Week 2

We had a great second week as well. During our first week we had a guy from Michigan that came and visited. He was so compelled with our heart for meeting needs and reaching out to our community that he wanted to help partner with us. As it turns out, he is a distributor for an organization that gives away large amounts of free food to other non-for-profit organizations. He ended up getting 1,000 lbs. of apples and 80 loaves of bread and asked us if we could use them to help touch some lives in our community. Our team rallied to the challenge and we distributed every last apple and loaf of bread to multiple families in need. As a result we were able to have so many incredible conversations with people as we started the conversation by simply letting people know that God loves them. So many were blessed and several asked what church we were with (we only told them if they asked as our heart is that people will know that God loves them and that they would get involved in any church that serious about being devoted followers of Jesus).

On Wednesday I received another phone call that challenged our team significantly. We learned that due to a mechanical issue we would no longer be able to use the stage in the gym where we were holding our worship gatherings. This posed several significant issues. First we didn't have any stage (and I'm really short). Secondly, Even if we get a stage we don't have a big enough trailer to haul it in.

As we prayed and talked with others, we ended up having a church allow us to use their portable stage that they were just storing and not using...and they told us we could use it long term. Then, one of our team members posted our need on his facebook status and a guy responded that his father had a 24 foot trailer that he wasn't using and he thought we could use it long term. On that Sunday, we ended up completely flipping the direction and using the new stage and most people said that they liked the feel even better.

We ended up having 105 people (which I found out is pretty decent for the second week) and most importantly, we had 12 first time visitors from the community that came (not very usual...but awesome)!

God continues to go before us and He continues to remind us that nothing catches Him by surprise...it's His church that He's building after all!

Public Launch Sunday...

We had an amazing first Sunday! We conservatively had 198 people in attendance (although we think there were more than that...and we’re double checking our figures). Our team did a really great job inviting and there were several faces that I didn’t know or recognize from within the community. We had two families that came as a result of our promotion (one of which was a single Father who hadn’t been to church in over 7 years).

On a personal note, Ann and I had 15 of our friends from the community and neighborhood show up (plus all of their kids)! Many of them said that they really enjoyed it and are planning to come back. At the end of my message as we went into our second worship set, there were several who were visibly moved by God! In fact one of my friends that was a prayerful and financial supporter came down from Wisconsin posted on our Epic Facebook wall, “One of the most powerful (services) I've ever attended...EPIC is amazing!!!! God is really at work here.”

Friends, it’s apparent that lives are being impacted and changed, and we’re asking God to continue to use us for so much more! Please keep praying for us!

This Sunday - The Big Day!

It's been a long time in waiting but this Sunday is the day! We will be having our first public worship gathering. The team has been working their tails off and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them. The last two weeks we held our preview services at the Meadows Edge Elementary School (where we will now meet) and they went incredibly well. Last week Jennie Kintner spoke and I heard nothing but positive feedback. Again the strength is the incredible team that God has brought to Epic. I'm really excited as I've had several of my friends and family members mention that they are coming this Sunday. We even have some of our supporters from Wisconsin and Colorado coming in to be a part of this momentous occasion. We're so grateful for all of you who have prayed and supported us in so many different ways!

As we go into this Sunday, please pray that God will:

• Bring the people in that need to be there.
• That God will move in hearts and lives would be changed.
• That Epic will have a significant ongoing impact in our community and around the world.
• That God will continue to give us a heart for people who are far from Him.
• That God’s provision and protection would be on us physically, spiritually and emotionally.

On a more personal note, I could use your prayers as Ann and I had a loss in our family this last Sunday night. One minute before we were supposed to start our service, Ann and I received a text that we needed to "get to the hospital now." We had to leave and the team went on without us. As it turns out, our nephew Joshua was born on Sunday night but was only with us for an hour after his birth. We were made aware of this diagnosis prior to his birth so it didn't come as a total shock. However our family is deeply saddened by this and would appreciate your prayers. Please especially remember my brother, Jonathan and his wife, Kristin as they mourn the loss of their first child. Ann and I are so grateful for all of your prayers and encouragement!

Pre-Launch...

Last Sunday night was our final worship gathering at First United Methodist Church. We are so grateful to the leadership and people of FUMC for graciously allowing us to use their facilities over the last 5 months. Our final worship gathering was special as we had several guests from some of the partnering churches along with the 5 senior pastors and their spouses from the 5 lead team churches (which have supplied us with people and finances) came to pray a prayer of commissioning over our launch team. It was a very inspiring night and we're excited to begin this next phase.

I've been in several meetings trying to nail down all the final details before our public launch on March 7th. We are in the midst of a marketing campaign that Josh Yoder is heading up. Josh and the team are doing a great job with the marketing and have been really creative in this effort. Our different ministry teams are working endless hours to get prepared but everything seems to be coming together and I'm being constantly reminded of how grateful I am for the people that God brought to this team. It's so evident that we have the right people with the right gifts and He has continued to meet our needs.

