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Sundays and Everyday

30 Oct

Celebration Service

| EIGHT WEEKS OF CELEBRATION SERVICES |

Last month we asked you to pray for two things.
1. That we would be able to gather people from both our neighborhoods as well as the surrounding community to the launch of CrossPointe Coast’s Sunday Morning Celebration Services.
2. That we would see an increase in giving to help to cover the costs related to launching a Celebration Service in a public venue.

Thank you for praying!

  • After just eight weeks we are averaging over 30 adults and 15 children each Sunday.
  • Each Sunday we have had multiple new households join us.
  • Most of the new households include neighbors, people who have been displaced from church in recent years, and people who are new to Viera.
  • Many of the households that have connected on Sunday mornings have also begun to give financially to the mission of CrossPointe Coast.
  • With the increased giving we have nearly covered the additional monthly expenses incurred from moving to a public venue.

That means we have a whole new set of goals:

  1. We still need to cover the ~$2,000/mo deficit we carried into launching the Celebration Service. Our prayer is to see that deficit erased by the end of the year so that we can move into 2013 with a zero deficit budget.
  2. Because we have carried this deficit for many months now, though we believe we can enter 2013 with a balanced budget, we still carry a few thousand dollars in unreimbursed expenses. Please join us in praying for a few families and churches that would be willing to help us erase those debts.
  3. We believe we can grow to 50-70 adults per Sunday morning by the end of the year.
  4. We believe we can connect 25 households into Community Groups by the end of the year.

Please continue to join us in prayer! Especially as we try to move into the new year far more financially healthy.

| COMMUNITY GROUPS IN THE COMMUNITY |

We plant Community Groups as part of the DNA at CrossPointe Coast because we believe that households can intentionally share their lives together for the sake of the glory of God and the proclamation of His Gospel in our neighborhoods and culture.

One of the most exciting things that we have seen so far since launching Celebration Services is that almost all of those who have entered as guests on Sundays have also entered our homes in Community Groups.

| HALLOWEEN & COMMUNITY |

One of the most difficult struggles in church planting is how difficult it can be to meet our neighbors. I mean, even in Florida, people are hardly ever outside of their house!

Except one day a year …

So, we’ve moved Community Group outside. We are setting up some simple games in our driveway, lots of candy and hotdogs to meet our neighbors and others from our community.

Please pray for us as we bring our weekly celebration of the light of Christ outside to meet with a culture that is bent on celebrating darkness.

| VISION SUNDAY |

On Sunday, November 11, we are having a big of a difference Sunday morning. The Holiday Inn Conference Center was unavailable so we have made plans to meet at the Viera Regional Park.

Please pray for us as we cast our vision especially among those who are new to CrossPointe Coast.

Celebration Service Launch

6 Sep

Celebration Service

The next few weeks are HUGE weeks for the Fyffe Family and CrossPointe Coast! We are launching our first Sunday Morning Celebration Service in a public venue on September 23 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Viera.

In preparation we are holding two “preview services” on September 9 and 16. Our whole team at CrossPointe Coast is working so hard and I invite you to continue to work hard with us in prayer.

We are constantly reminded that we are not planting a church service; we are planting the Gospel and praying that God will grow His church. We truly believe that by creating a worship opportunity in a public venue we will open up new opportunities to preach the gospel and to celebrate the glory of God in the face of Christ.

We have two primary prayer requests to share with you regarding the launch of CrossPointe Coast’s Celebration Services.

  1. We are reaching out to our neighborhoods and community in many ways to get the word out about the mission and vision of CrossPointe Coast in Viera and Brevard County. We pray that God will gather at least 25 adults for our first service.
  2. The increase in costs for this service comes right as we are officially out of our reserve funds as a church. We need to increase giving by approximately $2,000 per month to make up the current deficit. We pray that a few families will join us with increased giving through the end of 2012 until our growth as a church through internal giving meets the additional expenses for the Celebration Service.

To give online please follow the instructions at CPCoast.com/howtogive or visit CPCoast.com/give.


CrossPointe Coast

NEHEMIAH | a Church for the City, Nations, Generations

CrossPointe is launching our new sermons series in Nehemiah this Sunday. This series comes at a great time as we seek to plan CrossPointe Coast as a Church for the City, the Nations, and the Generations.

You can listen to our sermon podcast at CPCoast.com/podcast.

Holiday Inn and Conference Center

Holiday Inn

We are so thankful to have found the Holiday Inn as a public venue for our Celebration Services. We are meeting in a portion of their large ballroom. We are particularly excited because the space will be able to expand as we grow. If God wills, we could still be there many years to come.

We’re All Over the Internet

facebook.com/CrossPointeCoast

twitter @cpcoast

vimeo.com/CPCoast


New Contact Information

Jeremiah Fyffe

  • Jeremiah’s Phone Number – 321-747-7827
  • Sandy’s Phone Number – 321-749-7827
  • Church Email – jeremiah@cpcoast.com

You are welcome to continue to use email@jeremiahfyffe.com if you like.


How to Pray ::

  • Celebration Service Launch :: Pray for people whom we will meet through this service as well as the funds needed to make it happen.
  • GCM Collective National Conference :: Some of the men of CPCoast are traveling 12 hours next week to attend a conference together. Pray that we will grow together and be encouraged for ministry at CPCoast.
  • Holiday Inn :: We praise God for providing such a wonderful space for our Celebration Services.

New Phone Numbers

24 Jul

321-747-7827

321-749-7827

Now we’re really Floridians and we have the phone numbers to prove it. Please update your phones and address books and spread the word.

6444 Trieda Dr.
Viera, FL 32940


Buehler Family

Since returning from Wisconsin it has been a VERY busy season. We thank God that so much of the work has been the result of some real momentum in the ministry here. Thank you so much to our Wisconsin friends and family who so encouraged and supported our family while we were with you! We love you and miss you very much.


We are so thankful for our friends and family in WI.

Sam and Eli

Scott and Jeremiah


Our friends in Florida aren't going to believe that both of these photos were taken in WI!

Wisconsin Beach

Field


CP Header

Drop by the updated CPCoast.com to take a look around and to listen to our sermon series, FaithWorks | the book of James.


How to Pray

  • Relationships :: We have seen some increasing fruit in the networks of relationships among the core group. Now we pray that God would connect us to people we do not yet know.
  • Finances :: CPCoast has been running a significant deficit. We pray that God will connect us to partners in the gospel who are willing to invest in this mission and make up the deficit by the end of August.

Upcoming Visit to Wisconsin

14 Jun

Celebration Service

As I (Sandy) write this, our thoughts are increasingly with our loving and supportive friends and family in Wisconsin. We plan to visit Sheboygan Falls from June 27 through July 9. It is our hope that we will be able to see many of those who have had a major part in the beginning of this new church plant by their prayer and gifts. There are several times that we have specifically set aside time to hear what is going on in the lives of our friends and to share our story of God’s faithfulness in our lives. Please check out the calendar on the sidebar and join us if you are able. We can’t wait to see you!

CALENDAR

  • June 25 :: Depart Viera, Florida
  • June 26 :: Arrive Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
  • June 29 :: Open House at Jim and Lynn Buehler’s house – 7:00-9:00 p.m.
    Please join us and we will share about what God is doing in Viera!
    N4533 Brusse Rd, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085
  • July 1 – Attend church services at First Reformed Church, Sheboygan Falls
  • July 8 – Attend church service at River Rock Church, Sheboygan
  • July 9 – Depart Sheboygan Falls for Florida

A note to our financial partners.

With our new partnership with CrossPointe, the way that we are gathering financial support has changed.

To give online please follow the instructions at CPCoast.com/howtogive.


