10,500 homes. Pray that it will be received well and that people will come as a result. The following week, we have a mission team of 13 people who will be going door to door. In addition, we have several people who are praying about committing to the work. They are genuinely seeking God's will about it, so pray that they will have clarity.

09/10/07 UPDATE

This week saw my last trip to NYC for the coaching network. The network has been of great benefit to me. It was great to meet in a group of guys who all understand what we are facing. I still remember our first meeting when one guy asked, "What do we do about being afraid?" There was nervous laughter all around the room, because we all understood. This time, a guy asked, "What do we do if this thing flops?" That's kind of like the elephant in the room for church planters - it's always a possibility that you don't want to think about.

The service yesterday went pretty well. The numbers were down a lot, but other than that, it was a great Sunday. We only had 21 this week, so it was a big drop. However, we had some really positive things happen. One couple asked how they could help and also brought a friend to the service. Another lady took steps towards being a part. Probably the most encouraging thing was that I asked them to welcome one another and it became a time of protracted conversation. That is good because we are in a setting where nobody really knows anyone else, so this was a positive. I also preached a challenging message on the fact that we are a church for the people who remain on the outside, not to meet the needs of those of us on the inside. It seemed to resonate with everyone.

Our biggest challenge is simply people. We need people to work and serve. Several of the ladies on the Launch Team have not even attended a service because they're watching the children.

We also need people to attend. We have two mailers that are going out (whenever the Post Office chooses to deliver them). We are hoping for these to draw several people. In addition, we'll be working to contact anyone that we know to invite them to come. Everyone present yesterday got 10 invite cards to pass out. Essentially, we are doing any and everything we can to invite people for next Sunday. Please pray that God will use these efforts to draw people to Himself.

Another big challenge remains finding a worship leader. Please pray that God will direct us to the right person.

09/03/07 UPDATE

Sorry we're late for both of you rabid readers:)

Last week was really fairly uneventful. We're focusing on our upcoming service Sunday which is our last "monthly" service. The 16th will be our "grand opening."

hopefully, we'll have a mailer going out to 10,400 homes this week and another next week to invite people to the services. about half of these people have already been contacted, and many recognize our card, etc. I'm really praying for people who have been "intending to come" and haven't to get a reminder and come in. I'm also praying for God to draw others who might be hearing of us for the first time. My prayers right now are focused on God drawing in those he wants in the church. We've done our best to prepare, pray, and be ready. Now it's up to Him to send the people.

Please pray for us as you think about us this week. Pray especially for God to send people.