Much to do before tomorrow's practice/preview service

Whew! This week has had many appointments, shopping trips, guys learning how to use our new MacBook Pro w/ ProPresenter 3, and setting up our A/V equipment for the first time ever, tonight. I'm glad we are calling these next nine weeks "practice" services! That is literally what we are doing:-)
I'll be sure to fill you in on how things go Sunday.
Thanks for praying.

Final Meeting at Eli Pinney before Practice Services Begin February 1st.

Yesterday was a great final time together as a launch team. We set-up everything, coffee was ready early, and we started the service right on time at 10:00AM:-) We sang two worship songs, heard from Joey & Tiffany Holibaugh on their continuing journey towards Jesus Christ and then took an offering, letting those who were visiting know that this was more for those who call ENCOUNTER CHURCH their home.

I shared about how our enemy, Satan, wants to see this church plant fail and that one way he would likely attack us was through our relationship with each other. I asked everyone to be especially kind, forgiving, and flexible as we move ahead because we're still experimenting with how we do lots of things. i.e. setting up rooms, who needs to be where, when, etc.

After the offering the different ministry groups got together and like last week I had the privilege of meeting with some very new people to ENCOUNTER. I again explained about our name, vision statement and core values.

Afterwards it was hard to get everyone out of the school because there was so much conversation.

Our first preview/practice service is this Sunday, February 1st. It hard to believe it's already here. Pray that we will truly show Christ's love to those who walk into ENCOUNTER CHURCH.

ENCOUNTER CHURCH service time

For the last five months the launch team has been meeting at the Powell YMCA at 10:00am-12:00pm. Then three weeks ago we started the new year by meeting at our rental school Eli Pinney Elementary in the Tartan Fields community of Dublin, Ohio. In just two weeks, Feb. 1st, we begin our nine weeks practice services that will lead us into April, which is our Grand Opening month.

All this to tell you our Sunday morning service will start at 10:00AM sharp!

There will be music playing at 9:30am and freshly brewed coffee will be self-served from airpots around then too. So if you are going to visit ENCOUNTER CHURCH, come early, drop off your children, if you have any, get a cup of joe and enjoy the band.
To help everyone with when the service will begin, there will be a countdown timer on the large video screen.

Ministry Training Meeting at Eli Pinney 01-18-09

Yesterday was a great morning for the launch team. Many of us got to the school early to set-up and figure out where things should go. Then at 10:15am Dalan and Rob called us together to sing. After three worship songs we heard a testimony from Bill & Janetta Sinzinger on how they came into a relationship with Jesus Christ and what He has done in their lives over the many years they've called Him their Lord. Once they were done I told the group we had something to celebrate: our sister church, Marysville Grace, gave us a very generous gift to help in the start-up of our "Baby Church". This was especially a thing to praise God for since I was going to ask Clancy Cruise, the pastor at Marysville Grace, if they would consider giving us some funds to help with start-up costs. God's timing can be pretty amazing! We took an offering and sang one more song before breaking into the different ministry groups: Children's (called E-Kids) - led by Deb Taylor, Hospitality - led by Carol Hall and Facilities - led by Larry Hall. Each of these ministry coaches talked through the expectations of those serving and some practiced what they'll actually be doing each week. I had the pleasure of meeting with about nine visitors and giving them a brief history of ENCOUNTER CHURCH. Around noon we packed everything up and put it in the 18ft. trailer we bought months ago. There is still things needing to be done like revising our website, making a few more brochures, finalizing our indoor and outdoor signage, figuring out how we're going to use all the audio eqipment we purchased, etc. etc. Now that I listed that all out, I'm more scared than ever. Time to keep praying!

My Birthday

It's midnight exactly. My 38th birthday just officially ended. For supper Melissa made one of my favorite meals: chicken enchiladas. We ate as a family and had a fun time talking around the table. After supper I snuggled on the couch watching a movie with all the kids. Then came the chocolate chocolate cake and ice cream! Yummy.

Eight years ago I went an entire year without pop, candy, desserts or eating after 8:00pm to loss some weight and eat better. If you know me, you know that those four things listed are a large part of most days in my life. Well...I thought I'd give it another try. The exception is I'm giving myself one day a month to indulge. Mainly for our families birthdays and special occasions. Feel free to ask how it's going. The first few weeks will be the hardest.

The picture of the kids is them enjoying some

well deserved hot chocolate after building a snow fort.