As a member of our prayer team I want to update you on our lives so you'll know how to pray in the next couple of weeks.
We had a good Christmas with our children; we were so blessed to have
all four with us for a week, and three with us for a couple of weeks.
We're back down to one, Stephen. He's back at "school" now, and has had
a pretty good first week back at home schooling.
Tammy left
today for Wheaton, Illinois with her brother and mom to visit her Aunt
who is dying from Alzheimer's disease (she's been given a week to live). Tammy has arrived safely. Thanks
for your prayers. Tammy will return to Warren Sunday evening.
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Firstfruits of Great Oaks Church
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Today I had lunch with "Bobby", a man from Rochester Hills who I spontaneously met a few weeks ago while we were both running copies at Kinko's. We struck up a conversation and, when Bobby heard I was planting a church, our conversation turned to God. Before I left Kinko's, we decided to meet for lunch.
Bobby seldom goes to church. He's never been married, he's about my age (i.e. very young), he's very artistic, authentic, and intelligent - an architect by profession. He's talkative, a bit random, a very deep thinker, and has a heart for God. We had a great 2-hour conversation covering a whole range of topics, but we also talked in depth about the Lord, the Church, and the importance of meeting with other believers.
Before we parted Bobby asked, "Now, are you going to pastor a church around here?" I said yes. He replied, "Well, I want to be part of it." So, I don't know if you could technically call Bobby our first member, but whose being technical? He's the first person who has expressed a definite desire to be part of this new endeavor.
And so, the very first person to join us is a non-churched man from the community who I met completely by "accident". That, to me, is significant. Praise the Lord!
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| Change of plans... again!
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We've had another change in plans. While I haven't been able to clearly
confirm this, a flurry of emails from the Kensington teaching team
seems to indicate that my public presentation to the Kensington
congregation may have been pushed back another 5 weeks to March 22 (we
had been told it would be February 15). We recognize that the
Kensington leaders are having to build sermon series around the needs
of a 11,000 attendee congregation, so we aren't upset with them. But
the waiting is getting really long, and especially on Tammy who is so isolated most days.
Whenever we face another delay I seek to press through the
discouragement and see what God may be doing. Rather than griping, I recognize God may be in the timing. But I'm also aware of the possibility of spiritual warfare. I've spent time in prayer and fasting. I'm currently seeking the Lord on direction concerning how to build a team even before our public presentation.
By the end of
March I'm suppose to give proof to the Reformed Church that our church plant
is viable. I've been asked what are the steps or requirement needed for
us to have a successful church plant. Good question. We hope to build
a team of 75 to 100 people so that when we publicly launch in fall
2009 or spring 2010 we can quickly gather over 200 people. The original
plan was to gather most of these people from Kensington, but we're not
sure that will happen. Right now I'm praying for God to gather our
first 25 people. With that team we'd beginning networking to gather
more into the core group, while I'd also be spending time discipling
and equipping the growing team.
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Thank the
Lord for Bobby, the first person to express a solid desire to be a part
of Great Oaks.
- Ask the Lord to enable us to make more connections both
inside and outside of Kensington. Specifically, pray that God will
gather a team of 25 by the end of March.
- Pray that God will give me
wisdom in developing a strategy to reach people at Kensington and in
the community with the vision of our new congregation.
- Pray that God would give me favor with the leaders at Kensington, and open wide effective doors.
- In
February Kensington is beginning Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace
University (FPU) in all their small groups. They are holding a large
group FPU at each campus. I'll be on the leadership team for the large
group FPU at both the Rochester Hills and Troy campuses. Pray that through
this I'll both be a blessing to Kensington and make contacts for
Great Oaks Church.
- Next Tuesday, January 13, I'm meeting with my Oversight Board from 2-4 pm. This will be an important meeting for working out our strategy for the next 2 to 3 months. Pray for this meeting.
- Continue to pray for Tammy and her family as
her Aunt Marilyn nears death's door. Pray for moments of lucidity for her Aunt, that
Marilyn might recognize family members and perhaps even be able to
speak.
- Continue to pray for Aleyse' dance and work, for Laura's
January intensive at NYU (she posted a 3.81 GPA for her first semester
- not bad ☺), for David as he begins his 2nd semester of college at
Grand Valley, and for Stephen's homeschooling.
- January 20-24 my parents are helping to fly me home so I can spend some time with them. I've not seen them since the summer. I cherish the time with them, knowing their years on earth are short (Dad is 85 and Mom is 89). Pray for God's blessing.
Thank you all so much!
Love always,
Paul & Tammy
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13712 Castle Avenue
Warren, Michigan 48088
616-886-5500
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