Big News! An Addition to the Team...

From the beginning I have been absolutely blown away to see what God is doing to pull this new church together. There is absolutely nothing about this plant that is normal or that we can take credit for. God is building an amazing team for this new church and we are continually blown away at how God is stirring in people a desire to be a part of what is happening in Macomb. Here's one more piece of that.

We're excited to be able to announce that Matt & Katie Woodburn will be coming to Macomb to join the team! My connection with Matt began when Matt and I were pk's together at Colonial Woods Missionary Church back in the day. Matt and Katie are also both graduates of Bethel College, Mishawaka, IN and have been serving at Rona Missionary Church in Fairborn, OH for the past several years. I love Matt & Katie's heart for people and their great ability to connect with the unchurched. God has uniquely gifted them and placed a common vision in their hearts. Officially, Matt will be serving as the Pastor of Connections, handling primarily outreach and assimilation (no doubt lots of other things).

As you might be wondering, our new church doesn't have the resources to be able to "hire" additional staff like Matt, even though that has been part of the dream from the beginning. The way it works is that the Michigan District (of the Missionary Church) is kicking in a portion to allow Matt to do a church plant internship with us while Matt also works a part time and raises support to help supplement the rest of his income. Please pray for these areas of transition for the Woodburns (they also have a condo to sell in Ohio).

You have know idea how much of an advantage this gives us as a church plant and we are extremely excited about it. If you would like to be a part of helping Matt & Katie make the transition or would like to contribute to the church plant in general (we still have huge needs!), please email us at jhossler@hotmail.com or call 586.246.0938.

I continue to shake my head in amazement at what God is doing. I've never seen greater potential for God to move and do great things than what I'm seeing in this new church. I have no idea what 2008 will look like, but I do know it's going to be exciting! Matt & Katie - it's great to have you guys on the team!

Pictures - Mr. E Bunny's Egg-Stravaganza

The event today with the Macomb Township Parks & Recreation Department went great. We ran a station called the "Candy Corral". There were close to 600-people (6,000-pieces of candy!) that came through and we were able to make some good connections. It was a good first touch for our church in the community (and of course we all sported our sleek namethatchurch.com t-shirts). Man, I love Macomb and we have such a hunger and determination to launch a church that connects with them and that can help them connect with Christ!

Connecting with the Community

We're participating in our first community event today. We're thrilled to be partnering with the Macomb Township Parks & Recreation Department for an Easter event. They've been great to work with. Today, we'll have the opportunity to rub shoulders and talk with nearly 600-people!

Pray that we'll make great connections. Pray that we will fall more and more in love with the people. Pray that Christ will be exalted.

(I think prayers are retro-active, so even if you didn't get this in time, go ahead and pray :)) Talk with you soon!

Church Name... sort of!

You have all been waiting so patiently. Well, here it is! Our church name... sort of!



We figured we were designing this church for the community, why not have the community give their input on our name! And this is not so much about coming up with a name as it is we're hoping to peak the interest of our community. At the very least, we're hoping to increase awareness in our community that we're launching a new church!

So jump in - we're going to have some fun with this! Spread the word. We just happen to think God can use it! See ya.

http://www.namethatchurch.com/

Can You Give God Props?

God deserves some serious props (translation: God has blown us away with some amazing things and he deserves proper credit and recognition). Can you really even give God props? Anyway, here's what He's done:

1) business man decides to give us business cards and t-shirts at his cost (Thanks Dmitry!)

2) God provides great video camera for us to use through one man's generosity

3) we have the biggest billboard on Hall Rd. reserved for part of our marketing plan (God moved the big boys for this one!)

4) it looks like we're in... the door has been opened for a meeting location for us! (we still have to finalize it, but things are looking good)

This past week, I have been brought to laughter, tears, my knees, and awe over what God can do! It's been great.