How to Pray

So I stayed up until midnight last night to send you the email that probably arrived in your inbox just a few moments ago.

It turns out that the email just sat in my outbox over night because of an internet connection issue.

I apologize. But this also gives me the opportunity to offer you another quick update.

I did meet with Chan Kilgore today as well as some of his leadership team. At the end of our time together he said that he would like to offer us the apprenticeship. This is truly an answer to years of prayer for us. God has now shown us our first step in the water. Now we will get to watch God provide the rolling up of the waters.

Here are a few further requests for prayer ::

• Pray for the first wave of five church planters here in Florida that I will be joining in the coming year. They are here with me in Orlando this week receiving training as well. Their task is truly monumental.
• I visited the apartment of Chan’s present apprentice. He has four children and will be moving to church plant in Italy right when we would seek to come to Florida. The apartment would be perfect for my family. Pray that God will make the way straight for our family.
• Pray for the provision of funding for the apprenticeship. The fact is that we will need to raise most of our own support when the time comes to actually plant. I do not want to exhaust potential donors for the apprenticeship, so it is my prayer that grants and denominational funding would largely supply the funding during the months of the apprenticeship.

Thank you to each one of you. You are truly friends whom we love upon whom we greatly rely.

Partners in the Gospel,

I am so thankful to each one of you for your great kindness and bearing with my family in prayer for guidance and provision.

Some of you have written me in recent days asking how things are going since my last email. It has been a whirlwind. The last few weeks have been filled to overcapacity with activity, work, sickness, and travel.

• Sandy and I had the opportunity to attend the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. Last year we attended the Together 4 the Gospel Conference in Louisville and it was a time of refreshment and renewed conviction. We are truly thankful for the opportunity that we had to attend the Gospel Coalition. One special opportunity that we had was to meet the man who wrote the curriculum that we are leading our Friday night Bible study through (Tony Payne).
• Sandy and the kids came down with a cold. While the kids are still doing some nasty coughing but mostly back to normal, Sandy is still fighting this thing off. Please pray for her strength as I travel.
• Sandy’s grandmother (Ruth Buehler) died last week. I was privileged to perform her funeral service on Saturday. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate her life in Christ and to be reminded of the hope that we have that because His grave is empty we too have the hope of resurrection insofar as we are united to Him by faith.
• I had a wonderful conversation with Chan Kilgore (see previous update). I am meeting with him and some of his elders tomorrow (2011-04-26) for lunch. Please pray for good communication and a shared vision for an opportunity to apprentice with him in Orlando.

So that means I am presently in Orlando … again. I am also spending this week with some of the other church planters that will be working in this movement in Florida.

It is truly encouraging to be here with these special people. I believe that I can see the end of this long road of discernment and it fills my heart with joy.

But I also ask for your uplifting in prayer. I think my whole family is a bit exhausted and we just long to be together for a while.

Please pray

• that I will make the most of this time in Florida.
• that I will be able to answer all of the questions that are in Sandy and my heart and mind.
• that I will be able to return home on Saturday to my family with a vision and provision for our future in ministry as a family for the sake of the gospel.

About a year ago I preached a sermon at First Reformed on Philippians 1:1-11 called “PARTNERS and PARTAKERS: a Gospel Community of Joy”. During my study for this sermon I was struck by how often the apostle Paul speaks about those who have come alongside of him in gospel ministry; people like Aquilla, Priscilla, Apollos, Timothy and so many more. In all Paul mentions more than 30 different people who join him in ministry and prayer throughout his letters. You have become these partners for Sandy and me.

I thank my God in all of my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. :: Philippians 1:3-5

All of you know that Sandy and I have been praying and preparing for a move toward church planting for a number of years now. During this season of discernment God has shown us Himself with such depth and clarity through the Word of His gospel and yet it has also been a season that at times has felt like suffering. We are longing with words inexpressible to bring the seed of the gospel to an unreached community and see Christ grow His church 30, 60, even 100-fold.

