Thank You

Support raising seems so long ago.  I remember sitting down with many of you to talk about the dream of starting a church in Culpeper.  I look back on the prayers we all prayed together for our Lord to raise up a beach head for the gospel along the 29 corridor into Washington DC.  I still have notes and emails of encouragement that I collected during those preparatory months.

And today I sit in the middle of the dream I talked to you about.  We're 7 months post-launch looking back on what the Lord has done.  And I'm amazed.  I'm humbled.

Thank you for sending me as your missionary to Culpeper, VA.  There isn't a week that doesn't go by that I don't run into somebody who has been affected by our—yours and my—ministry here.  If we were to pull out today there would be a noticeable hole in the lives of so many here in Culpeper.  There would be a noticed absence in the community we've grown to love. 

Your giving and praying sent us here and are keeping us here.  You are as much a part of this ministry as I am.  I talk about you often to our people.  I thank God for you in my prayers.  Wherever this email finds you, know that our God has provided you with tangible proof that his kingdom is expanding as the gospel of his Son is preached. 

Thank you.

Update on Hallie

We were hoping that Hallie would be pain free following her surgery.  But so far, she still feels pain often in her neck and arm.  The doctor told us this could just be a part of her vertebrae fusing.  It's been discouraging.  Please continue to pray for Hallie.

Growth

We continue to grow.  In fact, we are growing faster than I expected.  We continue to bump at and over the 100 person mark Sunday to Sunday.  This past Sunday was the first Sunday we had to set out all of the chairs in the gymnasium—150 in all.

Over the summer one of my church planting coaches counseled me to start thinking and acting like we were a church of 150 people.  I thought he was crazy.  Sitting here in October, I'm glad I heeded his counsel.  As I tell my folks on Sunday morning, pray for our worship to be busting at capacity.  But don't do it so that the name of Christ Covenant would be great.  Instead, do it so the name of Jesus would be great. 

Community Groups

We started three community groups this past Fall.  I'm happy to report that all three are healthy and growing.  Every Sunday evening they meet to apply the morning's sermon to their lives.  They are also scheming of ways to serve Culpeper and invite non-Christians to join them as they discuss the gospel. 

Not Settling

Our big push right now is to make sure that we are actively seeking the lost of Culpeper.  The temptation at this stage in our growth is to become complacent as a church experiencing healthy growth.  What makes assessing our health at this stage difficult is that most of our growth is from professing Christians.  I meet non-Christians all week long.  But so far, they aren't comfortable enough to attend our worship.  We don't want to settle to just gather disenfranchised Christians in Culpeper.  As our Lord calls, we want to see non-Christians challenged with the claims of the gospel.  We want to see adult baptisms.  We want to see people bend the knee to Jesus or be offended by him.  But we don't want to settle.  Pray for us. 

Giving

Thank you for your faithful giving to the work of our mission church here in Culpeper.  We are on track to be self-supporting by year 4 from our launch date.  Your giving is a crucial part of our financial health.  I know many of you are not just giving out of your budget but giving sacrificially.  As the close of 2010 approaches, I want to thank you for your gifts this year.  And if you know anyone who is looking to make a year end gift toward a tax-deductible group, we'd love to be the recipients. 

Prayer

1. Pray that God would give us courage and skill in reaching the lost of Culpeper.
2. Pray for Hallie and her recovery.  Pray that she would pain free.
   
3. Pray for our congregation as we suffer.  We have a number of families that are undergoing significant trials.
4. Pray for the Holland family—for our protection and growth.  Pray that we would keep Jesus first.
   
5. Pray that our community groups would be effective in equipping Christians to reach their neighbors.
6. Pray for me as I preach the gospel each week.  Pray also that God would be near to me whenever I'm tempted to feel discouraged.
   

Parting Quote

True Christian righteousness is the righteousness of Christ who lives in us. We must look away from our own person. Christ and my conscience must become one, so that I can see nothing else but Christ crucified and raised from the dead for me. If I keep on looking at myself, I am gone.

As Hallie was undergoing surgery I was sitting in the hospital cafeteria.  I had brought work to do but it was hard to concentrate on any one task for long.  I ended up offering up short prayers, worrying some, trying to work, and repeating the process again.  But in the midst of what was a rough two hours I was humbled as I thought about how many people were at that moment praying for Hallie.  Many of you who receive this update prayed for her and her recovery.  Her name went onto prayer sheets and into prayer meetings.  Thank you! You continue to be a support to this work and to my family.  

I'm pleased to report that Hallie continues to recover.  Bone fusion is measured in terms of months and not weeks.  So please continue to pray for her healing.  

In the midst of family trials the work of planting Christ Covenant has gone on.  I spent the summer training 3 community group leaders.  Those groups will launch this coming Sunday.  Pray for their success.  

We're really excited for what these groups mean for our ministry in Culpeper.  As a result of the housing market bust God has given us a unique opportunity to reach Culpeper.  Let me explain by telling you a little bit about Virginia Ave.   

When people started moving to Culpeper en masse there was an immediate need for housing and new subdivisions.  Builders met demand by building homes and neighborhoods as fast as they could—like the three subdivisions that were built on Virginia Ave.  These homes were a hot commodity pushing their prices up to highs of $450,000 in 2007.  Since then those prices have dropped as the recession has come and gone.  Just a year ago those same homes that were going for $450,000 had depreciated by over 50% and were selling for $200,000. 

This took a neighborhood that had been populated by a homogeneous group of upper-middle class folks and immediately made it a mixture of three different kinds of people.  The first group of folks are people who bought at $450,000 and stayed.  They are underwater in their mortgages and would move if they could.  The second group of people are those who bought at $200,000 or lower.  And the third group of people rent these homes from the folks who bought at $450,000 and couldn't stay in their homes.  

