Our family has experienced many changes in the past six months, and we recently discovered that we are in for at least one more big one… We are expecting a baby in February! We are excited about this blessing and can’t wait to meet the new addition to our family. 
August 19, 2008
August 19, 2008
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit it. I am a slacker. I’ve been avoiding writing this blog, mainly because it requires me to sit down and think through my billion swirling thoughts regarding what is currently happening in the life of our church. So, to those of you faithfully checking our blog, please accept my sincere apology.
Our last preview service (August 10) went very well. We had 115 in attendance (many of those were first-time visitors), and the size of our kids church and preschool classes both doubled from the previous service. We were thankful that things went much more smoothly, as this time we were a little more prepared for what we would face.
We are currently reving up for a very busy weekend. On Saturday morning we will be hosting a Back To School Bash in our parking lot (next to the huge sign…). We will have bounce houses and fun activities for the kids, plus free hamburgers and hotdogs. We are very excited about this and hope to attract a large crowd. As with all the outreach events we do, our goal is to get to know people in the community, let them see us as genuine in our faith and love for others, and hopefully play a part in furthering their relationships with Jesus.
Sunday is our third and final preview service. Sunday night we will be hosting a family movie night, which will hopefully afford us the opportunity to get to know some of the people who have been visiting the church. Then on Monday night we will help the Baptist Student Ministry at Texas State (Scott’s and my alma mater) put on an event on campus. We will help them grill free steaks for students, and host a table with information about our church.
We are excited about all that God will do, and can’t wait to see the people who He will draw to himself through these events.
August 19, 2008
At the end of July, our sister church, CrossRidge Church sent a mission team down from Little Elm, TX to help us do some work. What a blessing that was! They helped us build and set up many things in the church building. They helped us distribute 2500 door hangers. But, most of all, they encouraged us. We were so blessed by their enthusiasm and their willingness to help us reach people here for Jesus.
Thank you CrossRidge!
July 28, 2008
Well, we did it. We survived our first Sunday service! Whew! 
A friend of mine (a pastor’s wife) told me once that she could almost always count on some sort of disturbance in their home on Saturday night. She knew that her kids would fight, or she would snap at her husband, or the pipes would burst, or the dog would run away… Satan regularly attacked them that way.
Well, Sunday morning, when Ella and I were walking out the door early, I wondered to myself why hadn’t we met any resistance from our enemy? But when I walked into church I realized he had just decided on a different tactic. When Scott had arrived that morning and tried to pull up the software to run our media (words for music and sermon), it didn’t work. It had worked the night before, but wouldn’t you know it, it wouldn’t work when we needed it. Then, Scott’s brand new microphone wouldn’t work. Satan was working hard to frazzle our new pastor. And, to be honest, it worked.
Meanwhile, I was running around trying to place and quickly train my volunteers for the children’s classrooms. (We had an amazing group of people from one of our supporting churches come to help us with the kids.) This made me feel just about as frazzled as Scott was feeling. It was quite a hectic morning for us both.
We realize that there may be a bit of a learning curve for us, and possibly more to this pastoring stuff than we first expected. But as always, God is good. We received many encouraging notes and comments from our visitors. We heard that people enjoyed the music, they enjoyed the sermon, and they loved how friendly and warm everyone was. We are so thankful that in the midst of our craziness, God is working things out according to His plan. He IS so good.
As you might imagine, after church ended we felt a little like we had run a marathon. We both still feel a little worn out, but know that God will sustain us. And, he’ll continue to teach us and equip us for this task He’s set before us.
July 21, 2008
Yesterday went so well it makes us wonder why we ever worried. We had between 20 and 25 families show up. We were able to connect with them all, and answer all of their questions. It really was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see the kind of impact that opening had on everyone who came out yesterday. I know it will make a big difference for many of them to be able to walk in next week and already know where to take their kids, where to go for worship, and to recognize faces.
The thing that amazes us is the size of the response. The 20 or 25 families would have made for a good sized service. But, there are also another 15 or 20 families who we knew were planning to attend and who we were able to notify of our change in plan. And, of course that is in addition to the 22 people already committed to being a part of our launch team. All that to say, we could have a large group this coming Sunday.