CrossPointe Coast

A Crazy Couple Months!

Community Group

What an interesting month we’ve had! As I (Sandy) glance through photos we’ve taken over the past month to jog my memory for this update, I realize that the last month has included a church plant conference/retreat, pneumonia, a tragic death and funeral, unexpected time with family, a Christian hip hop concert, Florida corn on the cob (which, happily, was every bit as yummy as Wisconsin’s and we didn’t have to wait till August!), and a beautiful reconnecting with missionary friends on furlough from Papua, New Guinea! Oh yes, and church planting, too!

Spanish River Church Planting Network

Spanish River

A few months ago, we applied for a church planting grant from a church called Spanish River Church in Boca Raton, Florida. This church has made it their mission over the past 30 years to plant churches, and has had a major hand in planting all of the CrossPointe congregations. They agreed to support our plant and then invited us to their yearly church planting retreat/conference. My parents were generous enough to stay with our kids while Jeremiah and I were encouraged by networking with other planters, refreshed by the generous hospitality of Spanish River Church, and inspired by the conference workshops.

Pneumonia, Mourning, and Blessing

Not long after returning home, we received word from my dear, life-long friend that her younger brother suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack. I deeply felt that I needed to be with her during this tragic and heart-breaking time. I began to pray that God would provide affordable airfare for me to go to the funeral services. In the meantime, Jeremiah was starting to get sick. What seemed like a bad virus turned into days of high fever, coughing, a trip to the urgent care and then the ER, and ultimately, a nasty case of pneumonia. “Lord, aren’t we supposed to be planting a church? We don’t have time for this!” Our sweet church family cared for us by bringing us dinner, helping us find medical facilities close by, praying, and helping to care for the kids when I left for Wisconsin to be at the funeral (thank You, God, for answering my prayers for affordable tickets!).

Jeremiah & Sandy at Dinner

During my brief stay in Wisconsin, I was able to reconnect with some dear friends and celebrate my nephew’s third birthday. Thank You, God, for allowing joy even in the midst of heart-wrenching sorrow.

Finally, just this past weekend, our hearts were encouraged to spend time with another high school friend of mine, Rachel McNeill Doriot, and her husband, Jon, and two sons, as they take some time off from the mission field of Papua and reconnect with their stateside friends and family. What a blessing to share our hearts with each other as we are united in the mission of spreading the gospel in our own unique mission fields!

Our new address

6444 Trieda Dr.
Viera, FL 32940

This is a photo of a evening thunderstorm out our back window.

Thunderstorm


CPCoast.com

FaithWorks

You can now listen to and download CrossPointe Coast’s sermons and other materials at CPCoast.com/faithworks.


How to Pray ::

  • Women’s Conference :: On June 22-24, Sandy and the other women from the church plant core team will be attending the Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference in Orlando. Please pray for a special time of closeness for these women and a deeper understanding of the gospel as they hear the Word preached and have conversations with each other.
  • Safety in travel :: for the long road trip to Wisconsin.
  • Gospel Partnership :: Blessings of deepened friendships and partnership in the gospel with our Wisconsin friends.
  • CPCoast without the Fyffes :: as they continue in Sunday services and ministry in our absence.

First Celebration Service

22 Apr

This photo encompasses all of the aspects of this update.

Celebration Service

On Sunday, April 22, 2012, at the new Fyffe family home in Viera, FL, CrossPointe Coast met for the first time to worship the Lord in our first Celebration Service!

I want to thank YOU so much for the tremendous part that you have played in bringing our family this far in our call to church planting. You have prayed for us. You have discerned with us. You have sent us. You have provided for us. You have encouraged us. We thank Our Great God for YOU!


A note to our financial partners.

With our new partnership with CrossPointe, the way that we are gathering financial support has changed.

To give online please follow the instructions at CPCoast.com/howtogive.