Please be in prayer for our us as we begin this next phase of our church plant:

• Please pray that God move in the hearts of the people within our community and that they will come out to Epic and that we will be faithful in doing our part in their lives as God does His part.
• Please pray for God’s provision and blessing upon us.
• Please pray for God’s protection on our team (spiritual, emotional, physical).
• Please pray that God would go before us and that we would follow His lead.
• Please pray that people who are far from God will be reconciled to Him through this ministry.

Countdown!

I just met with our launch team last night and there is a general sense of anxious anticipation. We are looking forward to our public launch on March 7th at Meadows Edge Elementary School. Our Worship gathering time will be at 10:30 on Sunday mornings. We are calling this "Stage 2" of our launch. With our Stage 2 launch we have re-invited our previous launch team members to re-up their commitment to be a part of this second stage and I'm excited to tell you that everyone has decided to do so and we have the privilege of having new people joining the team.

We are getting ready to start our Home Groups. Currently we have three homes that we will be launching in the next week and there are more that we are prepared to start after we begin our public gatherings. The home groups will be a significant part our spiritual formation process and helping people get connected to Epic.

It's so amazing to see how God is continuing to go before us and meet our needs. When we initially put our plan together in October, we had a goal of raising $50,000 in order to purchase everything we needed to do our launch. As of January we had raised/saved up $24,000 and this seemed significantly off pace for where we needed to be by March. Once again God reminded us that He is building His church and that He is our provider in both resources and people. We have so many talented and gifted individuals on our launch team that God brought and they have been able to be creative and resourceful to the point that it now appears that we are only going to have to spend $10,000 to launch (and still do our ministry with excellence). From God having another church allow us to use their trailer to being able to build things at cost, we are seeing everything come together for way under the initial estimated start price. God is so amazing! What's most exciting is that this allows us to use the additional money to continue in other forms of outreach to our community. Yea God!

Currently we're really heavy into the public marketing stage of our launch. Please pray that this will be effective and that we will have wisdom in this area. Once again, I feel good about my marketing team since I'm working with two young business majors/graduates who have some expertise and creativity in this.

Please pray that everything will come together for our preview services and then for our public launch on March 7th. Please pray that we wont lose sight of what we're about and why we're doing this...that we will remain focused on the vision and the mission!

Finally, please pray for God's hand to move in several ways:

• To touch people's hearts and lives in our community through Epic.
• To protect the hearts, minds and families of those who are a part of this team/church.
• To continue to provide.
• To continue to lead us (and that we wont let go of his hand).

Thank you for your prayerful support.

Thanks to our Incredible Launch Team

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Grateful

It's Thanksgiving and there's so much we have to be grateful for.

Last Sunday was our seventh week of holding our worship gatherings. The spirit has been great and it is apparent by both the new faces that we’re seeing and the comments we are receiving that God is moving and building His church. A week ago, we had 82 people (our highest attendance) so far. We have had 30 new visitors and several have asked how they can get involved.

Last Saturday, we delivered 27 Thanksgiving meals to 27 different needy families living near our meeting place. It was amazing the opportunities we had to build relationships and share God’s love with these people.

Last Friday, I had the final meeting with our finance team and we put together a working budget. Money is going to be extremely tight! We still have several items that we need to have donated or purchased before we can move forward with our public launch that we are tentatively planning for March. Yet God, shows His faithfulness as a couple of weeks ago, a church planter that I didn’t even know, happened to “by chance” look at my website and saw that we were trying to find a trailer. As it turns out they are no longer in need of their 16-foot trailer come January. They told us we are welcome to use it. I was moved by their generosity and Kingdom-mindedness! God is so Amazing and continues to show His faithfulness!

I’m currently in the process of thinking through starting small groups. I want to be wise about doing this right. Please pray for me that I will do this in God’s timing and with His wisdom. Also that all of the components and people needed would come together to make this happen.

On December 6^th, I’m excited to have Jennie Kintner, one of our launch team members share her first message with Epic. Jennie is a very gifted communicator and I'm looking forward to hearing her share! We are planning to have her join the speaking rotation once a month. On December 13^th we are planning to have a special Christmas Worship Gathering and this should be a really wonderful time.

Prayer Requests:

· God’s Financial Provision and Wisdom in Stewardship. We need about $50,000 worth of capital expenditures.

· God will continue to use us and expand our impact in our community.

· I need God’s Wisdom and Strength as I lead the church.

· I need God’s wisdom, timing and effectiveness as I look to start small groups.

· God will continue to build His church and that we wont get in the way.

· God’s provision and protection will be on our families.

· Endurance as we recognize that this is a marathon.