The large response just further proves what a need there is in our area for a good church. It was encouraging to hear how many people wanted a church near their homes where they can be involved not only on Sundays but also during the week.
Oh, and our huge sign is the reason many people decided to check us out.
We cannot wait for next Sunday.
July 19, 2008
God isn’t. We found out yesterday (Friday) that the building will not be ready for us to have services on Sunday. We were both disappointed and frustrated, but God quickly reminded us that HE is still in control. And, even though we didn’t expect this, HE is not at all surprised. HE still has a big plan and exciting things to come in the life of our church family.
Since we have publicized this date on everything we’ve distributed (thousands of cards and door hangers, plus a huge banner in front of the building), we were caught in a dilemma. We have no way of knowing who is planning to attend, and no way of contacting everyone in time. Yet, we didn’t have time to make other accommodations, such as a tent or portables. But God is good and gave Scott a great idea – clearly our best option.
We are going to set up tables in front of the building tomorrow morning. We will set out breakfast items and drinks. As people arrive, we will greet them, have a chance to get to know them, and give them a tour of the building if they desire it. We will also give them a raincheck that, if they return with it next Sunday, will allow them to receive a special gift.
Please pray with us that God will use this time for HIS glory. That we would have the opportunity to connect with people in a way that we never could have in a regular Sunday morning church setting. That not one who comes in the morning will be turned off to Jesus. Please also pray that the building will be done for next week so we don’t have a repeat performance next weekend.
We know God has big plans, even for this weekend, and we cannot wait to see what they are.
July 9, 2008
Only 11 more days until Harvest Community Church officially opens its doors for our first service. We can’t believe it’s almost here! Please pray for us over the next week and a half, as we work to get everything ready!
July 9, 2008
June 5, 2008
Last night I was struck once again by the miracle of salvation. We are brought from death to life! We have been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light! We are a brand new creation, with a brand new heart! It is nothing short of a miracle.
Scott had the incredible privilege of leading a man into a relationship with Christ yesterday. The man, Chris, has been attending our weekly Bible study, and was totally ready to give his heart to Jesus. Rejoice with us as we welcome our new brother into the Family! Praise God!
This, by the way, is exactly why we do what we do.
May 20, 2008
Most of the questions we get are concerning how we currently spend our time. So, here’s a list of the main things we are doing right now:
Weekly Bible Study – On Monday nights we host a Bible study (we started just three weeks ago). We’ve had 12 attend so far and several others who have expressed interest. It’s exciting to have finally started meeting together as a fellowship.
Prayer – We are spending significant time praying over our plans and for the people who will hear the good news of Christ as a result of the new church. One of the main ways we are doing this corporately is by prayer walking. We strategically choose a neighborhood and pray for each house in the neighborhood as we walk by it. As we walk, we also leave a small card on their door, telling them that they have been prayed for and giving them basic information about the church.
Planning – Scott is spending a lot of time getting everything ready for our church to open. That includes everything from ordering chairs, equipment and signs, to hiring a sound technician to get us set up, to planning sermons and outreach events. There are thousands of small details that make up a church service on any given Sunday, but even more when you are making one happen from scratch.
Visiting Other Churches – We are currently visiting other church plants, as well as churches that are growing healthily, to learn from them. The more we observe and learn, the better equipped we will be.
Outreach Events - One of our goals right now is to get our name “out there” by being present at, and distributing information at local events. Last month we were able to have a booth at Martindale’s Fun Fest (a one-day festival) where we passed out information cards and met several new families with whom we are now building relationships. In June we will have a booth at Lockhart’s Chisolm Trail Roundup, a four-day festival, where we expect to distribute hundreds of information cards.
Building Relationships – We are both spending time right now meeting and building relationships with people in the community. I (Melissa) have started a playgroup that meets twice a month at the local playground. I also have been attending the local library story time to meet more women in my same stage in life. Scott has been coaching a local little league baseball team and meeting many people through friends in the area.
It’s certainly a busy and exciting time in the life of Harvest Community Church!
