Planting a
church in Herriman, Utah is much different than planting a church in
Weatherford, Texas. In the Bible Belt, you open your doors and people
come. Not necessarily in droves or anything... and I'm not saying
it's easy. It takes time and work and prayer and patience, no doubt.
But, generally speaking, people there are comfortable with the idea
of visiting new churches and, again- generally speaking, have some
familiarity with the Gospel of the Bible. If we have learned anything
in the 3 months we've ministered here in Herriman, it is that
God wants us to be PATIENT as He grows His new church here. Pastor
Ben met with another pastor of a Bible-based church this week who
after over 30 years of knowing in his heart that he was being called
to seek the true Gospel, finally turned his life over to the Jesus of the Bible. In
doing so, he lost the comfort of the life he had always known, a huge
network of friends and neighbors...even his wife. The culture we are
living in here offers a comfortable
life surrounded by the camaraderie of an extended social
circle, family and neighbors who share in a common faith. In doing
God's work here, we must always be sensitive to the fact that asking
people to pursue the true Gospel of Christ often means asking people
to leave all this comfort behind. The transition cannot be rushed.
Please pray that we are patient, empathetic even, as we invite
people to leave the life they've always known for something that
is extremely unfamiliar.
Tonight at
our Lifegroup meeting, we were joined by a woman who just visited our
church for the first time this past Sunday. She says she can't
explain why, but for the past 4 months she has felt God calling her
to seek Him and His word more than ever. Since then, she has been
praying earnestly that God would give her clarity as she considers
leaving the faith she's always known and seeks more of “the basics
of the Bible and Jesus”. She confessed to all of us tonight that
she was overwhelmed with comfort as Ben taught that salvation
is not based on a list of good things we do, but instead on the
perfect sacrifice we have in Jesus. And what a comfort she was
to us! How encouraging! This is why we moved here! This is why we are
doing everything we know to do to bring the Good News to where it is
not known! Tonight, this woman, possibly for the first time in her
life, began to understand the GRACE that Jesus died to bring her!
It is said
that the native Asian grass, bamboo, shows little to no growth in its
first 4 years, but then, almost miraculously, grows as much as 80 feet in its
fifth year! This week Ben was encouraged by his mentor that in times
when what seems like slow church growth might become frustrating, he should simply
water his bamboo. Pray that we do not become frustrated as we bring the
Gospel to a place where people find turning to it unfamiliar, scary
even. Join us in thanking God that he has brought at least one new family to Lifestone to hear the Good News every week since we opened our doors. Pray that we are encouraged by the brave few who are first to
chart this new territory, and praise God for the work He
plans to do through them!
