Calling All Prayer Warriors!

Today we'd like to share with you about a new ministry here at Lifestone Church in Herriman, Utah. Our hope is that as you read,  your heart will break with ours for this specific group of people and that, above all else, you will pray.

Opportunity for Ministry

As we have mentioned here before, God has given us the opportunity to minister to a very unique people group. The North American Mission Board has deemed the state of Utah to be 2% "reached" for Jesus. But the friends we have made here are not strangers to church or even to the name of Jesus.  In the city where we live, about 80% claim the LDS faith. Most of our friends have spent the majority of their lives in church, many in church leadership,  and some have even served on missions. We live among an extremely "churched" demographic. However, more than ever before, one by one, these individuals are realizing a disconnect between the perfection their religion requires and the reality of even the best of their human efforts. At last, the need for a Savior and all-sufficient grace is piercing the hearts of the tired and heavy-laden. And so the journey begins.

The more we learn from our new friends, the more we realize that we are using the same vocabulary and at the same time speaking entirely different languages. Concepts like "grace", "atonement", "salvation", and even "Jesus" hold significantly different meanings to a Mormon and to a Bible-believing Christian. All this to say, as church planters in Herriman, Utah, we are not working with clean slates here. People who are leaving the LDS church and visiting Biblical churches like Lifestone are re-learning truths they have trusted their entire lives. They are re-learning who Jesus is and God's plan for salvation through Jesus. They are re-learning who they are in Christ, His purpose for their lives, and God's promise for their eternities! 

As if all this re-learning isn't difficult enough, our friends are also facing some additional challenges. Most are experiencing alienation from family and social circles because of their decision to walk away from the LDS church and are left feeling hopelessly betrayed. We also witness many who struggle with lost identity after leaving a religion that has been their everything. Mormonism isn't simply a faith practiced for a couple hours on Sunday mornings-LDS to so many is a way of life. It is family, heritage, marriage, neighborhoods, friends, standards and morals! LDS is their world. Worse yet, with a new distrust in religion, some have lost their ability to trust God or scripture of any form.

With this degree of faith and identity crisis, you can understand why so many here feel as if their foundations- on which they have built their marriages, families and lives- have crumbled completely. One day at a time, they are re-consructing every aspect of who they are. Like immigrants entering a new land, these Mormons have left what is comfortable and are charting new territory. Biblical Christianity is a complete mystery to them, a foreign place with its own language and customs.

What we do at Lifestone on Sunday mornings alone is not enough to minister to these needs. Outside of one-on-one conversations, the deep and healing ministry that it will take to mend these broken hearts simply cannot happen in a large group setting. These types of conversations are delicate. This kind of healing takes time. 

Journey of Grace

Shane and Dixie Wise, a couple at Lifestone who has recently stepped out of the LDS church and into Jesus' perfect grace, have played a crucial role in educating our team about the very specific challenges that accompany the transition out of LDS faith into Biblical Christianity. Together with Pastor Ben and his wife, Kristen, Shane and Dixie are a developing a ministry we are calling Journey of Grace. In this ministry, group members gather weekly for about 6 weeks to share common hurts, questions...and a glimmer of hope that God is in fact real and that He loves them in a way they never knew was possible.

Last week was Journey of Grace's first meeting. All adults with LDS backgrounds as well as their supporting spouses were invited to attend. One by one, 12 individuals shared their stories of heartache, confusion, and isolation. Although the details of these stories are confidential in that they are nameless, we can tell you that the group ranges from some who now know Jesus as their Savior to others who now wonder if there is a God at all. 

This week, the group met again and the topic was "Why can I trust the Bible?" In the coming weeks, the group will dialogue on the history of Mormonism and Joseph Smith and, finally, what the Bible has to say about sufficient grace, salvation, and believer's baptism.  

Please Pray

Pray that God will use Lifestone Church and Journey of Grace to give these 12 individuals and the countless many we will serve in the years to come reason to trust again. Pray that they continue to open up to one another in this safe place and that they find some solace in the common ground they share with their fellow group members. Pray that they can trust their new church leaders as we teach them Truth in love. Most of all, pray that God will show them that they can trust the Bible and that eventually relationships with the Healer Himself, Jesus Christ, begin. 

Before you bow your head in prayer, we ask that you listen and allow the powerful lyrics of Tenth Avenue North's "Healing Begins" remind you of the shame and hurt that living a life of religion brings-and the perfect healing and freedom that our Savior Jesus Christ offers! 

Click HERE to listen!