The past several months have been a whirlwind of moving from the pastorate of an established church to the uncharted waters of launching a brand new church. It is less than 48 hours until Bridge Church at Perry has it’s first preview and we are still scrambling at getting our equipmen, supplies, and ourselves ready. We have no idea what to expect when we start welcoming people on Sunday morning. Questions like, will we have enough space for kids, will our equipment work, what will people be looking for? One thing we do expect is that God will be with us and meet with us on Sunday.
When I left Lake Ridge Church in August, I was unsure of how the next few months would look for me as a church planter. I have since hired a worship/small groups pastor, traveled over 6,000 miles, met lots of people I didn’t know before, had many breakfast and lunch meetings with people interested in BCAP, been all over the state of Mississippi to share the story of BCAP, been to Tennessee twice to share with pastors and be involved in a Missions Expo, and all over Cleveland, built (building) a launch team, met with school adminstration, as well as other countless activities.
As a launch team we have given away batteries, surveyed homes, pumped and bought down the price of gasoline, put plastic on windows in mobile homes, held services in our home, prayed together, laughed together and cried together. Today we are mouring the loss of a member of one of launch team families, Dan Wise. On the eve of the birth of BCaP, the loss of Dan reminds us that what we are doing is all the more urgent, all the more important; sharing the redeeming love of Jesus Christ.
We are excited and anxious at the same time. Not knowing what to expect, but expecting God to move in unbelievable ways. Over the past two weeks we have been sending out daily prayer requests leading up to our preview service. If you have gotten them, thank you for praying for us. If you want to receive them please email me at jeff@thebridge4u.net.
For the global glory of God!