Still Growing

I have seen the Lord do many things. What I see Him doing at Faith Community Church is astounding. Today we topped the one hundred mark for the first time setting a new attendance record for us of one hundred twelve on our fifth Sunday. I am still amazed.

We had several new families come visit us this Sunday. I had the chance to talk to many of these families. One told me they had been looking for a church for a long time and felt like they found one. The room keeps filling up more and more.

It is exciting to see what the Lord is doing in this community. Not only is the Lord growing our church, but as I left after our service I noticed all the church parking lots in town seemed full today. God is not just growing Faith Community Church but He is growing His kingdom all over the place.

We have set our launch date for our Grand Opening service for October 16^th. We are shooting to have over 300 in attendance in that service, which means our attendance must triple over the next six weeks. This is not something we can do but something God can do. [Jn 15:7-8]

We will start having Sunday School classes on September 11. I remind you all of this challenge as we meet in a school cafeteria. We still do not have teachers indentified and placed for all our classes. Our focus is on reaching people and not on seeking permanent facilities at this point. We will have to be flexible and creative in the weeks and months ahead. I am amazed as the Lord continues to draw people who had either fallen away from church or never been involved in church in the first place. It is exciting to see God draw people not only to church but also to His saving grace. Two students were saved this past Wednesday night.

So much has happened in such a short time we have had to accelerate all our plans. This makes me laugh because God had other plans all along. He willed for this church to exist and He is making a way for it week after week. I really am astounded by how the Lord keeps drawing people here.

I know a great deal of our growth is in direct answer to prayer from all of our prayer partners. I have a list of prayer partners I try to send an update to weekly. If you would like to join that prayer partner list send me your name and email address and I will send you updates as well and how you can pray for us more specifically. My email address is pastorfaithcommunity@gmail.com.

God has done all of this without the first bit of advertising. We are going to begin our advertisements in the upcoming weeks asking God to continue to draw new people to come. In some ways I feel guilty. I have read stories of other church planters who prayed, labored, advertised and had nobody show up on their launch Sunday. There have been other church planters who labored for years and never saw the kind of attendance God has blessed us with. There are many church planters who prayed and labored only to see the church and their dreams die as the church disbanded. I have been on that side of church planting and it devastated me. That is why this is so astounding to see growing the church.

I do not know why God chose to bless this church. I do not know why God chose me to lead this new church. I am humbled by the growth. My focus is not on the numbers. I am more excited by the people who show up for our Sunday night prayer meetings. We have had as many as a dozen families show up for them. God is doing exceedingly more abundantly than we can ask or think. [Eph 3:20] He called us to follow Him and we obeyed. He has blessed those steps of faith in dramatic and tangible ways. We are beholding a miracle in the making each Sunday. For those of you who keep praying for us thank you. Your prayers are definitely making a difference. Please keep them coming.

We still have not seen any movement on selling our house in Seminole. We are in a holding pattern on finding a house here due to this issue. We could still use your prayers for God to move this mountain and our learning to be content and patient in our present circumstances. It will happen in His timing. Like [I Thess 5:18] states we will give God thanks in everything for this is His will.

I cannot tell you how much we value your continued prayers. We hope to increase our prayer partners. Without you we would not have seen the Lord do all He has done in five short weeks.