Summer 2016: Part 1

WELCOME BACK TO TEXAS LOVES UTAH!

Monday, August 1st marked 3 years since our team packed up our lives and moved from Weatherford, TX here to Herriman, UT to plant a Bible-teaching church in the largest U.S. city without one! 

God has been so faithful to bless our new church plant and to grow a healthy church family. It's crazy to think that 3 short years ago, we were inviting our friends and neighbors to join us for worship in the basement of our pastor's home. What a privilege it has been to see 50+ come to know Jesus as Lord and many, many families join in our efforts to see this valley reached for the Kingdom!

KID'S LIFE CAMP 2016

Kid's Life Camp (aka VBS) was a HUGE success! It was awesome to see the people of Lifestone Church come together to put on this amazing outreach event for our community! You'll notice in the following video that we had TONS of teenagers helping out! A BIG shoutout to FBC Powell, Tennessee who sent a mission team of 32 students and adults to serve at Lifestone's Kid's Life Camp-We couldn't have done it without you!!

WATCH KID'S LIFE CAMP VIDEO HERE!

Please join us in thanking God for this opportunity to tell 62 1st-5th graders about God's love for them! Our big event culminated at what we called "The After Party" where we invited participants' families to our Sunday morning service to watch as campers shared the songs and dances they learned during the week. After the service, everyone was invited outside for a BBQ picnic, bounce houses & snow cones. This party was an awesome opportunity to welcome several new families to worship and fellowship with us at Lifestone on a Sunday morning!

NEW FACILITY RENOVATION
We are in awe, to say the least, at how quickly God has provided us a church home. As you read in the last post, we have been GIVEN a 1.3 million dollar property including a building structure just 4 miles down the road from our current meeting location, HIGHLY visible, and on a very well-traveled street. Over the past 9 weeks, volunteers have been selflessly giving of their time and efforts to tear down and re-build virtually every existing wall in order to maximize the space we have. The new layout will offer us an expanded lobby, worship area, and children's areas for both elementary and preschool/nursery.

We kicked off construction with a 
church-wide demo day!

Soon after, new walls were going up!

Remember that group from Tennessee? 
They spent a couple afternoons 
working at our building as well! 

A little landscaping action!

Thank you again, FBC Powell!

Please pray that God continues to provide the financial resources and workers needed to reach our project completion goal of late September. If you feel called to give toward our project goal of 10k, please do so below.

Please notate that you are giving toward this specific project by adding .10 to the amount. Gifts are tax-deductible. Thank you for giving!

 GIVE HERE

The Big Announcement!

Hello, Texas, and all who follow and pray along here at Texas Loves Utah. We have some awesome news to share with you...

GOD HAS BLESSED US WITH A CHURCH HOME! 

Click here for a  VIDEO TOUR of our new facility 

and to hear Pastor Ben share our plan for renovation!

We are still in awe that we have been GIVEN a 1.3 million dollar property including a building structure. As you heard in the video, our new property is 4 miles down the road from our current meeting location, HIGHLY visible, and on a very well-travelled street. We are so thankful that Pastor Sam Coleman of South Valley Baptist Church led his church to give in this way! 

NO MORE MOBILE CHURCH 

If you have ever been a part of a mobile church, you know how taxing weekly setup and teardown can be. Setting up the stage, the musical and A/V equipment, kids' areas, cafe and welcome centers week after week... all to tear it down a couple hours later. We cannot tell you how excited we are to be able to take this burden off our faithful volunteers and free them up to serve in other ways! There really is rest for the weary..    

THE PLAN

Lifestone Church will continue to rent space throughout the summer at the high school on Sunday mornings during renovation. We hope to complete Phase 1 by late August which is to renovate the current structure and to create space for our current attendance. Soon after, we will begin to add square footage and look ahead at how to create space for all those God wants us to reach!

PLEASE PRAY

Please, please join us in thanking and praising God for answering our prayer for a church home more quickly and more beautifully  than we could have ever hoped or imagined. Pray that we are good stewards of this amazing gift, that this resource will be used for generations to come as we work to share the Love of our Savior with the residents of this valley.

Easter 2016

 Thank you for your prayers! God met and exceeded our expectations with well over 200 people present to celebrate Easter at Lifestone and hear about the transforming love and grace of Jesus!

Our awesome band kicked off the morning
by leading us in songs of celebration!

 Ben's sermon focused on the concept that we can indeed find love, hope, peace, friends, and truth when we trust Jesus as Lord!

Here's the front of the mailer we
 sent out to 10,000 homes in
our area.

Kid's Life Elementary wrapped up a 4 week series that answered the question "Why Do We Celebrate Easter" through Phil Visher's new "What's in the Bible" curriculum. These puppets, crazy videos and songs have been a hit already and our kids are thrilled to hear that they'll be going through the entire Bible with these fun characters this year!

                                      

Our Kid's Life Preschool class learned about how the 

entire Bible points us to God's Big Rescue Plan: Jesus!

                                       

                                       

We love family pics with the Easter Bunny!

                                                     

                                       

                                                   

We sent each new family home with a "movie night" gift bucket including a pamphlet with info on how they can "GET CONNECTED" in the existing ministries at Lifestone!

