Pray for a New Thing

I want to invite you into a season of prayer. Maybe I should have encouraged this at the beginning of Lent. It's always good to have a start date that people can hang their hat on. However, I just didn't mention it until now. So... here's what I want you to pray for:

First, my friend Troy McMahon launches his first worship service of a new church in the Kansas City Northland on March 2. At 10:00 am they will be worshipping as a newly formed congregation for the first time. Check out Restore Community Church's website and pray fervently that God will bless their efforts to help "people find their way back to God." By the way, they're an affiliate of Community Christian Church who are planning another church launch on the same day in Chicago. I love it when the people of Christ take Christ into the community!



Second, we will be launching a 4th worship service on Sunday, March 16th. How cool is that? I am very excited about this opportunity to provide our community with an alternative worship time. There are people who cannot (or will not) get to church on Sunday morning. So the very experience that connects you to God at Good Shepherd will be made available to others in the Northland. Same worship, same fellowship, same coffee, same children's ministry. I can't tell you how exciting this is for me. Please pray for me, the band, all the volunteers, and the people (both those new to Good Shepherd and those who are time travelers for the sake of make this new thing a grand success) and the whole staff as we live into this new thing God is doing.

Finally, In 1999 I hired Tish (Laiben) Green to become the worship leader of the new church I was starting in South St. Louis County. Tish had new church experience, and even played for a time at LaCroix UMC while they were still worshipping in the movie theater. During our work together Tish spoke about her feeling a call to preaching ministry as well. She has followed that calling and has been bitten by the new church bug again. This time, she'll be the pastor. I am very excited for Tish and for The Connection Church as she takes a run down UMC church in a transitioning neighborhood and brings Christ there in the wonderful way she knows how. Please pray that their Easter launch will be the New Thing that God wants to do in the Carondalet neighborhood of South St. Louis City.