Tag Archives: New Building

Why Now Was the Time to Build

May 1, 2012 By in New Building Tags: , , , , , 3 Comments

As we anxiously await the granting of a CO from the city so that we may occupy our new building (sorry, no green light as of this writing), it occurred to me this morning why, at least in part, in our twenty year history as a church, now was the time to get this project accomplished.

The insight came in the course of my through-the-Bible-in-a-year reading this morning from 1 Kings 5:1-6. Solomon has assumed the throne in the place of his father, David. He desired to build a temple for worship, a dream his father never got to realize. So in this chapter he writes Hiram, king of Tyre, with whom David enjoyed a close relationship, to request materials for the project. Here’s how he explained the circumstances that gave him the go ahead where his father experienced only disappointment:

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. And Solomon sent word to Hiram, “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians (emphasis added).”
I found myself very grateful for a similar sentiment with respect to the last few years at OGC. God has given us rest. We have enjoyed peace. There has been neither adversary or misfortune, at least in terms of ministry-arresting plans for the advancement of the gospel through our work. Lord knows, we have had our share of that in the past. That kind of thing frustrated our building plans before. But God has blessed us as of late and for some time now so that we could actually get to the point of planning, building, and now soon occupying our own facility for executing the mission God has given us.
We have seized the opportunity afforded by fair winds and sought to make the most of it. Matthew Henry, the Puritan commentator would congratulate us to this end:
Satan does all he can to hinder temple work (1 Th. 2:18; Zec. 3:1), but when he is bound (Rev. 20:2) we should be busy. When there is no evil occurrent, then let us be vigorous and zealous in that which is good and get it forward. When the churches have rest let them be edified, Acts 9:31. Days of peace and prosperity present us with a fair gale, which we must account for if we improve not.
Let us not forget to give God much thanks for such days as these while we revel in the excitement and satisfaction of finally taking possession of our own church home.
As long as He gives us peace, let us give ourselves to improvement that results in great reward at the Last Day. God help us to sail on with the help of every fair gale.

An Opportunity We Simply Must Buy Up

April 26, 2012 By in Evangelism Tags: , , , 4 Comments

I just finished hemorrhaging over my latest message earlier today. I decided to study and write with a grand opening of our facility service in mind. I felt led to camp out in 1 Timothy 3:14-16. I entitled the message Why Church?: A Case for Christianity in a Many-Gods Age. I worked from the word pictures Paul employs for showing the true nature of the church and why it should compel our priority participation in its ministry.

We still don’t know when we will schedule such a service. It all depends on the granting of a CO by the city and the timetable for “soft openings” so we can get our act adequately together for a “hard opening” service likely to happen no earlier than sometime in June.

But mark my words. Whenever it does happen we have to determine to act intentionally and strategically with a Colossians 4:5 kind of mentality in mind. Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

Paul actually uses the metaphor of walking in the original for the way we live our lives. He calls for us to walk in wisdom toward outsiders, those who have yet to embrace faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What does that kind of wise walk look like? It involves making the best use of the time. This is an interesting phrase in the original. Literally it reads redeeming or buying up the time or opportunity.

The New Bible Commentary makes this remark on the idea here noting that the word redeem or buy up suggests an intensive activity, a buying which exhausts the possibilities available because they recognize that their time is limited. Kind of like determining to purchase all the remaining copies of some print of a famous painting because you know its a limited edition.

May I suggest that the occasion for opening our facility and publicizing an inaugural service in that facility represents a unique opportunity for reaching out to those outside in a winsome and wise way that we as a congregation simply cannot afford to miss?
Thus I wrote a sermon specifically with this in mind. Thus we will do a mail out with this theme in mind. Thus we will provide printed  invitations that you can give to the folks where you live, work and play that you have been laboring to reach for the gospel that they might hear that gospel in a contextually crafted, biblically sound way (oh, Lord, I pray that’s what I have written in this message!) with this in mind. Thus we may determine on that Sunday to host a barbecue following the service to meet and greet those who come specifically because of the opening of our building.
So let me ask you to pray with me that God will work powerfully in this once-in-a-lifetime-of-our-church opportunity to acquaint many of those “outside” with the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is an opportunity we simply must buy up exhausting all the possibilities available because we recognize that the time is limited.

Dealing with Delays

April 12, 2012 By in Spiritual Life Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

You can see by the sign our latest thinking. Hopes are high for a CO by the end of April, CW – city willing. We should close out construction relatively soon. Then everything depends on passing all the necessary inspections. Please continue to pray for favor.

Even so, we don’t expect to publicize an official opening or hold a dedication service until we have a few weeks or so in the building to get established and work out the bugs. I suspect we may well draft a tentative schedule for soft opening dates leading up to an all-systems-go at our leadership team meeting set for the end of the month. We will keep you posted along the way.

