Light in the Darkness

Greetings from Utah!  Thanks so much for reading and praying along here! We feel so privileged to be a part of the work God is doing in this part of the country-an area that the North American Mission Board considers to be less than 2% reached for Jesus. Lifestone Church is truly a light in the darkness- a church plant here in Herriman, Utah, a city where there has never before been a Bible-based church.

We are loving our new facility (see previous post for details)! Thank you to everyone who prayed so faithfully as we sought God's provision for a larger facility in which to reach more of Herriman! Meeting at Providence Hall High School has been such a blessing! 


You'll notice in the pics below that we had to get creative one week and use the "Commons" area at the high school while the gym/ stage was being used for a high school theater production. We made it work and created great memories with our first Baptism Celebration in our new facility! We are seeing God do mighty, mighty things. We continue to have more individuals come to accept Jesus as their Savior and ask to "go public" in believer's baptism! Last month we baptized 6 new believers, bringing us to 44 total baptisms since we opened our doors in October 2013!

6 new believers rock their "GO PUBLIC" t-shirts!

We love to see parents baptize their children!

This past semester we had 6 small groups meet throughout the week to connect to each other and God's Word. We studied I am a Church Member by Thom S. Rainer and enjoyed discussing what the Bible has to say about our attitudes and responsibilities after we commit to a church family. A lot of learning took place as so many of our church family members were unfamiliar with Biblical concepts like "striving to be a source of unity in the church", "laying aside my own preferences and desires" and even "praying for my pastor every day". We thank God for our small groups and the way He uses us to teach one another how to do life His way! This past week, our small groups closed out an amazing semester with Christmas parties and enjoyed the fellowship of other believers.

Youth Christmas Bowling Party!

Please pray for Lifestone this Christmas season. Pray that He uses us to share His Son with those here who do not yet know Him as Savior and Lord. We are currently hanging door hangers at the homes of 2,500 of our neighbors to invite them to join us for our 3rd annual Community Christmas Eve Candlelight Service where we will sing traditional Christmas songs and close out our "The Light of Christmas" sermon series. We love this opportunity to share the Good News about what Jesus' birth really means and how His Light overcomes loneliness, conquers fear, removes shame, and offers hope! 

We look forward to all God has for us in 2016! In January, we'll kick off a church-wide campaign- Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word. Our prayer is that our church will grasp the idea that we are to be "doers" of the Word, not just readers. We are also praying that new small groups start up as a result of this study and, ultimately, that many, many lives are changed for eternity as we begin to live out God's perfect Word!

Please continue to pray daily that Lifestone is a light in this dark place-this place that does not know grace-that God's light shines through the lives we live and our efforts here. Thank you for your prayers-and for being a light where YOU live!