Update Dec. 1 - Dec. 17th

Merry Christmas!  Thank you so much for staying connected to us.  Here's a quick update on the last few weeks.

Taking Next Steps
Since the meeting with the Christ Fellowship Network Team we have come up with some strategic steps for the next phase of the church plant.  In an effort to reach out to more people and to start building a church structure that best creates disciples, we will be starting a Celebration Gathering service the first Sunday of every month.  That will be in the morning and will have many of the same elements as traditional church services- preaching, musical worship, children's bible lesson, and whatever else we need.  As a core group, we will be taking steps to prayerfully and intentionally reach out to our own circles in order to try and connect more people to Jesus through our church. And you can help in that (see Pray nine3eight below!).  And don't forget to come live or listen online as I preach on the 30th at Christ Fellowship (9:30/11:15).

The Good and the Bad
The bad news is that Erin's stomach sickness came back with a vengeance and this time led to an ER visit and a hospital stay.  It turns out that she has a mild case of Crohn's Disease.  The good news is that God is faithful and gracious to us to finally be able to diagnosis it and that we live in a place and time that we can treat it.  God is good and it could be much worse!  Please be in prayer for us as we begin a new season in life of learning to live with Crohn's.


Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!!

This past Sunday we celebrated the coming of Christ with a Christmas Party at our place.  We worshipped with delicious treats, a little White Elephant, some Christmas carols, and a message from the Word.  We even had some new folks show up!  I am so grateful to get to walk through life with these new friends and family in Christ.  (Sorry - we were having so much fun I forgot to take pics of people!)







Making Connections
God keeps bringing people who have heard about what we are doing and want to hear more.  I have had many lunches and coffees with people to share our heart and plan for being the Church in McKinney.  Please be praying that God would bring more believers and not-yet believers to our group and see His name proclaimed in McKinnney!

Pray nine3eight

I am excited about this!  Taken from Matthew 9:38 where Jesus tells His disciples, "... therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his harest," we are taking Jesus at his word and are going to pray earnestly.  We've created Pray nine3eight which is a campaign to rally as many friends, family, and supporters as we can to commit to praying that verse over our church once a day for 100 days.  Starting January 1st and going until April 10th, we want to see God do something we couldn't do on our own and bring 'laborers' to join us in building His church in McKinney.

If you're on Facebook you can either search "Pray nine3eight" or go HERE and 'like' our page; a daily reminder will appear in your News Feed.  So go 'like' and be sure to 'share' so that you can help us rally as many people as we can to be praying for us!


Prayers and Praises

• Continued prayer for Erin's health.  Pray for healing and ease of transition and praise that it wasn't anything worse than what it is.
• Pray for our efforts this coming semester to reach out more intentionally to connect people to Jesus through our church plant.
• Pray that the Lord will connect people to praying for us through the Pray nine3eight Campaign.
• Praise God for the way His Spirit is growing in our group, and ask God that it would continue to grow 100x more in the next phase of growing the church.

Nov. 8 - Nov.30 Update

Hey friends and family,

Here's our update for what has been a busy November!  Instead of moving chronologically through the month, I thought it would be good to make categories.  : )

Continued Encouragement
God's grace truly is amazing.  One of the ways we have been blessed by it is in the people God has put around us to support and encourage us.  This month we have had conversations, dinners, coffee and the like with people who God has joyfully encouraged to support us financially in our efforts for His Kingdom in McKinney.  While we are still in need and asking God to provide, we are grateful for His blessing through friends and family and for how He is faithful to give us just what we need.

We have also been increasingly encouraged by the staff, leadership, and members of Christ Fellowship. Recently we had a meeting with their Network Team (leaders in charge of the church planting ministries) to share pragmatically our vision for reaching the city for Christ.  With their ongoing input and guidance, I can say they were extremely encouraging, and I look forward to see how the Spirit of God will move in us as we take some faithful (and sometimes a little scary!) steps forward.

Cool Opportunities
God has also continued to provide more ministry opportunities for us.  Erin and I were able to go and see our friends back at Woodcreek where I had the chance to teach the Young Adults Group.  It's always a blessing to get to talk about Jesus with friends.  I have also been asked to perform the wedding of one of my former Youth Group kids coming up in the beginning of January.  It's very encouraging to see her and her fiancee wanting to make Jesus the foundation of their marriage and lives together.  And it's also fun to get to speak the limited wisdom and experience of 1 1/2 years of marriage!  I am also getting a chance to preach again at Christ Fellowship on December 30th.  If you're around - come see me!  If you can't come - listen online at christfellowshiphome.com.