In total, our delay will have dragged on for two months. I thought my disappointment quotient might have run higher. Maybe it hasn’t because ever since that sign on the property went up we’ve included the initials LW at the end. Lord willing. For good reason. James says in chapter 4 of his epistle that we don’t have any idea about what will happen tomorrow. Life is nothing more than a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. His counsel in v. 15? You ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. Opening new church buildings definitely falls under the broad category of this or that. Plan, but hold everything loosely.

Do you find yourself experiencing delay on some front? Remember who is in control. Our capacity to go anywhere, do anything, be any place, accomplish any objective either sooner or later rests ultimately not with any city or person(s) but with Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will (Eph. 1:11). He’s never late but always right on schedule. Wait on Him.

One Cure for My Justification By Ministry Syndrome

March 28, 2012 By in Personal Reflection Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Truth is I need multiple cures for this disease. Most if not all pastors struggle with it. It evidences itself in a tendency to validate one’s existence by perceived success in the gospel work.

It shows up a lot on Sunday mornings. We can measure it by how we feel about attendance at our services. High numbers in the house, doing OK. Low numbers, not so OK. Strong offering, sweet. Weak offering, bitter. Lots of sermon compliments out the door, flying high. Little to no “at ta boys,” or worse yet, critical comments, laid low.

In the Lord’s faithfulness to contribute further to the eradication of this affliction, He has added a new wrinkle to my life. It’s called your-new-building-won’t-be-ready-for-Easter-opening disappointment. A number of folks have asked me how I am handling the setback of the revised timetable.

My answer remains the same. It’s not wise to complain about answers to prayer. What I mean is this. I/we have prayed since the outset of the project that we wouldn’t allow the building which is a good thing to become a god thing which would make it a bad thing. In other words, we don’t want to turn the whole deal into an idol.

In my experience the most effective way God tests my heart for revealing something I delight in more than Him is to take it away from me or keep me from it. I figure having to wait for this blessing and especially not capitalizing on Easter for outreach purposes that might result in a full building (maybe even two services) and the perception of success are just, among other things, another way that Jesus wants to keep me far afield of the justification by ministry syndrome. He has answered my prayer in not letting the building become an idol. Best not to complain.

So, I am content. I think. Yes, I am pretty sure, it’s OK. God is in control. We’ll get the CO when we are supposed to get it and we’ll open the building when we are supposed to open it. Then I will have a whole bunch of other temptations no doubt to justification by ministry syndrome. Lord, have mercy.

Fortunately I know the one Physician with healing power and His prescription for keeping the perilous condition at bay, the gospel. There is hope even for me and my perpetual idol-making factory of a heart.

Tim Keller, in an interview addressing idolatry in pastors, said it well:

When you find yourself unusually discouraged because things aren’t growing or people aren’t listening to you — you have to catch yourself. You have to realize ‘This is an inordinate amount of discouragement, which reveals the idolatry of justification by ministry.’ Meaning, you say you believe in justification by grace, but you feel like and are acting like you believe in justification by ministry. You have to recognize you are making something of an idol out of ministry. When you do experience inordinate discouragement because things aren’t going well, you need to say, ‘It’s okay to be discouraged but not to be this discouraged. This is discouragement that leads to idolatry,’ and you repent.

To read the rest of what he had to say click here.

Are you trusting in anything or anyone other than Jesus for your justification?

You can bet your life as a child of God He will find ways to pry your fingers loose from whatever it is so that you more thoroughly cling to Jesus for His glory and your joy.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

An Inherent Danger in Owning a Building

February 28, 2012 By in New Building Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I suspect there are more than one. This post concerns the prospect of danger in church growth given the fact that we will double our space at 872 Maitland Ave. We will have a lot more room for a lot more people. That alone, coupled with finally gaining a physical presence within our community, along with the nature of our ministry by God’s grace, rightly causes me to expect us to grow in terms of our numbers.

What’s wrong with that? Where’s the danger? The danger lies in the nature of the growth. If the increase of numbers comes in the way of disenfranchised believers migratng from other churches alone, we have a problem. That’s dangerous. Because while we understand that such a thing happens (not always for good reasons I might add, but God does move His people around according to His purposes), we need to recognize that growing that way alone or predominantly does not reflect our mission to reach people outside the faith.

Those kind of folks, caught up in our hyper-modern, pluralistic culture, will likely not come to us just because we open a building. They likely could care less about us getting a home of our own. They’ve crossed Christianity off their list a long time ago. It’s no longer a spiritual come-and-see landscape where a Field of Dreams philosophy of ministry – if you build it, they will come – carries the day in the good old USA. Not on your life.