CrossPointe Coast

The New Fyffeshire

Fyffeshire

Our home is a very big part of our lives. I spend most of my working hours in our home. We educate our children in our home. We open our home regularly to neighbors and friends. We host community group in our home. We teach, and disciple, and lead people to see and savor Christ in our home.

We began praying about six months ago that God would provide a home in Viera that would allow us to do all of these things well. God has met our needs abundantly. Our Celebration Service was for us a sort of anointing. We truly desire that God would use our home to create worship in the hearts of all who enter into it.

Backyard

Our new address is ::
6444 Trieda Dr.
Viera, FL 32940


Provision for CrossPointe Coast

CPCoast

We are meeting new people in Viera and Brevard County. We have had new guests at each of the recent Community Groups and at our Celebration Service. The people of CrossPointe Coast have been reaching out to their neighbors and others in the community. A number of people have expressed interest in joining us in the future. For all of these opportunities and people we rejoice. The Coast is a truly ripe harvest field.

The congregation that grows out of all of these people will ultimately be the congregation that comes together to financially support the future ministry of pointing our community to Christ. But, in the meantime, we want to shun the snare of viewing each new person at a Celebration Service or Community Group as someone who could help us meet budget.

That is where you come in. We still need to gather external funds from our friends around the nation like you in order to establish this church plant for the glory of Christ and His Gospel in this community.

If you already support our family and CrossPointe Coast financially, thank you! Please continue to pray for us!

If you are interested in joining us in financial partnership you can get more information about how to give at CPCoast.com/howtogive.


A Family Update

Titus

The Fyffe kids are thrilled to be in Viera! They are also thrilled to be church planting! Titus told me that the Celebration Service was the best church he’s ever been to. Great right?! Well … then he told me that it was short and that is what he looks for in a church.

Sadly, Eli was sick for our first Celebration Service and had to be quarantined to his room. But he preciously and faithfully made the most of the opportunity. I told him that often a church will have a few people who pray during the service for the congregation, for the leaders, and for the guests. Since we are a small and new church we hadn’t planned this in. So he decided that he would pray for us during the service. I want you to know that Eli is the best prayer partner that this church plant has! He has faithfully prayed about every single step of the journey that God has placed us on. Oh, Father, listen to the prayers of your little children!

Shaq

Yep! You saw that right! Eli was chosen to be on the All-Star Team for his basketball league and SHAQUILLE O’NEAL SHOWED UP AT HIS GAME! He (and I) was so excited!

Eliana

Eliana is very pleased to have her own queen-size room again. She struts around the house (and the Celebration Service) as though the whole things was really just all about her. She is both precious and a pain!

Solomon

Solomon just had his SIXTH birthday! He is such a little man. He has decided (much to his father’s disdain) that baseball is his favorite sport. He received a baseball bat, glove, and tee that he can’t stop playing with.

Sandy has worked hard to make our home both a haven for our family and a beachhead for the mission in Brevard County. She is the best wife and partner in ministry that a church planter could have!

The Indiana Fyffes

My brother and his family came for a visit/vacation just a few weeks before we moved. It was so good to show them our new state, our new community, our new home, and THE BEACH!

T4G

Like a good husband and father, I deserted the family just a few days after the move to Viera to go to a conference that I had planned many months back. I was blessed to be at the conference with my Dad. It was a very special time to grow together and sit under some of the best preaching we have ever heard. I highly recommend stopping by T4G.org to listen to some of the messages there.

Bill

My friend and partner in the gospel, Bill Dumphy, from Brevard County and CrossPointe Coast was also at T4G.


CPCoast.com

FaithWorks

Watch for updates to the website at CPCoast.com in the near future. We will be updating the site to match the other CrossPointe congregations as well as to include sermons from our Celebration Services. In the meantime, you can continue to follow along with our series in the book of James at BibleTogether.com.