Please forgive the length of this letter. I want to seek your kindness and discernment in prayer. And so, I also want to carefully inform you on what has taken place in recent weeks.

Increasing Desire to Plant ::

About seven years ago my participation in Living Fire Leadership Ministry helped me to clarify the personal vision that God has given me for my life.

… to see Christ’s church become a discipleship community of joyful worshippers.

About three and a half years ago Sandy asked me a question that prompted this three year long quest for discernment. She asked, “Have you ever considered church planting?” During this season, God has answered Sandy’s question with a resounding, “Yes!” In fact, we have realized that the personal vision that God has given me really defines how God has called and equipped our entire family, though each of the six of us contribute our own part to this ministry family.

Shortly after Sandy asked me about church planting I began to ask God to give me a prayer so that I would know when He answered our prayer for direction in ministry. I was running on a warm afternoon and began to pray the following ::

Lord, I humbly ask you for a partner, a people, a place, and provision prepared by a movement of the Holy Spirit.

During these three years this prayer has been prayed in many ways. At times boldly, at times like a simple repetition, at times with little faith, and at times through tears.

Florida for Spring Break ::

For the first time in my life I went to Florida for spring break! Sandy and I flew to Orlando on March 20-24. But we can say with all integrity that there wasn’t any much time for sunbathing and Disney.

We were invited by the New Wave Network to join with seven other planters to discern if God might be calling us to be a part of a church planting movement in Florida. The New Wave Network is a network of RCA leaders who have been working for 3 years to start a gospel movement in Florida by intentionally, creatively, and boldly planting “churches that reproduce”. As Sandy and I got to know the people and vision of the New Wave Network we were drawn to their passion for the sake of the gospel.

The intention of the New Wave Network during our week in Florida was to connect five church planters with five sites that they had prepared to plant a church over the next 12 months. Five quality planters were chosen. Though we were not among the five “first wave” planters, the vision was set to invite our family to come to Florida for 6-12 months. During this time I would participate in an apprenticeship with a church planter in Orlando while doing the preliminary work for a “second wave” church plant.

I hope that you can see the intentionality and vision of the New Wave Network. They spent three years preparing to call the first wave of planters! It is, therefore, wise to already begin to prepare the second wave of planters to move forward in about a year.

As Sandy and I have prayed over and carefully considered this opportunity we have a significant desire to be a part of the movement of Holy Spirit in Florida.

It seems appropriate to reflect again on the prayer we have prayed for three years ::

• A Partner :: Sandy and I believe strongly in the concept of apprenticeships in ministry. This would provide someone near us who understands us deeply and can help to shape and refine our future in ministry.
• A People :: Wow are there ever people! The target region the first wave of plants is one of the fastest growing regions in America.
• A Place :: For a long time Sandy and I have sensed that the way that our family naturally relates in ministry would best fit in an area where people spend a good deal of their time outdoors.
• Provision :: As an ordained minister in the RCA I have assumed that the provision would look much like it has in our present ministry. And yet, I have repeatedly described church planting as a missionary work. God is challenging Sandy and me to trust Him for our provision in much the same way as many missionaries by relying upon a network of “senders” who believe in the ministry and to whom we would be accountable.
• Prepared by a Movement of the Holy Spirit :: This is the very heartbeat of the desire of New Wave Network. Their intention is far more than to simply plant some churches. They are seeking to follow the Holy Spirit into Florida and reap the harvest that He has already prepared into a movement of multiplying churches that reproduce.