These folks are all in one place when they are in their neighborhood.  But they scatter in every direction during the week.  This is a huge opportunity for us.  As we create community groups in neighborhoods like these we have the opportunity to reach vastly different people with a very few resources.  Please pray for our community groups, that they would reach the lost in their neighborhoods.  This is an amazing opportunity that we want to take advantage of.  

We believe that as the lost are brought to salvation in Christ they become missionaries in their neighborhoods and communities.  Imagine a host of missionaries leaving Virginia Ave and dispersing into Culpeper to make much of the Jesus that saved them from their sins.  It's an amazing dream.  And we're praying that God would make it a reality.

I look forward to telling you next month how these groups are growing.  

Thank you for your prayer and financial support.  We literally cannot do this ministry without you.

Your servant in Christ,

Joe

Refreshing and Retrenching

My goal was to return to my normal update posting schedule of at least once a month at the beginning of the month.  But two things have thrown that schedule off for this month. 

First, we took our first extended vacation since we arrived in Culpeper.  It was much needed and much enjoyed.  We stayed around Culpeper some and enjoyed the town we have grown to love.  We also traveled to Virginia Beach—my hometown—to visit with family and soak in some beach framed sun.  Charlie and David learned to swim.  Everyone caught a fish.  Hallie and I enjoyed some great conversations.  We made the most of all 14 days. 

Secondly, as some of you know Hallie has been struggling for two months with arm and neck pain along with strength loss in her right arm.  We finally got a firm diagnosis and course of treatment.  We saw a neurosurgeon who immediately scheduled her for surgery this week.  On Wednesday, Hallie will have her herniated disc removed and undergo the fusion of her C6-C7 vertebrae. 

The Lord has seen fit again to take us through unexpected suffering and trial.  We know he is good and await the coming weeks and months knowing he will lead us through. 

So for those two reasons—refreshing and retrenching—you haven't heard from us. 

Will you please pray for Hallie this Wednesday?  And will you continue to pray for her during her recovery? 

Our Growing, Suffering Church

In the midst of suffering our church is growing.  That seems to be the Lord's pattern.  Hallie's illness—while the most severe—is symptomatic of what our congregation is going through as a whole.  In my seven years of ministry I've never seen suffering like this—not necessarily on the level of catastrophic but more along the lines of prolific.  It seems as soon as someone commits to be a part of our church plant they get hammered by some trial.  You'd think there was some organized opposition to the work.  I suppose we must be doing something right. 

And that leads me to rejoice in God at the growth we are seeing.  Yesterday was my first day back with our little church family in 2 weeks and it did my heart well.  Half way into the announcements we had to put out more chairs because people kept coming in.  Yesterday was the first Sunday that we breached the 100 person mark.  Numbers aren't everything but they are something.  We rejoice in our God who is bringing people to our congregation to hear the gospel of his son Jesus. 

Continue to pray for us.  We want Jesus to be exalted most of all.  To be specific you can pray for two things for our church.  First, we launch our community groups this fall.  Pray for a successful launch.  Second, we want to see the lost come to faith in Christ.  Pray for conversions. 

Parting Quote

"Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation has set the grace of repentance before the whole world.  Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted to him."

Summer in Culpeper

I didn't know what to expect for my first summer in Culpeper.  I received good counsel going into June to not expect too much.  It's proved to be quiet and exciting at the same time.  It's been quiet because we have seen the effects of being a church of predominately upwardly mobile folks—frequent and long vacations.  Each week, a different family is enjoying some exotic location.  I call our vacationing families our short term mission teams this summer.  They go out to spread the gospel far and wide while taking in some sun and fun.  That's led to a quiet summer.

At the same time we continue to have visitors come to our little church plant to make up for those who are away.  Our visitors are more diverse in their backgrounds than was our core group which is exciting.  Many of them are being exposed to a PCA church for the first time.  Many of them are being exposed to Christ-centered expository preaching for the first time.  It's fun to watch and be a part of.

The main thing you can pray for are our potential community group leaders.  We hope to launch community groups this Fall.  With the transitory nature of our congregation during the summer I decided to take the time to train these men who will be leading our groups.  Pray that these men will steep themselves in the gospel this summer.  Pray that they'll draw near to Jesus and their families in preparation for hosting believers and unbelievers in their homes throughout the Fall and Spring. 

Illnesses

My family and our congregation have been hit especially hard by illness this past month.  I'm not one to find a demon under every rock but at the same time it's difficult not to see spiritual warfare in what we're facing. 

I have been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance.  Hallie had kidney stones in February and is now suffering from a herniated disc in her back.  Within our congregation—that I know of—there are at least 5 other families suffering from other out of the ordinary and semi-serious medical problems.

Would you pray for our protection and healing?  Pray also that we would suffer well as Christians, showing our watching neighbors that our hope is in Jesus and not in our physical health.

Snippets

• I enjoyed seeing many of you at General Assembly.  For all of you who offered words of encouragement, thank you.
• Thank you for your continued financial support.  I'm amazed at your faithful giving, especially through the summer months.
• The Hollands are taking vacation in early August.  It will be my first real vacation since we got here a year ago.  Pray for rest for us. 
  
• Joseph, Will, David, and Charlie continue to do well and are excited about the various summer camps they'll take part in this summer.
  
• Our growth is forcing me to think about staffing.  Pray for me as I figure out the best way to staff our growing church plant for the coming months and years. 

Parting Quote

"If I have observed anything by experience, it is this: a man may take the measure of his growth and decay in grace according to his thoughts and meditations upon the person of Christ, and the glory of Christ's Kingdom, and of His love.”