Tim Keller, in a blog post of his own entitled The Big Issues Facing the Western Church listed this concern among others:

The growing cultural remoteness of the gospel. The basic concepts of the gospel — sin, guilt and accountability before God, the sacrifice of the cross, human nature, afterlife — are becoming culturally strange in the west for the first time in 1500 years. As Lesslie Newbigin has written, it is time now to ‘think like a missionary’–to formulate ways of communicating the gospel that both confront and engage our increasingly non-Christian western culture. How do we make the gospel culturally accessible without compromising it? How can we communicate it and live it in a way that is comprehensible to people who lack the basic ‘mental furniture’ to even understand the essential truths of the Bible?

Good questions all. I commend them to us.

If we will avoid this danger inherent in having our own building, then we must think all the more like missionaries to our surrounding neighborhoods. Let me suggest some action steps to that end.

  1. Pray for outsiders regularly. Have you written a prayer card yet with key people you are asking God to save in 2012?
  2. Make time for outsiders in your schedule. Do you have times built  into your schedule that put you in the vicinity of people who need Christ?
  3. Build bridges through acts of mercy when you see need. Are you on the look out for opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ when circumstances open a door for such?
  4. Learn a gospel presentation or stock copies of the same. Do you have a supply of Two Ways to Live tracts to use, or some other favored resource, when someone expresses interest in the gospel?
  5. Invite outsider friends to Easter Sunday’s grand opening of our building on April 8. I promise to bring a message on the resurrection aimed in part to helping you share your faith. More people accept invitations to visit a church on Easter than any other time. It’s the one time the come-and-see strategy can work now a days, especially when coupled with a I-would-love-to-show-you-our-new-church appeal.

The rest of the time we must ask the Lord to give us gospel hearts that adopt and execute a go-and-tell-in-love strategy. Once the new building reaches capacity we will suffer the danger of thinking we have accomplished our mission when, in truth, there will still be a whole lot more people out there than there will be inside our four walls.

Lord, give us a heart of compassion and mercy for the outsider.

Tentative Transition Plan for Our Move

February 18, 2012 By in New Building Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Let me stress the word TENTATIVE. Everything in the way of timing hinges ultimately on the city issuing us a certificate of occupancy. No CO, no move.

However, barring any unforeseen complications, we hope to have that all-important document in hand by March 15. Without going into any detail, I want to outline the likely dates and events that, Lord willing, will shape our transition from the SDA facility to our own building.

  • March 18 – last Sunday at SDA followed by open house on the property (BYO picnic lunch)
  • March 25 – first Sunday in the building (soft opening – our own people only – focus on working out the kinks as a family)
  • April 1 AM (Palm Sunday) – second Sunday in the building (soft opening per March 25)
  • April 1 PM (Palm Sunday) – official dedication of the facility (our people and invited guests)
  • April 6 PM (Good Friday) – communion service (our people)
  • April 8 (Resurrection Sunday) – grand opening of the facility (public invited)
  • April 15 PM – praise and worship celebration of thanksgiving for God’s gracious gift with guest artist Kristian Stanfill and his worship band

I would encourage you to mark your calendars accordingly but remember as you do that crucial word TENTATIVE. We will update you as things progress. Hopefully we can get more definitive the closer we get to completion of the project.

Please continue to pray for a strong finish, for favor with the city in every way, and for the Lord’s glory on display as we make this transition into our brand new home!

What We Need from OGC

October 6, 2011 By in Body of Christ Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

On Sunday I shared what I believe OGC needs from Nancy and me and the rest of our officers and their spouses. For the next two years, arguably among the most strenuous in our history, the church needs us to stay the course. OGC needs us to persevere through the hard work, the late hours, the difficult conversations, the tough decisions. The buck stops here in terms of leadership responsibility and we can’t afford to weenie out just because things get hard.

But now let me turn the tables and suggest a few things we need from our covenant members. First, and foremost, we need your prayers. Pray for our staying power over the long haul. Lord willing, we will get through this season of building a facility and all the challenges that come with it. A new normal will arrive in due season. Pray we hold on and excel in our duties.

Second, we need your participation. Paul called the Philippians partners in the gospel (Phil. 1:5). That’s what we are. We need to partner together in service. It’s every hand on deck. Find a need and fill it. Sacrifice when you must. Let’s pull the load together. We need to partner together in giving, BOTH to the capital campaign/Each One, Seek One and to the general fund budget. On the latter we have been slipping of late. Chuck Mitchell will bring a report this Sunday during the offertory.

