Our Own Little Christmas Miracles

I am so happy to report that 46 souls were present at Sunday's Lifestone worship service! This  was such a welcome surprise, as we have been averaging around 25 on Sunday mornings (which is still considered a huge success by church planters familiar with our region of the country)! We so enjoyed getting to meet 6 new families and 2 of them even joined us Wednesday evening for Bible study. What started out as a team of 11 has grown into a family of many. What a joy it has been to watch God weave us together with the precious people He has brought into our lives here. We are so PUMPED that God is showing His faithfulness and blessing the work we're doing here in Utah.

More good news...the Recreation Center where we meet on Sundays has agreed to stay open a little later than planned on Tuesday evening to facilitate our Christmas Eve service!!! This location really is ideal in that the people of Herriman already feel familiar and welcome in this facility (which is why we love it for Sundays) AND all who come will get to see exactly where and how we meet regularly. This could very potentially break down walls as many here have no idea what to expect from a Bible-based church and an untraditional meeting place. We handed out 1,000 Christmas CDs with enclosed invites to this special event, and it is our prayer that God uses our Candlelight Community Christmas Eve service as a beacon to His Son and to His church!

A million times thank you for praying along with us on this exciting journey. We invite you to continue to follow along and pray along in the New Year, as we are certain that God has even bigger things in store for His church in 2014!

We Made The News!

The following article on our new church plant recently appeared in the South Valley Journal. We are thrilled to have yet another avenue to help get our name out to the community! Plus-we could not be more pleased that the journalist chose to shine such a positive light on what we are doing here! God is certainly up to something! We have already been visited by families who heard about us because of this story. Pray that God uses it for His Glory and brings more to hear about His grace! 

Everyone is welcome at new Herriman church

By Sherry Smith

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  Pastor Ben Helton and his wife Kristen (far right)
  
  

There is a new church in Herriman. Lifestone Church has a mission to connect real people to real life found only in Christ.

“We are here to promote what we believe is possible. We’re here because we’re for somebody. We’re not here to be against someone or something,” Pastor Ben Helton said.
Since Oct. 6, the new church has met at J.L. Sorenson Recreation Center at 5350 West 12600 South in Herriman every Sunday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

They strive to provide a comfortable atmosphere for worship, relevant teaching, and a place where people can connect with other members of the community. Their door is open to all who wish to join them.

Lifestone also has big plans for the children who attend their services. Kid-friendly activities are planned for children to learn about God’s love in a fun, exciting way. Currently, they use the well-equipped nursery room at the rec center to serve as a very safe facility for babies to preschool age. The dance room is reserved for elementary age kids to receive age-appropriate instruction about God.

“For teenagers, we are working on developing our program. We will begin with monthly meetings, and then go to weekly. We hope to develop this into a group to participate in mission trips and youth camps,” Helton said.

At Lifestone Church, the hope is that all who visit feel extremely welcomed and accepted. The church encourages people to come as they are, and most in attendance even dress casually.  Lifestone Church stresses strongly that everyone is welcome.

“As far as we could find, Herriman is the largest city in the United States without a Bible-based church. One of our primary goals is to start churches in areas that don’t have them. I do have a Utah connection. My parents used to live here, and I have an older sister who was born here,” Helton said.

Helton has been in the vocational ministry for 15 years. He began as a youth pastor. Part of his training includes a bachelor’s degree in religion from Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas and a master’s from Rockbridge Seminary in Springfield, Miss.

“This is probably the last thing I’d ever thought I’d go into. I was on a baseball scholarship in college,” Helton said.
Helton shared this scripture, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV) 

“Because God has shown his overwhelming love and grace to me, my life is now full of hope. My desire is to share this hope with as many people as I can,” he said.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Welcome back to Texas Loves Utah! It's snowing here in Herriman, Utah today and putting us all in the mood for the upcoming holiday season! When we meet new people here and tell them we're from Texas, they always comment on the fact that we probably love the sight of snow and have no idea what we're getting ourselves into as our first winter here approaches. And they could not be more right! We are enjoying being naive while we can and absolutely loving the white fluffy stuff!

