Tuesday, March 2, 2010

How Great is Our God! ("!" not "?")

Things have been speeding up lately at Connections. Let me give you the last month or so . . .

Our first set of baptisms took place a few weeks ago. We had 4 people get baptized and share their testimonies on video. God moved.

Two weeks ago we celebrated our first year at Connections. Over the last 12 months we've given away food, free gift wrapping, coffee at a busy stop light, money on a street corner and a slew of things on a one on one basis. We've had dramas and illustrations and have edited more video footage than you could watch in a full day. We've seen marriages saved and addictions broken. Amazing how much God has used a little church with less than a hundred people and no budget. We are willing God. Let's go crazy for year two!

Last week we encouraged our people to invite their friends and family and we laid out the gospel in a crystal clear fashion. We had four people raise their hands at the end to accept Christ. Wow God!

Here's what is happening next. . . We made a call about an open facility on fairview ave. It's one of the major roads in the town we live in. We couldn't afford it, but since it was empty, we thought we'd give it a shot. We offered them what we could afford if they would let us use it 24 hours a week, from Saturday at 1 to Sunday at 1. They countered back and said we could occupy it full time and they would keep the rent at what we could afford. WHAT??? OK, I guess we can handle that. So, at the end of this month, we're moving into our first full time building. Now, honestly, it's pretty small. 2 classrooms, one restroom (ouch) and a good sized room for our service. All in all about 2500sf. We're viewing this like our first little apartment. It's a great place to grow and would allow us to have 2-3 services a week and possibly reach the 4-500 number before we need to move on. And, like I said earlier, we are in a GREAT location! This alone is a huge blessing and we'll be in by Easter! You're amazing God!!!

Here's where I need your help. We have so much stuff ready to go. Since we're a portable church, we already have a sound system and all the childrens stuff we need to get started. What we don't have is tables and chairs. We're going to need 75 chairs and 10 tables (to start). If we buy new, we're looking at 4-5k. We're also going to need an additional projector and screen. Another few thousand dollars. All in all we're going to need around 10-12k. That's minimum. They'll probably be more we need once we get started. Pray with me that we can make this happen. It seems impossible. But, so does a 2500sf facility on Fairview Ave for about what we're paying now. Show up again God! I have zero doubts!

4 baptisms. 4 Salvations. 12 months of amazing ministry. New Facility. Easter is Coming. We're no longer standing in line . . . the roller coaster has officially begun!