Fun Stuff

A few months ago Erin and I decided to pick a Baylor football game and grab some tickets and go with some friends on a one day road trip to Waco and back.  Who could have guessed that when we picked the Baylor/Kansas State game that not only would K-State be the #1 ranked team in the country at that game, but that Baylor would DESTROY them in one of the most exciting and electric sports environments I have ever witnessed.  It was so sweet to be there with Erin, to join her in her Baylor passion and to share that experience together.  Even though I am an Aggie, I must say 'Sic 'Em' at the beating the Bears gave to K-State.

We also got a chance to spend Thanksgiving (and the Sunday after) with my family celebrating the holiday as well as my (31) and my brother's (36) birthdays!  It was great to have my whole family together and to celebrate with them.  Also, my wife got me the best Birthday/early Christmas present ever - but I'll have to have you read about it on her blog.

Not so Fun Stuff
For a couple years now, Erin has been battling a stomach thing that comes and goes (and always comes back) that is really painful and hard to bear.  The doctor has now suggested we see a GI specialist on December 12th.  It usually is a few really intense days with a couple of weeks in between the hard-core pain.  Please pray for Erin, that the Lord would alleviate her pain and heal her body, that the doctors would identify exactly what's up and how to fix it, that I would be there for her how she needs, and that we both would hear the voice of God through suffering that we don't hear when things are easy.

Change of Seasons

I wish I was talking about the cold front that has come in, but as I write this on Nov. 30th it is 68 degrees outside. What I mean is a change of vocational seasons.  After much prayer and counsel we have decided that it is time to transition away from working at Starbucks and meet the increased requirements and demands of our residency program and church plant.  So after 1 1/2-ish years, I will no longer be receiving free or discounted lattes... : (  But the Lord has done a great work in the last year, and we trust that we have accomplished the mission he gave us to make relationships with people for the sake of seeing Christ live in them.

Prayers and Praises
- Please pray for Erin's health as well as the health of some parents/grandparents of our church family who are not doing well
- Please pray that the Lord would continue to move in the hearts of supporters to provide our financial needs
- Thank the Lord for the Christ-centered conversations and relationships that are budding in our church plant.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would bring dead hearts to life and continue to grow and mature those of us who know Jesus.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would draw more people to our group and that our efforts to reach out into our circles will show fruit of growth of our church
- Prayer of praise for all those who are giving to us, praying for us, joining us, and overall supporting our efforts here.  It means more than you know!

Oct. 26 - Nov. 7 Update

Hey friends and family!  Here is what's been going on the last couple of weeks on our church planting adventure!

Serving at Woodcreek Some More!

Looking SUPER good!

We continue to get opportunities to serve with our friends and family back at Woodcreek Church.  The last couple of weeks are no exception!  Erin and I (or Lois and Clark) were able to lend a hand helping out at the Kids' Karnival on the 27th.  It was fun to be back at Woodcreek and spend time serving alongside some of our closest friends and family.  We were grateful to be a part of all the fun!

I was also asked to help lead the discussion for the men's Fastbreak breakfast Bible study on Nov. 2nd. Once again, it was a great time getting to open God's Word, talk about Jesus and the gospel, and to spend time with old and new friends.  Erin and I are so blessed by the love and support of our Woodcreek family.




Serving Our City

Serving our city

Some of our home group joined forces with about 90 other people in our community to serve those in need through a Habitat for Humanity project.  It was great not only to help out our city, but to also build great community with one another sweating, working, and serving together.  I am grateful for our family and look forward to serving Jesus and the community together a lot more in the future!

And one of the big projects that Christ Fellowship does by partnering with other churches in the area is Scare Away Hunger.  It provides months worth of can goods for the Community Food Pantry and helps eleviate some of the hunger issues here in McKinney and Collin County.  I was put in charge of pulling it off on Christ Fellowship's side of things, and although there were a few headaches and bumps along the road, God blessed our church in giving almost 4,000 cans for the pantry.

Feeling the Love
Erin and I have been blessed to get to spend time with some families the last couple weeks that are partnering with us through prayer and giving financially to our church plant ministry.   We are humbled and grateful to the Lord and our friends and family who are partnering with us in our heart to transform this city through proclaiming and demonstrating the love of Jesus to them.  Thank you all so, so much for what you have sacrificed and given.  We still have a good ways to go to get where we need to be, so if you would love to meet and hear more about how you can pray or give (or both!) to what God's doing here, please feel free to call or email Mike: 469-939-880 or michaeltmc@gmail.com

Cool Stuff
Some other cool things are going on.  Erin has kicked-off the second round of their Tuesday Night Women's Bible Study.  Their first meeting was this past Tuesday and a couple of brand new ladies showed up.  I am so proud of Erin for her willingness and heart to grow herself in the Word, but to also create ways for other women to grow as well.  She's doing a great job organizing and implementing things!

