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Yesterday I got to see God use my wife in a powerful way.She taught through a portion of the seven week women's Bible study she wrote from the book of Jeremiah. The fun thing for me was being part of the crew using three professional cameras to capture the whole thing. About 85 women showed up to be the audience in the basement of our sending church, Grace Church, in Powell, OH.Her study is being looked at by a publisher and they wanted to see her teach from it. I'm not sure where all this will go but I'm pretty confident my wife is a better teacher than me...and I love it!
From the very start of Encounter Church's launch team gatherings back in the Fall of 2008, before we began having church services, we spoke of our dream to "multiply" ourselves through planting a church. We weren't even an established church ourselves yet but knew we wanted to follow God's command of "go make disciples" found in Matthew 28:19. For the longest time I've communicated, "We don't know where or when or who, but we are committed to the idea of planting a church out of Encounter and are putting our money where our mouths are." 5% of all tithes and offering have been put aside for this dream God placed in our hearts.Of course, our core value multiply has within it more than simply church planting. It includes what we call the 2-2-2 Principle. The Apostle Paul in his letter to his young apprentice Timothy, explains how to "multiply" the message of the Gospel (2 Timothy 2:2). It basically explains what having an apprentice in any ministry role looks like. Whether someone is a Sunday school teacher or an elder in the church, there needs to be someone you are mentoring and someone you are being mentored by. The chart below shows what it looks like to pass a ministry on to an individual or to a whole group of people in the case of planting a new church.Come this Sunday to hear more about the "Where, When and Who" as it pertains to Encounter Church's future church plant. 
How fun. I just came from Olde Sawmill Elementary having watched our daughter Rachel and her classmates recite stories they had memorized. The other fun thing is that three of Rachel's classmates come to Encounter Church with their families:-) It's a neat thing to be in ministry, school and neighborhood activities with so many people we love.
At noon today hundreds of folks gathered in support of life at the Ohio Statehouse. It was humbling to hear the story of a lady who had an abortion over two decades ago and still lives with the sad memory of that decision. She said it was her choice and it was legal, but knows now it was the wrong choice. Over the loud speakers they patched in a phone call from Ruth Yorston, Executive Director of the Greater Columbus Right for Life. She was in Washington, DC with about 500,000 other Rally for Life demonstrators at the Capital. Ohio House of Representatives, Cheryl Grossman, was the keynote speaker. She did a great job communicating the importance of supporting life from conception to natural death. 
This Sunday, January 22, marks the 39th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade trial which opened the door for abortions to be legal here in the US. Since that date in 1973 there have been over 53,000,000 babies killed. We often remember back in the last century of the Holocaust that saw the lives of millions of Jews killed right under the noses of the German people. How similar is that to what is happening in our own city, state and country? Here in Franklin County where I live, over 5,300 abortions were performed in 2010 - that’s over 14 per day, the second-highest total of any county in Ohio.There is a video I was introduced to a few months ago that is very powerful and very heavy. It is not for the littles ones to see:http://www.180movie.com/ is the website and name of the movie.On Monday I'll be heading to downtown Columbus at noon to the Statehouse where a Rally for Life will be held. Come join me if you have the time.
Last Sunday I spoke on Encounter's core value Grow out of the book of Colossians.
This coming Sunday, Jann. 22, I'll again be using the book of Colossians to speak from (1:24-29; 3:23, 24). This time about our core value Serve.
Last Sunday I spoke about Encounter's vision statement: "Seeking HIS Kingdom First", which is taken from Matthew 6:33, a powerful verse in the Bible. The next four weeks will be used to remind the people of Encounter of our four core values: Celebrate, Grow, Serve and Multiply. We believe our vision is acomplished through our core values.I'll be teaching them through the book of Colossians.
Last Sunday was a really special time for our congregation. Unlike most weeks, we started at 11:00am since the night before was filled with late night new years parties. We thought an hour extra rest would be nice and it allowed us to also end the service right at noon and roll into our potluck lunch.The service had nine scheduled baptism's which were really special to witness. Then when I asked if anyone else wanted to be baptized that hadn't been yet since becoming a follower of Christ; two children stepped up...clothes and all! It was truly amazing. :-)Here is the link to pictures from last Sunday on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/encounterchurch.usAs I do every first Sunday of the new year, I spoke about our vision statement: "Seeking HIS Kingdom First". I also used an object lesson with walnuts and rice to highlight our four core values that I will be teaching on over the next four Sundays.I'm excited for what 2012 will bring in the life of Encounter Church.
e multiply, and Mark & Kristin Artrip were introduced as the cou
ple who will lead
a church plant out of Encounter in the Spring of 2013. For three and a half years I've said, "I don't know who, or where or when we will plant a church but we're putting 5% of all church offering towards it in preparation." So imagine how fun it was to finally go public with this information! You'll hear more in future blogs to be sure about Movement Church.