Lastly, we need your perseverance and patience. I’ve said all along that we and we alone in the history of this church get to do this stewardship of building a facility. It’s an enormous privilege that will bring multiple rewards. But the endeavor is not for the faint of heart or weak in knee. So join Nancy and me when necessary in having that little talk over the kitchen table when things get dicey: What OGC needs from us right now is to keep the oars in the water and keep on rowing.

Another Each One Seek One Story

May 17, 2011 By in New Building Tags: , , Leave a comment

Before we got going on our prayer time last Sunday evening on the property I told our walkers the following story.

Recently I got an early morning text.

PC, call me when you get this. I’ve got good news!

Now I get texts I want to answer and then I get texts I don’t want to answer. Which do you think applies here?

As soon as I got to the office, I placed the call.

When X (I’m sworn to secrecy) picked up, he/she told me about a letter that came in the mail the other day. X had only opened it that morning. It came from the lawyer of a distant relative. Unfortunately that person passed away a while ago. Little did my mystery texter/caller know but the relative included X in the will!

X could hardly contain the excitement about the amount (no, I don’t know details). But suffice it to say that X got really excited about the ability to do three things as a result: pay off debt, give to some missionaries, AND contribute his/her $1000 to the Each One, Seek One initiative for increasing our building fund monies.

And I quote: I wanted to contribute but I had no idea how I would do it. I prayed about it and God came through! Or words to that effect.

And that, of course, IS THE IDEA. Ask, seek, and knock. God loves for us to pester Him with requests that when He answers bring Him glory.

So let X’s story encourage you if you have yet to see His provision. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.

And when He answers, don’t forget to send me a text! I promise to call as soon as I possibly can.

12 Months & Counting

February 7, 2011 By in New Building, Uncategorized Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Don’t you just hate it when billboards display outdated info? Some event stays logged on the sign for all to see when in reality it happened days, even weeks ago? Bugs the tar out of me. I am so easily perturbed.

I refused to let that happen yesterday after our groundbreaking celebration.

I cornered our contractor after the ceremony.

“OK, Dave, give the straight scoop. How long before we get in this thing?” I asked. He never even blinked. “One year,” he replied.

Say no more. I shot over to the office and pulled the new letters for our sign.

Come March 6, we’ll do it again with eleven. April 6, ten. And so on until we start to count the days in 2012. Won’t that be sweet?

If per chance you missed the groundbreaking for some reason, we still have vials of soil with a commemorative label on them from the event. We’ll have them at the SDA this Sunday if you want to pick one up.

If you missed the service as well, the message from Matthew 7:7-11 is now on the website. You can access the audio here. I would urge all covenant members to make a point to listen to this message entitled Each One Seek One. In it I made an application challenge for our people aimed at closing the $100,000 gap in our capital fund raising campaign for the building.

My thanks to all who labored so hard to make yesterday such a moving and special event. We won’t soon forget it. Lord willing, only twelve months to go before we get to experience the even greater thrill with the dedication of our new church home.

I’ve already started dreaming potential plans for that weekend! Wonder how busy Mr. Stanfill and his group will be around that time?

Groundbreaking Countdown!

January 28, 2011 By in Events Tags: , , , Leave a comment

It has been so long since I’ve done a blog post, I’m not certain I remember how to do it!

Fortunately our website has returned to the land of the living. Thanks, Greg, for going the extra mile to get us back in service.

What better way to return to the blogosphere than by reminding everyone that in just a little over a week we will break ground for our first ever facility?

Here’s what you need to know:

As the sign indicates, the date is set for February 6th at 3:00 p.m (not 4 as originally communicated) on our property at 872 Maitland Avenue. We will be having an informal picnic on the property immediately after the worship service. Pack a lunch or go pick up something from your favorite take-out place and bring it to the property. Also bring lawn chairs (extra for guests if you have them) and/or blankets for seating. Parking will be on the vacant adjacent property just south of our parcel. Portable “facilities” will be on site for our convenience. Please, each household also bring a finger food to share among ourselves and our guests after the ground breaking (A-M – savory; N-Z – sweet). Drinks will be provided. Members, and those working toward membership, will also want to bring a couple of ounces of dirt from their own properties to place in the hole that will be turned by our groundbreaking shovels to symbolize the participation of all our people in the building of God’s church. Every family that attends will receive a special gift memento.

The property won’t look like this for much longer. February 6 is right around a corner. It will be a banner day in the history of our church!

Please pray that the invitations that have gone out to the surrounding homeowners will result in some attending the groundbreaking ceremony and that the gospel of Jesus will touch their hearts.

And it wouldn’t hurt to pray for decent weather as well, now that I think about it.

Hang on to your hats. It’s gonna be a great year for Orlando Grace Church!