Update Jan 3. - Jan. 31

Hey friends and family,

Sorry for being a little delayed in the post this month!  But here's a snapshot of what we've been up to.  Thanks so much for the love, support, and prayer we've been receiving from you all.  We are grateful for each one of you, and the Lord uses you all to encourage us when things get tough!

We are at the half-way point of our residency and are feeling encouraged and challenged to consider the next few months as an opportunity to press in deeply to Christ Fellowship and see what the Lord will teach us and how He will use us in this second half with them.

Making Connections

Church in our living room - 6 visitors!

Thank you so much for those that have been praying for us and those who have been part of our Pray nine3eight prayer campaign for God to raise up laborers for His harvest.  We have seen God move in this as people continue to seek me out to hear more about what our heart is for our city, and we even saw 6 new people come and visit our home group last week!  Our core group is being bold and trying to connect people to our church group!  Pray that the Lord might draw exactly who He desires to come and connect with us as we learn to be people of grace who are loved and saved by Jesus!  Pray also for the meetings, lunches, coffees and other connections the Lord is providing for me to share our heart for Jesus in our city.


Our Celebration Gatherings

Study Materials

Each first Sunday we are hosting a more traditional church feel at our house with preaching, singing, fellowship, and a children's program.  This Sunday will be the second one we've done, and we are going to be working through materials I have prepared and put together on essentials of the Christian faith.  Each month's meeting will not only have a sermon, but will also have 5 'diving deeper' devotionals, further resources, and other materials to help us get to know Jesus by studying His Word and His truth!


Goin' to the Chapel

Calvin and Taylor

Part of the residency program is making sure I continue in my wedding officiating.  I was excited and humbled to perform the ceremony for one of my former youth group kids (who's not a kid anymore!) and her new husband.  Calvin and Taylor's wedding was very fun, and I am praying for many years of building their lives on the rock of Jesus Christ.  We have another wedding in March for one of Erin's friends and I am grateful to be a part of it.


Spiritual Warfare and the Lord's Gracious Nearness
The training we received before we came out on this church plant adventure has sure lived up to its billing.  While we have seen much of our deep sin exposed and felt the attacks of the Enemy, the Lord has been gracious and good to us to show up in miraculous ways to remind us that, although we are early in the journey and have much to learn, we are in Him and He is with us.  A great reminder was a few days ago in a particularly tough day spiritually for me feeling discouraged.  I went to the Walmart near our house to drop off our rent check in the bank there.  And while I was waiting in line, a petite, middle-aged lady came up to me and just said that the Lord had put it on her heart to tell me that He was with me, He was over me, and that He is covering me.  It was the "warm blanket to the soul" I needed from Jesus right in that moment.  So grateful for His grace.


Timothy Program
Although not an official part of the residency program, I have been invited by the elders of Christ Fellowship to participate in their Timothy program.  It is a one-year invitation and commitment to be in with the elders of the church to see how they lead and love the church.  I am very honored and humbled to be a part of this program and look forward to seeing what the Lord will teach me through it.


Prayers and Praises
- Pray that our core people will grow in their love for and worship of Jesus
- Pray for our efforts in reaching out to other people, that they might connect with us and meet Jesus
- Pray for God to bring us people gifted and willing to help us grow in leadership and ministry to our city
- Praise God for our visitors!  Pray for more and that those who come would feel the connection of the family of God
- Pray against the spirits of the Evil One and for God's Spirit to protect, encourage, spur, and move in our lives
- Praise God for steps in the right direction with Erin's health, and pray that the medicine and diet changes will be the answer to getting things back to normal

Update Dec. 18 - Jan. 2

Happy New Year!

Thanks so much for joining us in our church planting adventure for Jesus!  Here are some updates and prayer requests!

Erin's Health
God is good to us all the time.  Even though we don't really ever want hard things to happen, we are grateful for God's grace to us in the midst of struggles.  Erin has been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, which is an inflammation of the intestines.  While it is not super fun or comfortable at times, we are blessed that it seems to be on the more mild end and that God has provided us with medicine and health care that will hopefully keep it under control.  Thanks to everyone for your prayers (and continued prayers) as we live in a new world with Crohn's!

Things Going On
We are kicking off 2013 and seeing ministry move forward!  We just launched our Pray nine3eight campaign and have been so blessed and encouraged by people all over the country that are praying for God to raise up and bring workers for His Kingdom in McKinney.  You can join us too!  Click on the link above or email Erin to get daily reminders to pray with us!

In conjunction with Pray nine3eight, our church is going to start a By Name campaign where we list specific people in our circles that we would love to see connect with Jesus and our church group!  And we are also starting our first Sunday of the month Celebration Gatherings.  Along with preaching, singing, kids' program and fellowship, I have been working on study materials to help us dive deeper into the Essentials of Christian beliefs.

And now that the holidays are over, we will pick back up on our Women's Bible Study and our Men's Tuesday Mornings.  With all the things going on, we are anxious to see how Jesus grows and challenges us together.

Encouragements
We had a sweet time last Sunday where we devoted our entire church time to praying.  It was so uplifting to meet with Jesus with our church family and hear how the Spirit is moving through our lives and what we are asking God to do with us and our city.  It filled up my tank for sure!

Getting to preach again at Christ Fellowship is always encouraging.  You can check it out here!

We have had a lot of new people who are not yet connected with us asking about what we are doing.  It is encouraging to think that the Lord might be moving in people's spirits to come and join us!  Be praying for that!

Prayer Requests:

• Praise: Answers and hope in Erin's health issues
• Praise: God is bringing people to join us in our Pray nine3 eight campaign
• Praise: God is unifying and building our church family together in His spirit
• Pray: God would continue to grow our church into more devoted disciples of Jesus and that we would be filled with His Spirit
• Pray: For the Celebration Gathering and other things going on - that they would connect us to Jesus, each other, and our city
• Pray: God would connect people and families to join us in knowing Jesus and taking the gospel to our city