Our celebration culminated on a soccer field with a gorgeous mountain view where over 3,000 eggs and hundreds of oversized lollipops awaited our eager little hunters!

                                      

                                     

                                                     

The After Party.....

                                       

Sorry, ladies, the bunny is a married man!

Please continue to follow and pray along here!

 We believe God is not finished with Lifestone Church Herriman yet. We believe He will continue the good work He's started until the day of Christ Jesus!

For the Glory of His Name

Hello from Utah! Thank you for checking in with us here- this blog is the best way we've found to communicate with God's people on how you can pray for us. Heaven knows what we're doing here is not easy; He also knows we couldn't do any of it without Him through your faithful prayers.

This past Sunday we held a "Party with the Pastor" lunch after the service. We invited new attenders to join us for lunch with Pastor Ben as he shared his heart for the mission and vision of Lifestone Church. Ben also shared specifics on how these new attenders, too, can join us on our mission to share the Truth about God's Grace with the South Valley area. We were pleased to welcome 6 adults along with many questions about what we believe and why we exist. Please pray that God adds them to our church family, if that is His will, and that we welcome them in and show them love like they've never experienced! 

In our last post, you read about our church-wide 40 Days in the Word study. On Sunday morning, March 6th, we will present what we're calling 40 Days Celebration Sunday. For the past few weeks, we've given 40 Days participants the opportunity to share their stories of what God is doing in their lives through this amazing time in His Word. We've asked them to allow us to video their responses to the following questions:

1. How has 40 Days changed how you LOVE, LEARN, or LIVE God's Word?

2. What have you enjoyed most about being in a LifeGroup?

3. Describe your group's service project and how it impacted you personally.

Our prayer is that God uses this video to allow our church family to reflect on how far we've come in just 7 weeks as we've come to love, learn, and live His Word. Please pray that God uses this time of celebration in ways that we haven't even considered. How powerful to hear from our people on how they've seen God work in their hearts, their families, and in our church. We plan to share the completed project with you soon!

It's certainly that time of year....Pray for our leadership team as we PLAN, PLAN, and PLAN some more! If you read our last post, He's Growing His Church, then you are in the know about all that will be keeping us busy out here in Herriman in the months to come! We are currently prepping for and promoting the following events: our Easter Service & Egg Hunt, Student Summer Camp (June), Student Mission Trip to LA (July),  and Kid's Life Camp outreach event (July), to name a few. Pray that God keeps us more focused than busy this Spring and Summer-that in all we do, we work at it with all our hearts with the sole purpose of bringing glory to His Name. 

As always, thank you for your prayers and for believing that the impossible is possible in Jesus' name-that He can and will use us to extend His Amazing Grace to a culture that so desperately needs it! God Bless.

He's Growing His Church!

Hello, Texas and all of you who support us here at Lifestone Church Herriman through the giving of your finances and through prayer. We are so thankful that through your generosity, we are able to do God's work here. What a privilege it is to sit beside new friends as they hear about the Jesus of the Bible for the first time, witness as families come to put their trust in Jesus alone and one by one ask to be baptized, to see lives change completely on a regular basis. We are constantly in awe of Him as we watch Him grow His Church in what many consider to be an impossible region of the nation for evangelism!

We closed out 2015 here in Herriman, Utah with a beautiful Community Candlelight Christmas Eve Service. We were delighted that even with many of our core members out of town for the holidays, 149 men, women and children spent that holy evening with us as we celebrated Jesus' birth by sharing the Gospel to many who have likely never heard it presented before. 

A NEW YEAR

We kicked off 2016 strong with 125 in attendance Sunday morning,  January 17th, our highest Sunday morning attendance outside of  Easter services in our 2 and a half years here. We have come to recognize that even "small" successes are the work of our God's mighty hand, and we thank Him always for working miracles despite the challenges that come with planting a church in Utah. 

This January, the women of Lifestone are "Seeking a Heart Like His" through Beth Moore's David study. We had no idea what kind of participation to expect and could not be happier that 15 ladies are gathering each Tuesday-some are even leaving work to be a part of this mid-morning gathering on top of spending hours and hours alone with God each week for what will be 11 total weeks! Once again, we are seeing such a hunger for God's Word here, reminding us to never take for granted our access to Truth, as many of us did growing up where the Truth is so prevalently taught. 

As we work to increase the impact Lifestone Church has on our community, growing our leadership structure will be vital. We have recently assembled a team of 5 directors who will serve in the following areas of ministry:

GATHER Director (Sunday Service) 

GROW Director (Discipleship)      

GIVE Director (Administration)   

GO Director (Ministry & Outreach) 

Family Ministries Director (Kid’s Life & Students)  

Lifestone Church's strategy is Gather, Grow, Give, Go and we love that each aspect of this strategy will receive proper time and attention from its respective director. We believe the Bible teaches  that healthy churches and Christians exhibit a well-rounded approach to following Jesus, and we are excited to see each of these aspects of life change play out within the body of our church. Please pray for these new directors who have agreed to generously give their time and talent to serve our church family and the people of Herriman. 