How to Pray ::

  • The Harvest Field :: We are praying for opportunity both for ourselves as well as the believers of CrossPointe Coast to have opportunity to reach out into our community and neighborhoods.
  • Spanish River :: We have partnered with Spanish River Church Planting Network. Sandy and I will spend this coming week at their church planting conference and expo. Pray that we will make partnerships and friendships that will carry our family through the difficult days ahead and into the harvest field.
  • Celebration and Community :: Pray for wisdom for the leadership and congregation of CrossPointe Coast as we discern when and how to gather as Community Groups, as a congregation for Celebration Services, and simply with one another and our neighbors in our neighborhoods and city.

CrossPointe Coast

23 Feb

CrossPointe Coast

We were sent to Florida eight months ago by the Reformed Church in America with the support of our friends and family in Wisconsin and around the country so that I could enter into a church plant apprenticeship with Chan Kilgore and CrossPointe Church. When we moved here we had no idea what we would find.

But God did …

After eight months of training, exploring, praying and discerning we have officially been asked by CrossPointe Church to plant their fourth congregation!

CrossPointe Church was planted ten years ago by Chan Kilgore in the southeast corner of Orlando. CrossPointe planted a second congregation four years ago in Winter Park near downtown Orlando. Two years ago CrossPointe planted a third congregation in Waterford Lakes on the east side of Orlando near the University of Central Florida.

Now God is opening up an opportunity to extend the CrossPointe movement to the neighboring county of Brevard. We have named this congregation CrossPointe Coast because we believe that in the very near future God will use this congregation to birth many other congregations along the east coast of central Florida.

I want to rejoice with you because you are the ones who have joined us in prayer for months and years as we have sought God’s direction for church planting ministry.

In the space below I want to share some snapshots of the people and ministry. I also want to share how you can continue to join us.


A note to our financial partners.

With this new partnership with CrossPointe, the way that we are gathering financial support has changed.

Now that we have a location and have partnered with CrossPointe our financial need is greater than ever. Though many of the people we have met on the coast have already begun to join us financially, the initial expenses of beginning the church plant have also increased.

I want to thank all of you who have joined us so far. I also want to encourage others to consider investing in this ripe harvest field.

To give online please visit CrossPointeCoast.com/give. In the giving form simply choose “Coast Congregation”.

To give a recurring gift you will need to:

  • Create an online giving account by clicking “Login to Online Giving”.
  • Click “need an account” at the bottom.
  • Click “Coast Congregation (join)”
  • Create a username and password and choose “Invite me!”
  • Once you are signed in, go to CrossPointeCoast.com/give to set up your recurring gift.

I am sorry for how many steps it takes, but once you are signed up you will be able to follow the ministry of CrossPointe Coast even closer than before.


CrossPointe Coast

Tuesday Night Community

Here is a photo we took two weeks ago at our Tuesday night community group on the coast. As you can see we have a vibrant children’s ministry. God is using these households to build the strong foundation of a movement that I believe will spread the gospel into many unreached homes in Brevard County.

Many of you might recognize the lady on the far left. Sandy and I and the kids were blessed to have Lynn (Sandy’s mom) come and spend a week with us early in February.


The Menton Family

Menton Family

I met John Menton last November. He and his family have been seeking God for how He might use them in church plant ministry. We are tremendously blessed that God has brought our families together in order to reach Brevard County with the gospel of Jesus Christ.


Our Future Home

Our Home

Viera (in the heart of Brevard County on the coast) is about 45 minutes away from where we currently live in Orlando. Right now we are traveling a couple times per week to community group and to meet with individuals in Brevard. We have been praying that God would provide a home for us in Viera. We found a home in the same neighborhood as another family from the church plant that is right in the center of a cluster of residential neighborhoods in the target area.

The photo above is of Sandy standing in her future kitchen. The home will be completed in late March and we hope to move in the first week of April.

Backyard

This photo was taken from our future backyard with a sunset shining upon some of the adjacent neighborhoods.