Grateful for opportunities to teach

The men are meeting together Tuesday mornings and are about to read and discuss a classic, Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest.  Please pray for both the men and the women to grow closer to God and each other through being in His Word.

And, in other fun news, apparently I didn't botch the last sermon and they have asked me to preach again on December 30th.  If you want to come and check things out, that would be great - or you can catch it live online at Christ Fellowship Online.  I'm also getting to share this Sunday at Woodcreek Young Adult's Gathering Service.




Prayer Requests and Praises
- That Jesus would continue to draw our group closer to Him and each other
- That the bible studies would be a spirit-filled and impacting time learning God's Word
- Thankful for the prayer and financial support we've received and that He would provide the rest
- Thankful for the continued support and encouragement from the staff at Christ Fellowship

Update 10/25/12

Some sweetness provided by the great
Lindsay Cheng for one of our
support raising events.

Since our last post the Lord has continued to allow me and Erin to have gospel-centered conversations with those friends whom God allowed to see the sermon on the Prodigal Sons I was allowed to preach at Christ Fellowship.  If you'd like to watch it, you can see it HERE.  Pray for the fruit of the gospel to be grown in the lives of those we meet with.

New Phase of Ministry
We have officially started the support raising process.  We are so grateful for and humbled by our friends, family, and the leadership of Woodcreek Church for how they have sacrificed to support us.  We are still a good ways away from our prayer and financial hopes and would love to let you know how we can partner with you in proclaiming Christ in McKinney and beyond!

Home Group Growth


Guys doing life together Tuesday mornings.
The girls meet together Tuesday evenings
for Bible Study and sharing life.

We have had some sweet and encouraging time with our home group family and core group.  It is exciting to see God moving in lives to connect them with His heart to do something big in the city.  It's amazing to see friends stepping out of comfort zones and trusting God as we take a step into the adventure of sharing the gospel with our city.  This week, including our normal Sunday home church hangout, we will be serving our city through a Habitat for Humanity Project on Saturday and some of us will be hanging out together as McKinney is hosting a free outdoor movie party!

Christ Fellowship Ministry
After preaching, my attention at Christ Fellowship has shifted to their can-food drive for the McKinney Food Pantry called Scare Away Hunger.  It is driven by an organization called 3e McKinney and involves many churches coming together to fight hunger.  It was even featured online in the Dallas Morning News (with a couple of quotes by yours truly!)

Returning to Serve at Home
We continue to serve from time to time back at our home church at Woodcreek.  Erin and I will be attending the Kids Karnival this Saturday, and in the next month I will be speaking at the men's Friday morning Bible study, Fastbreak, as well as at the Young Adults Sunday morning gathering.  Excited to stay in a relationship and ministry with our friends and family at Woodcreek.

Prayer Requests
Please let us know how we can be praying for you by emailing us at michaeltmc@gmail.com.

• Continue to pray that Jesus grows our home church closer to Him and to each other as we become a family on a mission for God
• Pray that the Lord would unify us and give us a clear vision on how He is building His Church through us in McKinney and beyond
• Pray for our personal and collective holiness - that we would put off sin and put on the grace and life of Jesus
• Pray for more people to meet Jesus through us and to grow those that have
• Pray thankfulness for how Jesus is continually meeting our needs
• Pray thankfulness for the supporters that are sacrificing to see the movement of our church plant go forward
• Pray for more "workers for the harvest."  We need more prayer support, financial support, and people who want to connect with us to join our family on a mission.
• Pray for energy for me and Erin as the efforts of our jobs, the ministry, and general life are impacting our physical, mental, and spiritual energy and health.  Pray for wisdom in making some decisions about our lives, time spent, and that God would give us supernatural strength.

Grateful to God for His Goodness
God is good all the time and we are grateful for the daily grace of Jesus in our lives.  Please join us in displaying and proclaiming that grace throughout our city.

Catching Up

God just keeps backing the dump truck of grace up to our lives and unloads.

Fun Cool Things
In an effort to be concise but also share with you guys a lot about what's been going on, here are some bullet points of fun things over the last few weeks.

- We had a 'family dinner' the other week where we cast vision and asked for commitment from our home church family.  The Lord met with us, and while some people are still seeking the Lord for His will in their connection with us, many of us already felt the confirmation to head forward on this adventure for Jesus in McKinney together.

- I had the opportunity to preach during the Sunday services at Christ Fellowship.  It was a blessing that my family came to hear.  And even some Woodcreek friends came all the way up to be a support.  I am blessed infinitely beyond what I deserve.  If you'd like to watch the sermon, click HERE.