We are all very much looking forward to Thanksgiving next week, which many of us will spend together as a church family. We are sure to have an interesting assortment of food as we all have somewhat varying ideas of what a real Thanksgiving feast should entail, but we're looking forward to spending it together. 

We are also gearing up for our big community wide Christmas Eve service. Ben is still working to nail down a facility to open up for us that evening, so PLEASE be in prayer that he is able to schedule the perfect time and place. Our plan is to hand out 1,000 free Holiday CDs with our invite card attached all over the community. This service will be an amazing opportunity for us to celebrate the holiday with our new friends and neighbors, and also share the good news about what the birth of Jesus really means in our lives. Pray that our first Christmas here is one we never forget-that God brings the masses to celebrate His Son with us!

Expect Big Things

Praise God! And thank you to all of you who have been praying that people will be reached for the Lord through our new church here. We had FOUR new families join us Sunday!!! Although we do our best to EXPECT big and great things, I have to admit that we were pleasantly surprised! What a great feeling to have to pull in extra chairs and use the “extra” supplies in our kids room. We are always prepared for God to bring the masses, but the joy and surprise on our faces must have been apparent. :)

If you've never heard the song “The Church” by Elevation Worship, you should definitely check it out! These lyrics are on my heart today:

“We're not afraid.

We will abandon all

To hear Your name

on lips across the world.

We will run

in the wake of your love!”

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! 

WE HAVE LIFT OFF!

Hi! Welcome back to Texas Loves Utah! We are so thankful that you, our supporters, our prayer warriors, have continued to read along and pray along as God takes us on this crazy, awesome journey of planting the first ever Evangelical Christian Church in Herriman, Utah!

Since moving here from Texas 2 months ago, we have been extremely busy preparing, and this past Sunday we finally had the opportunity to officially open our doors to the people of Herriman! Check out these pics from our exciting weekend...

We love Saturday night set up!

                                      

First official Lifestone Church service in Herriman, Utah!

 

 This week our team has been reflecting on this passage found in Colossians 1:15-18 (NIV) :

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the Church..."

This scripture reminds us that we cannot take credit for the great things already accomplished here. It is also a relief to know that the future of this great work does not fall on our shoulders. He has simply asked us to be empty and willing vessels... to expect greatness... And He will surely finish what He has begun.

Snow!

We knew it wouldn't be long before our team experienced its first Utah snow, but we had no idea it would hit as soon as September!!!

We were in awe just seeing snow in the mountains...
We sure didn't expect it to  hit us in the foothills!

Helton kids NOT missing Texas
 (only kidding-Utah loves Texas, too! )

We lovingly refer to these as "our mountains",
the mountains of Herriman where copper is mined.

Snowy foothills behind neighborhood ward

Doesn't even look real, does it?!

It has been SUCH a fun week for our team here in Herriman. God has blessed us with our first snow and even MORE opportunities to tell His good news! The Helton family was excited to be invited to a block party- where they were the only Christian family present. Their hosts and the other families in attendance were super friendly- Ben, Kristen, and the kiddos were all able to begin new friendships. We trust that in time, God will use these friendships to demonstrate His love to our neighbors. We continue to meet new people everywhere who are open to the gospel. Just yesterday, Kristen and I were at Wal Mart shopping for supplies for Kid's Life and the teenage girl who checked us out agreed to join us for Sunday's service!

Continue to pray that God opens doors for us to share his love and goodness. We could not be more thrilled that He has chosen us to be a part of the great harvest here in Herriman, Utah. Our big launch has been re-set for Sunday, October 6th. Pray that our team is diligent and efficient as we finish gathering equipment, updating our webpage, and working out any kinks in our Sunday service...and at the same time that our eyes are AWLAYS open to any opportunities for new relationships and sharing the Good News!