As a church, we are studying 40 Days in the Word in our Worship Services on Sunday mornings, Kid's Life Sunday mornings, Lifestone Student Ministry on Wednesday evenings, and in LifeGroups throughout the week! We currently have 68 people participating in LifeGroups throughout the week, and more jump in each week! We love giving so many people the opportunity to connect with one another and God's Word in this small group setting. LifeGroups are the heart of our church-this is where life change really happens!

Please begin praying now for Easter Sunday at Lifestone as we plan and begin to promote our Worship Service and Egg Hunt. We know that this is one of the biggest opportunities we have all year to welcome non-believers into our midst to hear the Good News. We are praying that God brings 200+ out for the day, including many who do not yet know Jesus as Savior. Please join in on this God-sized prayer.

SUMMER 2016

In June, we'll take our students for the 3rd summer to the beautiful Big Canyon Ranch (near Park City, Utah) for camp. In an area where our Christian students are outsiders, we love that this camp assembles various churches from the valley and allows students to be encouraged by witnessing hundreds of their peers loving God and His Word! Please pray that we have the privilege of taking many, many teens to camp and that God moves in their hearts and lives.

We are also presenting our students with their first mission trip on the road! This summer, we are heading into the heart of Los Angeles to serve the people who live and work there! We are excited to partner with Center for Student Missions (CSM) to provide our students with a mission opportunity that we wholeheartedly believe will change their lives forever. CSM partners with ministries in urban centers who work year-round and are in need of short-term volunteers. Our students will be given the opportunity to use their gifts to share the love of Jesus through meeting both physical and spiritual needs of the people we will meet. How awesome to think that the youth of Lifestone Church will serve on the front line of ministry right here in our own nation and have the privilege of "helping the weak" in Jesus' name! 

In July, we plan to reach out to our community by offering a day camp for kids 1st-5th grade where we'll share the gospel in fun, creative ways- we're calling it Kid's Life Camp- you Texans know it as VBS! We will meet in the middle school across the street from the high school where we meet Sunday mornings and have access to the gym/auditorium with a stage and several classrooms. We can't wait to share the Gospel with kids who we might not ever have the opportunity to reach on a Sunday morning. Pray that we are able to point the families of the kiddos who participate in Kid's Life Camp to our Worship Service the following Sunday morning and that God uses us to share life-changing Truth with them, too!

WHEN YOU THINK OF US, PRAY.

When you think of our church plant out here in Herriman, please thank God for His continued provision for all we need and for using our efforts to grow His Kingdom. Thank Him that He is doing a work beyond what we could have imagined or hoped.  Please also join us in asking Him for a permanent home. In the past couple years, He has proven to us that He can and will accomplish His work no matter where we meet-- but we believe He has big things in store for Lifestone Church, and that He will answer our prayer for a building one day!

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!

"Providence"

 WE WENT OUT WITH A SPLASH!

Welcome back to Texas Loves Utah! In August 2013, our family, along with 3 other families, moved from Weatherford, Texas here to Herriman, Utah to plant a Bible-teaching church in what was formerly the largest US city without one!  

On August 23rd, we celebrated our last Sunday Morning at Herriman's Recreation Center  and went out with a splash! We are so thankful for the opportunity to have baptized 10 new believers that day! Please join us in praising God for providing such a beautiful facility in which to reach so many in the past almost 2 years!

PROVIDENCE!

So many of you have prayed faithfully for over a year now that God would provide a larger facility for Lifestone to meet in on Sundays mornings-one that would provide more space as we work to reach the masses of Herriman with the Truth about Jesus' love for them! 

On Sunday, August 30th we met for the first time at Providence Hall High School where we have access to the gymnasium (which includes a really nice stage), cafeteria, band hall, and classroom.

We are using the gymnasium as both our 

Worship Center and as a lobby for 

Welcome Center, Kid's Life Registration, and Cafe.

We set up a nursery for Kid's Life 

Birth-Age 3  in the band hall.

The classroom across the hall from the band hall is being used for Kid's Life Age 4-Kindergarten.

Kid's Life 1st-5th Grade sets up "camp" in the cafeteria.

GRAND OPENING!

After 3 weeks of practicing setup/tear down and working out kinks in our new facility, we are excited and ready for our official Grand Opening this Sunday September 20th!  10,000 mailers have gone out to our community members and our Lifestone family has been inviting everyone we know to come check us out at PHHS!

We just had to share this pic of the extra help
we had tearing down this past Sunday!

Thank YOU!

Thank you for your constant prayers for our church plant. Because of your prayers, encouragement, and support, 30 individuals have come to know the Jesus of the Bible and shared their new faith publicly through Believer's Baptism! In a city that had never had a Bible based church 2 years ago, about 100 people gather weekly to worship God together, 5 groups of people meet in homes weekly to study His Word, and every day new believers are sharing their faith with friends, families, neighbors and co-workers. We believe His work here has only begun. We feel so privileged to be here and witness this amazing harvest!

Please pray that God continues the work He's begun here. Pray that the life change in our new believers is evident to everyone around them. Pray that they are able to share their new faith with confidence-but also with gentleness and patience as many here have never even heard the Good News of the Bible!

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15