The Browning's
 
Ten years from now I wonder what I will say about Easter Sunday 2010. The view of this weekend to come is currently filled with hope and excitement.  This past week we had our first service in our new location, and it was awesome.  We had nearly 200 people in attendance at this preview service, and this was without specifically inviting anyone. We are expecting God to blow the top off of things this week at our Grand Opening, but I am recognizing it is all on other people's shoulders.  First and foremost, God in His infinite power will be the source of our hope.  We have all been praying and pleading to God that He will move in our church and I am confident that He will do His part.  Secondly, I am reminded that we have significantly placed our trust in our people to be missionaries in their circles of responsibility.  I hope that if you are reading this, and are a part of our church family, that you have been making significant investments in the people that God has placed on your heart. My prayer is that you will take advantage of this opportunity to invite those folks to one of the two worship services this weekend.  We will only have this day once and it is literally a once in a lifetime chance for all of us.  Last Sunday I gave a few goals for each of us to shoot for and here they are one more time:
  • Come to both services (10:30am & 5pm).
  • Park in the least desirable parking spaces.
  • Come with a sense of excitement.
  • And again, invite the people that you have been investing in to join you at one of these two services. 

Ten years from now I hope that I will tell the story this way, "On Easter 2010 our church family took seriously the idea of being missionaries in their own personal circles, and our church began to impact our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that we have never turned away from since that hallowed Sunday ten years ago."
 
Will  <><
 
 
This is the blog that I have been waiting to write for more than 6 months.  This is the blog post that describes our entry plan into our new building!  

Now, a caveat is necessary:  All things are subject to an inspection and we have no control over the inspection results.  With that caveat in place, let me proceed.  If we continue at our current rate of success we will be in our new building on Sunday, March 28th.  Occupying the building by the 28th will allow us to have one service in the building before we go public.  This service will allow us to get the kinks out before we have our Grand Opening Weekend on Easter Sunday, April 4th.  On April 4th we will have our first morning service at 10:30am and our usual service at 5pm.  This morning service will only happen on April 4th, but we hope to start offering a service on Sunday mornings starting in the Fall of 2010.

You may be asking, "What does that mean for this Sunday, March 21st?"  This Sunday we will have a special Sunday.  We will begin our service at 5pm at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, where we have been worshiping for the last 2 1/2 years.  We will have a short service and then together we will all make our way to our new location for a prayer service.  We will pray together that God will bless our efforts as we try to reach the surrounding area with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  A FAQ this week as been, "Where will we do childcare this week?"  Childcare will be done as normal at Pleasant Grove, but feel free to bring your kids along to see the new building as we make our way over.  

Okay for clarity sake, here is the plan for the next three weeks
  • Sunday, March 21st - Prayer Sunday - Start at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church at 5pm with a time of prayer at the New Building
  • Saturday, March 27th - Invite Saturday - On that morning, we will walk the neighborhoods behind the church and invite people to our Easter Service.
  • Sunday, March 28th - Preview Service at 5pm at the New Building
  • Sunday, April 4th - Grand Opening with services at 10:30am (Easter Only) and 5pm weekly.
Very excited about the next three weeks!
 
 
This week will be one of those weeks that either makes or breaks this project.  I don't mean to make overstatements and I am confident that I am not.  This week's teams will be working every night at our church and many people are even taking time off their day-time jobs to make this week a success.  This week we need to put the final coat of paint on the walls, build our main stage, lay 1400 square feet of tile, install cabinetary, and paint the ceiling & air conditioning system.  Sound like a lot?  Well, the list keeps growing.  We also need to finish running our data cabling, install our auditorium lighting system, and load in all of the chairs into the auditorium.  I getting a little queezy just writing all this out.  If we are able to get all that accomplished by the end of this weekend, we will have made a ton of strides. 
 
So I am calling all hands on deck!  If you can help this week, on a weekday or over the weekend, please come.  I am looking for some Freds!  Some volunteers who will serve and sacrifice for the glory of God with excellence and perseverance.  Are you out there?  Then come on down because your the next contestant on "The Time is Right Now!"

Will