Specific Prayer Needs ::

• I will be having a conversation with Chan Kilgore of CrossPointe Church Orlando tomorrow (2011-04-05 – Tuesday). Sandy and I would greatly desire that he would become a mentor and coach for the apprenticeship.
• Unlike other ministry opportunities that we have considered, church planting in Florida would likely require a great deal of fundraising. I have had a few unsolicited conversations with encouraging partners in the gospel that have already volunteered to join us in this manner. We need to have a clear sense of peace that God would have us move in this direction. We do not want to presume upon God’s faithfulness where He never promised to provide. But if God confirms through prayer and the counsel of our partners we will trust in this reality, “[Never have I] seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”
• I am traveling to the Exponential Church Planting Conference along with the other planters from the New Wave Network on April 25. Our prayer is that this week in Florida will confirm whether or not we should make the move to Florida.
• We have a couple other ministry opportunities with whom we have had conversations recently. We desire to be both transparent and discerning with them as we seriously consider church planting in Florida.

Sandy and I sense a climax to years of prayer and preparation and we believe it is a defining moment in our life together. We thank God for your kindness, your listening, your faithful prayer and your partnership in the gospel.

The Lord Bless You & Keep You,

Jeremiah (on behalf of the Fyffe family)

I have shared previously that our family visited a ministry in May. We have continued to be in conversation with this ministry and have been invited to visit again on July 25.

As I shared at the beginning we have discerned that God has been leading our family into either church planting or a unique established church ministry. I have spent the last two and a half years studying, praying, reading and seeking spiritual guidance from ministry friends to discern my family’s direction into the future.

In this case, the ministry that we are in conversation with is a church in a Southwest suburb of Chicago that is seeking a lead pastor. Their previous lead pastor recently left to plant a church in a neighboring community. The church has experienced considerable growth in recent years and is in an area that is expanding rapidly. But they sense a two-fold need: to deliberately seek to proclaim the whole counsel of scripture with the gospel clearly preached in the midst of an expanding membership and to focus upon the discipleship of those that have come into the church in recent years.

So what is unique about this existing church ministry? The fact that most of my preparation and study in the past two years has been in the area of what I have come to call “gospel-community”. This phrase captures my two fold passion for preaching and discipleship.

• Unlike a church plant ministry, an existing church ministry would provide the opportunity begin to lead the congregation in preaching from day one. This would present the opportunity to set forth the gospel clearly week after week as we would work our way through the scripture.
• In addition, there is already a large web of relationships built in this church and in the community. Gospel-community seeks to weave discipleship into these relationships through the reading of the Word together, prayer, and the sharing of our lives in Christ.

How to Pray ::

• I ask you to please pray for my family and this church as we discern the purposes of God for the future.
• Pray for me as I prepare and preach on July 25.
• Pray that there will be unity of thought about whether or not to pursue a pastoral relationship.
• Pray that God will continue to give my family diligence as we seek to be faithful in ministry in Sheboygan Falls, both out of our home and in the church.

Sandy and I want to thank all of you for your continued prayer! Point for point God has met our desires and preempted our anxieties.

• Our days of travel were beautiful. And our children felt like the whole weekend was a vacation.

• Our children, and Elijah in particular, at times can find the prospect of change quite difficult. While we were visiting the ministry our children spent quite a bit of time with one family. Sandy and I were filled with both peace and joy to see our children playing and enjoying this family even to the point that they asked that if we moved could we just move in with them. Of course, they started the weekend asking if we could move into the hotel.

• Sandy and I both felt a freedom to speak honestly and with transparency about who we are, how we minister, and what our vision for ministry, discipleship, leadership, and family looks like.

• The first thing we did when we got back to Sheboygan Falls was make arrangements to spend time with Jason and Nikki Mills and their boys. We are so blessed by friends such as these in Sheboygan Falls who encourage us and bind our hearts all the more in love to the Sheboygan County.

• Even as I return to Sheboygan Falls I am greeted with a number of upcoming events and ministries that excite me and spur me on toward faithfulness in present ministry.

• I preached on Philippians 1:1-11 at First Reformed the previous Sunday where I got to encourage the congregation with my own pastor prayer for them, the reality that they are “partners and partakers” in the gospel as one body, and that they are to increase in knowledge in wisdom that they might stand grounded in the gospel even as they strive forward for the sake of the gospel’s advance.

• I then got to preach on John 15:8, 12 this past Sunday as I visited the ministry (John 15:8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.) These two texts from Philippians and John so closely touch each other because the love with which we love each other is a “Jesus like love” that is grounded in the gospel of grace and strives to see it exhibited in the gospel community.

• My mom had a very good respite stay at the hospice.

We are so thankful to God that though at times it has been difficult to wait upon Him for His timing during the last two and a half years, He continues to provide for our every need and bless us with many good gifts. And so it is with our great Father in Heaven.

How to Pray

• Pray for discernment and a oneness of future direction among my family and the leaders of the ministry.

• Continue to pray for the ministry at First Reformed Church. Especially as we wrap up the end of the year in the High School Youth Group, many of the discipleship ministries, and the college-age ministry (Crowded House) begins to meet.

• Pray for our home as we seek to begin summer fellowship meals and reach out to our neighbors and others with gospel community.

It has been a while since I last offered an update. Now that could mean one of two things. Either there hasn’t been much going on or there has been too much going on.

So, let’s see here, what have I been doing these days?

• Together for the Gospel conference along with Sandy
• Led an Adventure Camp in Lake Geneva for Living Fire Leadership Ministries
• Had a pulmonary function test and sleep study
• Had my wisdom teeth out

I guess a lot has been going on. But behind all of these things Sandy and I have continued to pray and seek wise counsel regarding God’s direction for our future ministry.

This update is to ask for your specific prayer for next weekend, May 22-23.

That Saturday and Sunday, Sandy, myself, and the family will be traveling to meet with the leadership of a ministry as well as preaching. As I have discussed with the leadership of First Reformed we together agree that while not sharing the location of the ministry it would be very profitable to invite you to pray for our family as well as for the ministry as we seek to discern how the gospel might best be advanced.

Sandy and I want nothing less than to join with the saints in partaking in grace and partnering in the gospel as we stand firm in grace and strive for the faith. It has truly been our joy to share in the ministry of the gospel at First Reformed as we do to his day.

How to Pray ::

• Pray for safety in travel with the family as well as understanding and peace for our children.
• Pray for transparency and shared discernment between Sandy and I and the ministry.
• We continue to work hard alongside the believers at First Reformed. Pray for joy and progress for the ministry here.
• I am preaching on Philippians 1:1-11 this weekend (May 16, 2010) at First Reformed. I have found the language of that passage filling my mind and words in recent days. Pray that I will effectively communicate the gospel this Sunday to my fellow partners in the gospel and partakers in grace here at First Reformed.
• Please pray for my mom, Clara Fyffe. She has recurrent lung cancer moved into our home in January. She was placed in home hospice care at the beginning of May and has had a difficult month. Pray for her mind as well as for peace for her body and soul.

The Lord Bless You & Keep You,
Jeremiah and Sandy Fyffe

When Sandy and I first God married we committed that this relationship was first a ministry relationship. God had brought us together for His purposes. And we have experienced all of the blessings of being centered right in the middle of His purpose.

Today Sandy and I are heading out to Louisville, KY, to go to Together for the Gospel. As I wrote the title to this prayer update I thought, that’s what Sandy and I are. We are together for the gospel. That’s what this prayer site is about. It is asking you to pray for us as we seek God’s direction in leading others to be together for the gospel, whether it is in marriages, friendships, churches, ministries, etc.

We have been in the midst of a very long run the past number of months. We are both tired and even a bit stressed. God has given us the opportunity to be together, run together, talk together, share from the Word together, but we have not been able to get away together for quite a while. We are truly looking forward to this opportunity and are thankful for your prayer as we are away.

How to Pray ::

• Please, pray for our children (and Sandy’s parents) as we are away from them for the next four days
• Pray for Clara (Jeremiah’s mom) as she is home. We are thankful that there are a number of people that will be stopping in to keep her company while we are gone, but feel free to give her a call to say hello while we are gone.
• Two years ago, my experience in hearing the gospel preached with crystal clarity was utterly transformative for me. I am prayerfully expectant that God will move by His Word and Spirit in both Sandy and my soul.
• Pray for continued peace and guidance as we seek the Lord’s guidance for the future. We have been able to reach out to a number of ministry friends and have received truly valuable wisdom and counsel. Thank you!