Sandy’s Got Things Under Control

Sandy and the Kids

If you wanted to know what Sandy has been doing this whole time while I’m doing all this church planting stuff, I think this photo says it all.


If you are interested in what we have been studying at CrossPointe Coast you can visit BibleTogether.com or download this sermon series outline.


How to Pray ::

  • Thanksgiving for Our Partners :: God has brought us exactly the partnership that we have needed to get to this point. We know that it is He who has provided through the faithfulness of our friends and family around the nation.
  • CrossPointe Church :: Thank God for CrossPointe Church and the partnership in mission that my family has found with the believers in Central Florida.
  • Housing in Viera :: We pray that God would help us to navigate the final steps as we purchase our home in Viera. We pray that God would establish this home as a center for gospel mission in Brevard County.

The Center of Gospel-Centered

5 Jan

The Center of Gospel-Centered

There is something really exciting that I forgot to mention in yesterday’s email. On New Year’s Day I was blessed with the opportunity to preach at CrossPointe Orlando. In God’s kindness to me, it just so happens that the text that was up in the sermons series in Mark is also one of my favorite passages in scripture! Mark 8:31-9:1.

You can hear, watch, or download the sermon here :: http://www.xpointe.com/media/sermons/sermon/the-center-of-gospel-centered


A note to our financial partners.

If you contribute via the mail through First Reformed Church (not online) it would be helpful if you would download and include the following form each time you contribute :: Partner Contribution Form.


How to Pray ::

  • Thanksgiving :: I am so thankful for the opportunity to share the gospel of our crucified and resurrected Messiah.
  • Transformation :: Pray that God would continue to use this series in Mark to transform lives to see Jesus for who He really is.

Gospel Community & Bible Together

4 Jan

BibleTogether.com

I have run a website called BibleTogether.com since the beginning of 2010. The purpose of BibleTogether is to help people read through their Bible while combating the isolation and discouragement that can often make this difficult.

This year I redesigned the site to engage with the teaching through which I am leading the church plant in Viera.

If you are looking for a way to read through the Bible and could use the encouragement of other people, and if you are looking for another way to following along with what is happening in Viera, I invite you to join us at BibleTogether.com in 2012!


A note to our financial partners.

If you contribute via the mail through First Reformed Church (not online) it would be helpful if you would download and include the following form each time you contribute :: Partner Contribution Form.

Moving into 2012 we are still short of our need for monthly financial partnerships and our reserved funds are running short as well. Please consider joining us in 2012.


Gospel Community

We have begun!

Last night we had our first gospel community (small group) gathering in Viera. We met at Peter and Paula Dribble’s home. Five couples and thirteen kids gathered. I guess we already have a thriving children’s ministry!

Hopefully two more families will join us next week. We will meet together through February and then open up the Gospel Community to our neighbors and others with whom we have developed relationships in Viera and Brevard County. It is exciting to listen to the couples share about people that will be joining us in the near future.

Truly, God has answered our prayer that we would find a place prepared by a movement of the Holy Spirit. It is our desire to draft behind what God is already doing.

If you are interested in what we are studying our first week you can either visit BibleTogether.com or download this sermon series outline.


Building Christmas Tree on a Firm Foundation (Systematic Theology Books)

Christmas 2012

Who says Florida isn’t a mission field? Just look at these jungles!

Jungles of Florida

Yes, they’re ice skating on plastic in snow that is actually soap suds.

Skating?

Titus on a Playground in Viera

Playground


  • Thanksgiving for Provision :: God brought us exactly the funds that we needed to make it through the end of 2011.
  • Pray for Provision for 2012 :: We are still short of monthly commitments for 2012 and our reserves are running quite short. Pray that God will connect us with people who have a desire to reach Central Florida with the Gospel.
  • Gospel Community :: Pray for us over the next seven weeks as we build a solid foundation of the gospel in worship, discipleship and missionality among our launch families.
  • Housing in Viera :: We need to move to Viera! We desire to be there before March. Pray that God will connect us to the right people and right opportunities so that we can find a home that is ready to host guests as we establish further gospel community in Viera.
  • Our Neighbors :: We are already beginning to mourn that we will be moving away from the people we have met in our neighborhood. Pray that God will continue to use our family to build relationships and share the gospel in Orlando.

