Pictures

There are some more pictures at www.findhope.net

more help

Mike Huguet arrived yesterday after driving the thirty hours from Louisiana. He just finished his masters degree, so he will be looking for a job and a place to live while seeking to serve the Lord however he is needed. We are excited to have him on board.
Despite the holiday weekend we had good services yesterday and a good group to help distribute newsletters on GOnight.

Update

We had a great time at Southern California Ministry Summit last Tuesday and Wednesday. About a dozen pastors came. We spent a lot of time praying for the churches represented and praying for Southern California. We shared some of our burden and vision for Southern California. We talked about church planting opportunities and spent a lot of time answering questions from recent or soon-to-be church planters. We will try to do this each May, and Lord willing it will be useful for the growing and reproducing of Christ-honoring churches here in Southern California.
On Sunday we were excited that T and J Patterson were back in church for the first time since Bailey’s funeral. Please continue to pray for our ministry to them.
We are also glad that another family is ready to commit themselves to church membership.

Update

We had another great group at adult Bible study, where we are working through the teachings of Jesus. They are such a great group to teach because of their eagerness to know the Word. Then at 10:30 I preached on the majesty and authority of God. This is actually part of our evangelism training: if God doesn’t have the right to make the rules; if he doesn’t deserve our obedience and honor; then the rest of the gospel really makes no sense.
Our congregational singing was really very good this morning. I praise the Lord for the progress in this area, because this has always been a big struggle for us. We have just purchased a new keyboard which has a lot of great acoustic voices (violin, trumpet, flute, etc.).
Sunday evening we continued our evangelism training series. While I’m sure some people are largely unaffected by this, I know that others are praying diligently, working hard to learn the presentation, and seeking opportunities to share the gospel. It’s so great to watch people grow.
We’re gearing up for Southern California Ministry Summit, which is only about a week away. Our desire from the beginning has been that God would build a church planting “movement” here in Southern California: something more than just lone ranger church planting. Maybe the Lord will allow the Summit to be part of that.