Charting New Territory

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!