The Lord Bless You & Keep You,
Jeremiah and Sandy Fyffe

I was just talking to a friend this morning about he fully our house has become after moving my mom in with us. After moving all of my mom’s belongs in with us our home has begun to look more like a storage facility than a home. Our home was full before my mom moved in with us, but now the walls have started to bulge.

Sandy and I are leaving for the Together for the Gospel conference next week. We hope that by then we can clean, sort, and clear out a great deal of the clutter.

Niether Sandy nor I deal well with clutter whether it be in our calendar or in our home. Last night we were able to go for a run together. This was an excellent opportunity for us to work out dome of our physical stress and be together out of the home for just a while (I mean, this was no marathon or anything.).

How to Pray ::

• Pray that we can be patient with each other given all of the stresses of work, school, and home along with the work of discernment.
• Pray for our preparations for the Together for the Gospel conference. This was a life changing event for me in my understand of the gospel, of Christ and His cross. It is with joy that i anticipate participating in this with Sandy.

I am so thankful to all of those who have agreed to pray with my family about our direction in future ministry. I have been blessed in my conversations with many of you following my sharing in the church service at First Reformed on March 21. Thank you for your encouragement and prayer.

Last week Sandy and I took a week of “vacation” to move my mom’s belongings out of her house in Bloomington, IN. Things went faster and better than I expected. Her stuff is not stacked neatly in our basement.

We also had the opportunity to spend a few days with our dear friends, Ronda and Adam Myers and our buddies Elijah and Cyrus (their two boys). Thank God for friends and partners in the gospel like these!

If you would like to commit to pray I invite you to click on the “Commit to Prayer” link at the top of the page and leave a message in the “reply” section at the bottom of that page.

How to Pray ::

• I am preaching at the Maundy Thursday service at First Reformed. I think this is one of my family’s favorite days of the year. I desire to share how Jesus sandwiches the institution of the Lord’s supper between an announcement of betrayal and a denial.
• In the next week I will be meeting with a number of ministry friends, both close and distant. Pray that God will give each of us wisdom and grace as we encourage and pray for one another.
• Throughout the these past two years as God has been working and I have been discerning one of my top requests has been for faithfulness in the present. I have a rock on my desk that says, “BE FAITHFUL :: and if you can choose, then choose legacy.” Pray for continued faithfulness in present ministry.

This morning Sandy and I woke up both excited and nervous. We are excited because today we shared with the congregation of believers at First Reformed Church how God has been leading us in a process of discernment over the course of the past two years.

We are nervous because we have been in Sheboygan Falls for almost seven years! We love the people. We love the land. We love the mission of the church.

It is because the Lord has answered our prayers and because we know that you love the mission that we felt led to share with you today.

A little over two years ago Sandy asked me a seemingly harmless question, “Have you ever considered planting a church?” I could honestly say, no, I had never considered that. But at the time I was reading a book called “Organic Church” that set forth a vision of church leadership that seeks out fertile soil for the planting of the gospel. This book set me off on a journey through the Word, through books, through sermons, through prayer, through blogs, through conferences, through assessments, and much more that has led my family to the clear sense and direction that we are being called to join in a new front on the same mission.

Thus far we have sought the answer to the question, “Has God called and equipped my family to the ministry of planting His church?” In recent months we have also been stretched to ask, “Is it possible to bring the vision for discipleship that God has given me and my family to an existing church?”

In response to these questions we have had affirmed in us that we have been called to a specific type of ministry and God has equipped us with a clear vision for making disciples. But what we do not know is the time nor the place.

Shortly after we began asking these questions two years ago I was out running and God gave me this prayer to begin to ask of Him.

