A year ago I was talking with my fellow Iron Works Network pastors, Darin Pesnell and Stan Gale, sharing with them my strategy for launching public worship services. There are really two schools of thought. One is setting a date and doing your best to ensure you’re ready. The other is setting tangible milestones (i.e. launch indicators) that you check off as you reach them. When they are all checked off, then you’re ready to launch. The second option is more organic and natural. Each church plant also has a unique story, so you want to be careful to not do anything just because another church or pastor did. So we’ve set those milestones before God and prayed for a music leader, a committed launch team, an administrator, new home for us, a kid’s church director, visitors, community groups, and more.
God has answered each one.
Stop for a moment and reread that. God has answered each one. That’s awesome; so we need to praise and thank God for that!
We are launching our weekly worship gatherings on Sunday, November 26th.
It's the Sunday before Advent, the season in the church calendar that anticipates the coming of Jesus. God sent his son Jesus to love this world to life, and Jesus sends his church to love this world to life (Jn. 3:16; 17:18, 21). Advent shapes us to that task. We stand in awe of God. We've heard of what he has done. "Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known" (Hab. 3:2). We anticipate and look forward to seeing what God is going to do in and through us.
But we need your help.
There are a number of ways you can help us start out on our best foot.
Come and worship.
It may be obvious, but we exist to delight in God and to share that delight with others. Years ago Jennifer traveled to the Grand Canyon, and her first thought was 'Oh, Robbie needs to be here and see this.' That's awe combined with love. If we are in awe of God and if we love our neighbor, then we will invite others to share in our delight.
Serve on a ministry team.
There are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes to make a worship gathering happen, and there is a place for everyone's gifts and talents.
- Hospitality (led by Christin Hensley)
- Music (led by Josh Hensley)
- Kids (led by Kelli Stewart)
- Liturgy (led by Robbie Schmidtberger)
Give.
This point is not so obvious as every church is structured in different ways. We depend on the generosity of God through his people. Each of us are stewards of our time, treasure, and talent; God calls us to use each of those to expand his kingdom and care for his church. You can give online or get something from our wishlist to help us start off on our best foot. If you get something off our wishlist, please email us for directions.