Viera. This will require faith

7 Nov

When we arrived in Wisconsin a few weeks ago Titus said,

“Why is it that we drive three days to Wisconsin and we miss our friends in Florida. Then we drive back to Florida and we miss our friends in Wisconsin.”

Truly absence makes the heart grow fonder. And we are truly fond of all of you who have come alongside of our family in so many ways.

Fyffe Kids at Moss Park

When we were in Sheboygan County, WI, we had the opportunity to share how God has worked to give us both prayers answered and prayers to pray in recent months. Here is a summary of what we shared.

Prayers Answered ::

  • CLOSURE :: Friends and Ministry in Sheboygan Falls – We were so thankful for the way that we were able to wrap up our ministry in Sheboygan County. God blessed us with such a sense of sending.
  • RHYTHM & LIFE :: Growing roots in Central Florida – God’s provision for this request is best seen in Titus’ quote above.
  • OPPORTUNITY AND MINISTRY :: Friends and Neighbors – Hopefully you have seen these things being answered in these newsletters. From beginning a community group to having neighbors over for ice-cream or cookies we have had more opportunities for gospel ministry than we have known what do do with.
  • PROVISION :: Man does not live by bread alone – Not only has God provided for our every physical need He has more importantly given us a real peace in every moment that we are solidly in the center of His will.

Prayers Requested ::

  • LOCATION :: More on this in a minute, but this has been one of our top two requests. We are thrilled to see how God has been moving to show us where He desires to use our family to plant His church.
  • PROVISION :: God has provided and He will provide. The money that God used to get us to Florida is almost gone. We sent out a letter to over 200 of our friends around the country. We are praying for 25 partners to invest $100 per month as we move into 2012. Please consider how God might use you to be a part of the answer to this prayer.

A note to our financial partners.

If you contribute via the mail through First Reformed Church (not only online) it would be helpful if you would download and include the following form each time you contribute :: Partner Contribution Form


Viera. This will require “faith”.

WE BELIEVE GOD HAS ANSWERED OUR PRAYER FOR LOCATION!

This has been a four year long prayer request for our family. It started with faith, and now it has ended in faith. LITERALLY! The location that we are taking steps toward is called Viera, which is Slovak (the language of the founders) for “faith”.

What caught my attention the most is that Viera is a community that I believe God has been preparing to become launchpad of a movement of church planting in Brevard County. Brevard is a huge and diverse county that needs many gospel-centered churches to bear witness to the truth of God in the face of Christ.

Viera

Here are a few bits of demographics that have captured my heart and vision for Viera.

  1. HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES :: 87% of residents in Viera are in family households. Most of these are single income families just beginning their families in single family homes.

  2. GROWING :: 16,000 new residents in the next ten years. How many of these 16,000 souls will never connect with the fellowship of believers and not celebrate the glories of God in the face of Christ?

  3. SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH THOSE WHO AREN’T EVEN HERE YET :: If we bent our mission toward those who are new to the community over the next 10 years the field of mission would truly be expansive. So many who come to Viera will be in transition in their lives, their homes, and their families. This provides a great season in which to engage these households with the gospel.

Viera

If you are interested in more information about Viera you can visit Viera.com. So much has happened in the past two weeks. I have met so many people and so many doors have been opened to the vision that God has given my family. Look for a lot more information about what God is up to in the very near future!


