Our new mugs have arrived and we are selling them this time in a special way. They cost us about $5 each, but we are charging you the special discounted rate of only $10!

Actually, we give mugs away for free to every visitor, so we are asking you to help out by buying a mug of your own and sponsoring a mug that will make a first-time guest’s day that much more special!

So, if you get one, you are also giving one… and vice versa!

Hearing Jesus say, “Well Done.”

Every week, I am encouraged to think of how God is blessing us. We have some incredible musicians who lead us in worship each week, we have some wonderful volunteers working with the Kidopolis program, and our welcome team is simply incredible. We even got new LCC travel mugs to give away! To top it all off for me, I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity each week to share with all of you what God has laid on my heart from the Bible.

In fact, that’s the reason I’m taking this extra time to write a news post. See, we concluded our momentum series with the consideration of where all this momentum is taking us. Back in week 5, I shared that the main lessons of weeks 1-4 were really leading us toward the destination of spiritual maturity, but we’ve covered a lot more since then. What is the destination we are reaching with all this good momentum? Well, that destination is the moment we meet Jesus.

Some people live for the present moment as if this moment is all they have. They maximize their pleasure and “live for the moment.” Some people live in the present for some future goal. They imagine all they want to accomplish before they die or the kind of world they want to make and they work hard in their daily life for that envisioned moment. However, there is a moment far more important to live for. It’s the moment that comes after death, or for those lucky enough to be alive in that day, the moment when Jesus returns—the moment when I meet Jesus.

Be absolutely certain that when you meet Jesus, he will see your fruitfulness and your faithfulness and say, “Well done.”

After all, that’s my motivation and the whole reason I moved to Lafayette, the whole reason LCC got started. That’s the whole reason you are enjoying what happens at LCC. It’s all because there are people who are passionate to be fruitful with their lives and hear Jesus tell them “Well done,” someday!

Seth and Darla

It’s in light of that message, that I brought Seth and Darla Curtis before the church on Sunday:

Seth and Darla are church planters in Lubumbashi, Congo, and they are in the process of raising prayer and financial support.

Here’s the deal for you. One of the ways you can be fruitful in your Christian life is to join with them. You can bear fruit in Africa by joining with Seth and Darla. As of this week, they are 85% funded and need to be 90% funded before they can buy their plane tickets to go home. That 5% amounts to only $350.

Do you think our church can come up with $350 per month to help them get back to Congo? It’s not in our church budget, so I’m asking you as individuals. Could we get 10 people to step up with a $35 per month commitment to the Curtis family? What do you think?

If you want in, comment on this post to let the world know you’re in, and then contact Seth and Darla directly to sign up. Their website is: http://ujm.me and their email address is seth@ujm.me.

Let’s do our first church planting project by sending some church planters to Africa!

LCC is trying to do what Jesus did: Give People Life. Part of our strategy is a program developed by Rick Warren at Saddleback Community Church called P.E.A.C.E. The letters stand for Promote Reconciliation (especially by helping people get reconnected to their Heavenly Father), Equip Servant Leaders, Assist the Poor, Care for the Sick, and Educate the Next Generation. We use P.E.A.C.E. as a strategic framework for everything we do outside the walls of our church.

To do that right here in Lafayette, we regularly engage in what we call PEACE projects.

September’s project is the Matrix Pregnancy Center’s Walk & Run For Life, Saturday, September 24. It will start from St. Elizabeth East Hospital at 9 am and ends whenever you finish your 2 mile walk or run (about 11 or 11:30). Their goal is to raise $25,000 but our goal is to win the “church competition” by raising more money as a church than any other individual church!

Visit www.matrixprc.org to sign up!

If you have never been to my house, Jen and I want to invite you to come over Sunday night for our next Newcomer’s Dessert. I care about getting to know the people who call LCC their home and those who are still exploring LCC or even just starting their journey of faith. I’d love to meet you and get to know you a little better. It’s Sunday night at 6pm at my house (call 765-404-0807 for directions). We will be sharing a little about the history of the church, getting to know each other, and also sharing some really tasty desserts!

We always say that anyone who hasn’t been to our house yet or who hasn’t been to a Newcomers Dessert is welcome to come, so if you can make it, we’d love to have you join us.

I hope you can make it.

sent as a churchwide email on July 12, 2011

Greetings!

I’m sending this email to let you know of the great blessings and new challenges the church is facing. Our first year in the new facility is nearly done. We moved in to our new space at 3667 Braddock last September, and since that time our Sunday attendance has grown significantly. We now average about 125 people per week including over 30 children! Praise God!

God has blessed us with a great deal of influence in this part of the city, and we are seeing people with young children find a spiritual home with us. Additionally, we have seen a number of babies born this year. I’m excited to see all these new little ones born into families that desire to put God first in their home. It’s wonderful! Read more