Lord, I pray for a partner, a people, a place, and provision, prepared by a movement of the Holy Spirit.

He also gave me a clarity of mission and vision:

God has placed within my family a vision to see Christ’s church transformed into a discipleship community of joyful worshippers. To see this come to pass we must preach, teach, and come-alongside of the people with the full counsel of the Word of God.

Behind both this prayer and this vision is an image in my mind of a people of God however small or large who have joined together in prayer, who have a desire for the making of disciples, and need a shepherd to lead them into God’s design for their community and their church.

So Where Are We?

February 15-18, 2010, Sandy and I were invited to attend a “Discovery LAB”. Discovery LAB is a ministry assessment that helps ministers of the gospel assess their gifts in preparation for moving into church planting or unique ministry.

This event was a deciding moment in our journey of discernment these past two years. Up to that moment we were honestly asking the question of whether or not God was really calling us to something new and different. For those in Sheboygan Falls we must say that it simply is not our desire to be anywhere but with you. Throughout the last seven years I have said many times that I have no plans, intentions, or desires to be anywhere but where God does call. And until He would call elsewhere I greatly desire to be in this very place.

But as of the Discovery LAB event it was confirmed to us that, yes, God is calling us to a unique vision and a new ministry. In my conversations with Pastor Brad, whom I have sought for counsel and prayer throughout this journey, we both agreed that we needed to share with the consistory and the congregation this new direction of call even though we do not yet know a time nor a place.

So Why Are We Sharing?

We do believe that the Discovery LAB was a turning point. It seems that, though we do not know when or where, we do believe that God is calling us to a new mission field soon.

If the new ministry is a church plant we think that there will be tremendous benefit to both the new ministry and to the ministry for First Reformed if we can join together early and often in prayer.

If the new ministry is in an existing church the challenges are no less. I have been at First Reformed Church for seven years! This is more than double the amount of time that I have ever attended a church in my entire life! You are my home church. You are my Christian family. If God calls me to bring about a new vision in a new place I need you to uphold me in prayer. I need you for counsel and blessing.

And in both cases I need you for sending!

Moving Toward Engagement

It is kind of like a couple who are moving toward engagement. The couple knows that God has called them to get married. They don’t quite have the date set, but they know it is coming soon. Now, they could find a nearby judge, skip the engagement, and just get married. The problem is this makes the marriage all about them. Marriages and weddings can be far more than that. A quick engagement and a justice of the peace, treating the marriage like a simple business transaction, misses out on the blessing of the family, the joy of the congregation, the prayer and counsel of trusted friends and a pastor.

This is why we decided to share with First Reformed before we have all the information. We want to seek the blessing of “the family” before we are “engaged” to a new ministry. We want you to share in our grieving and our joy as we are called to leave in join in something new. And more important than all the rest we need your prayer and your counsel as our trusted friends.

We could have waited until we know everything, but we felt that this treats this new sense of call as a simple business transaction. But this isn’t about us, it’s about Christ and His church.

Seeking Your Blessing

Before I came to First Reformed the congregation and the leadership was looking for a man that you could encourage, that you could train, and you could see God rise up in ministry and in call. I came to First Reformed to minister as a partner in the mission. As I look back both of these things have taken place. I have seen both ministry and growth in my life and in the life of the congregation.

Now I am asking the congregation to look back with me and see that the desire God has given us has taken place. And now God is calling us to tend to another part of the kingdom. He is calling you to send and me to go. And so, I ask your blessing. Literally hundreds of time I have uttered these words among the people of God in this congregation:

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace.

Today I am seeking this blessing of you. And as we do so, we “trust in the Lord with all of our heart … and He will make our path straight.”

As I shared with the consistory a few weeks ago one sentence rose to the surface. I am not the only pastor to have served at First Reformed and I am not the only person who cares about the ministry of God in this place. And so, it is my desire to be nothing more than a missionary, but I want to be your missionary.