- We had our home church over at our place for Pumpkin Carving.  It was so fun to see the kids and adults be silly and creative, and I must say that we ended up with some pretty good looking pumpkins!  Check below for some pics!

- The Lord has also blessed and humbled us with some financial supporters for our church plant adventure.  It is an inspiring thing when people believe in what God is doing through you and choose to sacrificially invest in what's happening up here!  Thank you!!

Some Harder Things
We've been dealing with some sickness around our house, specifically a stomach bug that Erin and I think actually came home with her from a trip to Nicaragua 2 years ago.  We have meds, but please keep her in your prayers.

Mark Your Calendars
We would love to see you guys and gals at our Vision and Support Raising Dessert at Woodcreek Church in Richardson on Monday, October 15th at 7:30pm.  Come and hear what God has been doing, what we hope He plans to do, and how you can partner with us.


Pumpkin Carving Pics

Prodigal Sons (and Daughters)

Sometimes God's sovereignty is too much for me.  I can't understand it all.  It's too wonderful.

Here is the most recent case...

Erin and I moved up to McKinney in July 2011 and it wasn't until September that I finally landed a job in the community at a local coffee shop.  It has now been over a year there and the Lord has blessed us with some great friends from both behind and in front of the counter.

The biggest point of getting a job in the community was to connect, build friendships with, love on and share the gospel with the unchurched, unbelieving in the city.  Not only has that happened, but God has orchestrated something pretty cool coming up this weekend.


In His providence, the church we are serving with, Christ Fellowship, has asked me to fill in and preach this weekend as the Senior Pastor is out of the country on a mission trip.  The text that was scheduled for that day, the Parable of the Prodigal Sons.

I've invited many of my unchurched friends to come live or watch online and the amazing thing is that many of them are planning on coming!  How cool is it that not only have I been given an opportunity to preach at one of the largest churches in the community, it's over the story of the Prodigal Sons, and hopefully a couple car-fulls of unchurched friends are coming to hear the gospel of Jesus being shared!?!?

Praise God for how He is moving in this city and in our lives!

Be praying for my friends, that their hearts and spirits will be open to the need for Jesus and the life He offers.  Also pray for me, that the Holy Spirit would move through my proclamation of the gospel!

Thanks so much for your support and feel free to join us on Oct. 15th at 7:30 at Woodcreek Church for a Vision/Support Raising Dessert!  We would love to see you there!

I'll end with some verses that remind us that it is His story, and for His purposes that He does these things.  How cool that we get to be a part of it!

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  Ephesians 1:4-6

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.  Ephesians 1:7-10

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.  2 Timothy 1:8-9

Christ Fellowship

For those of you who are curious, the church that Jesus has graciously pointed us to and who believes in our vision to plant another light for the gospel in McKinney is Christ Fellowship.  They are an independent, fellowship Bible church that has a heart to plant churches all over the US and the world.  We are humbled and grateful to be a part of what the Lord is doing through them.  Whether or not we end up planting as a Christ Fellowship Church, our church will forever be indebted to the people of Christ Fellowship for how they have reached out and invested in us and in the gospel.

Some responsibilities I will have at Christ Fellowship will include many of the roles that their full-time pastors share: pastor on call (hospital visits and other acts of caring), preaching, helping give input to church ministry directions, as well as leading some community impact initiatives.

We are so thankful to work with the godly men and women of Christ Fellowship and look forward to seeing how this relationship will bloom in the future.

I will be preaching on September 30th at the Eldorado campus during their 9:30 and 11:15 services on the Parable of the Prodigal Sons.

You could come in person or check it out live on-line at www.christfellowshiphome.com

Here We Go!

It's official!  We have started the church planting process.  I guess it was official when Erin and I moved here to McKinney to follow the Lord's prompting - but now it's officially official!

So, what does 'official' mean?

Well, I guess the most official thing is that I have just entered into a position at Christ Fellowship here in McKinney as the Church Planting Resident.  What that means is that Christ Fellowship wants to help lead, train, equip and develop the ministry that Erin and I have here in the city and bring it to a point of launching another lighthouse for God in McKinney.

This position is a full-time, support-raised position that will allow me, Mike, to develop some personal and pastoral leadership skills, as well as focus on growing and maturing the home church the Lord has built over the last 8 months.

So this blog will be for anyone interested in hearing bi-weekly-ish updates on what God is doing here in the city of McKinney and in His ministry with the church plant.

We are so glad you've decided to stay connected with us.  Please keep us in your prayers, and if you have any specific questions or things you'd like to talk about concerning our church planting vision - please feel free to contact Mike at michaeltmc@gmail.com

Stay tuned for more updates!