Today marks our third birthday as a church!!
That absolutely blows my mind. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three years since we had our very first Sunday Experience at Johnston Community College in their student lounge. We had hopes for what God would do- but any time a new church is started, there is never any guarantee.
And yet every step along the way since- even with incredible challenges and a ton of hard work on days where it felt like we were not making any progress- God has confirmed over and over that this was HIS church- and HE would take care of it. Consider…
- When we needed a space- any space- to meet so we could launch the church, God opened the doors for us to meet at JCC.
- Every single time we have needed a person to fill a spot from a staffing standpoint, God has provided that person shortly after the need arose.
- Every time we’ve needed God to come through for us in a major way financially, He has done so in a way that was far beyond what we needed. In fact, to date, we have never faced a serious financial crisis- and that is remarkable for a church that is only three years old!
- When it came time to move into a permanent facility, God moved major mountains and paved the way for us to move into the building we are in right now. Not only did He give us favor with the decision-makers in the town, He provided the funds to renovate the facility when the cost of doing so practically doubled from what we estimated.
- On average, when a church moves from being portable to permanent, attendance grows by at least 15%…yet God has grown our attendance by an amazing 37% ever since we moved into our new home.
Just thinking about all that brings a huge smile to my face and fills me with excitement, not just over what God has already done but over the fact that this is HIS church. And if it’s HIS, then He is going to continue taking care of us and moving us forward, not only as we enter year 4 but as we begin to pray and see how God would have us multiply as a church- whether that is starting a new church or starting a second campus- in the years to come.
But the above isn’t even my favorite part of what God has done. My favorite part is the stories that God is writing. That’s one reason why we’ve got a whole page of our website dedicated to sharing the stories of life-change that God is writing through LifeSpring. It’s a reminder that every person who has responded to the Gospel has a story- and stories are why we do what we do!
Speaking of responses to the Gospel: since our launch three years ago, we’ve seen 124 people come to know Jesus. 124!!! That is absolutely amazing and it NEVER gets old!!
Not only that- we’ve seen 38 PEOPLE go public with their faith through baptism!!
We’ve seen people who were totally disconnected from Jesus attend, come to know Jesus, and have their lives completely changed by the power of the Gospel.
We’ve seen people who were disconnected from the church for years return and become committed and crucial parts of our church family.
We’ve seen people come in struggling find hope through Jesus, and we’ve seen people who felt alone find a true family through LifeSpring.
I LOVE THAT!!!
There’s more though- and this is something I’m so excited about: We talk quite a bit about becoming a more diverse church, because when we are unified in Christ and yet we are all different, that displays the Gospel in a beautiful and powerful way.
That diversity and the unity within it is becoming a reality more and more here at LifeSpring!
I’m so full of gratitude for all that God has done in and through our church family since we started.
For example: LifeKids is now a truly multi-ethnic ministry. Nearly a quarter of our children in LifeKids are not white- and that’s incredibly exciting to see the next generation leading the way in that- and our adult gathering is not far behind.
I am truly thankful for my non-white brothers and sisters who add such a richness to our body- and I look forward to the day when we will not just be diverse in our seats, but in our volunteer teams, on our staff, and within our team of pastors. We want to be a church that looks like our community- and what a statement of the power of the Gospel that is going to be!
So what’s next as we enter year four?
Truthfully, I have no idea! But what I do know is this: as we remain faithful to God, as we obey His Word, and as we keep taking whatever steps of faith He calls us to take in the coming years, I believe we are going to see Him continue to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine- and it will all be for His glory!
That’s what I want to be a part of- and I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold!