Week Two Update

We had our second Sunday morning service today. The Lord has brought several new families to us and has truly blessed our first two weeks. We continue to meet in our house and are praying for God to open the doors for a public meeting place soon.

Please be in prayer for God to give us favor in the community. Since our passing out of the doorhangers a few weeks ago, I received one email from a person in the community who was mad that we had passed them out. This person has complained to the Home Owners Association claiming that we shouldn't be allowed to meet, due to the covenants of the association. This is a stretching of the interpretation of the rules of the covenant, but we're going to have to find a way to deal with it. The company that manages the Home Owners Association has requested that we describe exactly what we are doing so it can be approved by one of the committees in the association.

Pray for God to use this situation for good and to open doors for us to proclaim the gospel boldly.

Our First Sunday Morning Service

Tomorrow morning will be our first Sunday morning service. This past weekend we past out doorhangers throughout the Letson Farms subdivision advertising our first service. We did have several responses. No telling how many will come as a result. We have a few families that had already committed to be with us. Please be praying for God's Spirit to be upon us and to bare much fruit.

Quick Update

It's been a while since I've given a prayer update - it's been quite busy. Please pray for God to give us favor with the Bessemer School Board. We have asked to use the Jonesboro Elementary School as our Sunday morning place of meeting. I've spoken with the superintendent, who was very nice - she even called me on her off day. No church has ever requested to use one of the school facilities in Bessemer so this is a new thing for them. We have been hoping to start Sunday morning services on September 30th, and we are praying to be in the school that morning. Things will have to happen quick for that to happen.

Stephanie and I have been building some good relationships with families within our community, and it is clear that God is using it for good. Please continue to pray for God to open more doors like this. There are three families currently that God has given us good connections with, all of which have a special ministry need.

Please continue to pray for Tim. He is on the road to recovery after six weeks of radiation, but seems to be going through some discouragement. One of our greatest challenges is helping him to live off his low income. I'm trying to help him manage his money and to move into having some kind of a job which will help provide more income than what he has from Social Security and SSI. The trouble is his health, and keeping him well enough to have a job.

We appreciate you praying for us. Pray for God's glory to be demonstrated powerfully in all of these things.

BLOCK PARTY

This Sunday, June 24th, is our Block Party for the Letson Farms neighborhood, where we will invite the community to join us for our weekly Sunday evening worship and Bible study. Please pray for God to give us favor with the community and for the Holy Spirit to be upon our meetings powerfully.

On July 1st, our first Sunday with new folks, I will begin a series for the summer entitled:

LIVE THE JOY!
What It Really Means To Be A Follower Of Jesus

With the new job, study time is limited for me, so please pray for God to make the time I do have for prayer and study is truly anointed by God.

Please continue to pray for Tim. We are praying for God to provide him some more monthly income, and for God to provide him a permanent place to live. He will begin radiation treatments soon, which the doctors have warned could cause him some major difficulties--possibly loosing site in one eye. Please pray for God to protect and heal him fully, to preserve his eyesight, and to strengthen him as he grows in Christ.

These are blessed days. God is in our midst, and we are excited about all He is doing.

Blessings!
gary

Week of June 18

It's been a little while since the last post, so here's a quick update. I have been working with Regions since June 1st. I'm in their leadership training program. When I come out of the program, I should be placed as an assistant branch manager or a branch manager. This is a special opportunity which we're sure was from God.

We are beginning our first outreach to the community this comming Sunday. We are having a block party for our neighborhood. Since our neighborhood is so large, we only invited two streets. We will gradually work our way through the whole community, but it is our desire to begin small and have a solid base of disciples.

Those who come to the party will be personally invited to join us the following Sunday for a twelve week Bible study entitled "What Does It Mean To Be A Follower Of Jesus". We are keeping our meeting on Sunday nights at our house for now.

Please be praying for the book. It should be in our hands in just a few weeks. I've seen the proof copy, and I think it looks great.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Blessings!
gary

A Word from the Beach

Greetings from Destin, Florida! We are enjoying a much needed vacation here at the beach. So much has been going on lately, and it has been full of stress, frustration, and challenge. However, the Lord is good and He is blessing. After much prayer and waiting on God, we have decided that I will pursue a tentmaking job. Just a couple of days after arriving at this decision God has opened a nice door for me. When it is finalized I will share all the details. For now let me say that it appears I'll be able to move into a very nice job that will allow me to stay at the current salary I've been receiving for several years now. We thought I was going to have to take a major cut in pay, because ministry has been my life and job for fifteen years. But God is good, and I have had a great deal of experience these many years, and it appears He is using that to open a nice door for me. Please be praying for this to be finalized soon.

Our major point of prayer is that we as a church family believe God would have us start full-force in June. Please be in prayer for us and we begin to start focusing on the surrounding community and inviting them into the journey of being disciples of Jesus Christ. We will begin a public service on Sunday mornings, we've not decided which Sunday in June yet. And we will begin praying through different approaches to getting the word out to the community. We aren't approaching this in a conventional or typical manner. Please be praying for wisdom for us, a special anointing of God's Holy Spirit, and for favor as we start taking these steps of faith.

We certainly appreciate your prayers.

For the glory of God,
gary

Here are a few pics of Noah and Amelia for you...

242 - April 22

Yesterday morning we took Tim with us to the morning service at Loveless Park Baptist Church and then he joined us for our 242 meeting that evening out our house. We had a wonderful time with everyone getting to know him. He jumped right in like one of the family, even reading some during our Bible reading. We spent a good while learning about all of the details of his upcoming surgery and then praying for him. It was one of the best times we've had together as a church family. Please continue to pray for Tim, and for us to have God's leading to best minister to him.

Please pray for Lifesong, that God would continue to open doors for us to minister to more and more people.