  • Pray for our funding :: We need to see donations begin to arrive by the beginning of 2012 in order to move forward toward Viera.
  • Leaders :: God has already connected me to some excellent leaders in Viera. Pray that we will have clear discernment for what part God would have us play in His mission in Viera and Brevard County.
  • Connections :: I am spending one day a week in Viera. Pray that I am able to make connections in the community.
  • Orlando :: God has continued to open doors for ministry at CrossPointe Church and out of our home in Orlando. Pray that we will see the gospel’s power at work in the lives of our friends and neighbors.

What do you do all week?

14 Sep

I’m either quite odd or simply blessed, but I’d have to say that the best week we have had so far since coming to Orlando is this past week when my in-laws came to visit. I loved seeing the joy on my children’s faces when they got to see Lynn and Jim. They are such godly examples of steadfast love and faithfulness in the kids’ lives and in mine.

The family spent the day on Monday at the beach. Unfortunately we don’t have a picture of them all together, but here is a photo of Eli and a jellyfish.

Elijah and the Jellifish


What do you do all week?

Since becoming a pastor I am often amused by how many people are convinced that being a pastor must be the coolest job because you only have to work on Sundays. Must be nice to have Monday through Saturday off. The second coolest job must be being a teacher since they only work nine months of the year.

Now if you know any teachers or pastors personally you know that this simply isn’t the case. But the question remains, “What do you do all week?”

So here is a little glimpse at some of the ways I’ve had my hand to the plow of late.

  1. Let’s start with Sunday :: Besides arriving early and often staying late I have had the opportunity to share in the Welcome and Benediction portion of the services here at CrossPointe. It has been a great joy to use the rest of Sunday mornings making many connections mostly with new people to the church, inviting them into deeper community. There has hardly been a week that has gone by that I haven’t had a chance to step to the side and pray with someone about a present concern in their life.
  2. Young Marrieds Community Group :: Sandy and I have begun leading a young marrieds community group on Monday nights.
  3. Men’s Fight Club :: I meet with a small group of men on Friday mornings to fight against idolatry and to seek to worship God in the opportunities and responsibilities that God has given us as men, husbands, fathers, workers, and friends. This group will soon become three or four groups as we continue to grow.
  4. Preparing for Planting :: I am preparing the first six months of sermon outlines, community group curriculum and family devotional material for the launch of the church plant.
  5. Apprenticeship :: I am reading a number of books and working through a year-long apprenticeship process that addresses the Man, the Message, and the Mission under Pastor Chan Kilgore.
  6. Sweating :: The first week I was here at CrossPointe I helped the worship leader load a trailer full of equipment in 95 degree heat. When I came into the office Pastor Chan said, “We like our church plant apprentices sweaty.” There are a lot of wonderful things happening at CrossPointe and it is my privilege to leverage my gifts and a good bit of elbow-grease toward helping these things come to pass.
  7. TIME :: One of the most important habits I have been forming during this season in preparation for church planting is simply making myself and my family available to people from the church, our community, and our neighborhood. This means about half of my meals and coffee breaks are spent meeting with someone who needs some help or inviting a neighbor over to get to know them better. This not only takes time, but it takes intentionality with the use of time. I think that this is going to be one of the best things I do during this apprenticeship season in order to prepare for ministry in a church plant next year.

So there you go. If you can get all that done all on Sunday then you would be a pretty good pastor. For myself, I find that it takes a good five or six days to accomplish.


  • Pray for our fundraising efforts. We are sending out a support letter to many of the people that have been involved in our lives in the past. Pray that God would prompt those whom He wills to join us in our ministry in Central Florida.
  • Homeschool is well underway. We praise God for how well the children are responding. Pray for wisdom and energy for Sandy.
  • Jeremiah is making a number of contacts in the next month regarding the future location of our church plant. Pray that these conversations will be fruitful and God would use them to lead us into the future.
  • Our family has begun to pray for the salvation of a few specific people that we have met since we moved to Orlando. Please join us in praying for the Holy Spirit’s work in their hearts and boldness in our lives.