Update on Urban and the Fire

Urban Church friends and family, thank you so much for your continued prayers and love during this time.  The next few weeks are going to be a little uncertain for us when it comes to a meeting place but Urban has not been built around a building, rather the community. I know that this will bring us closer together in unity and stronger then we have ever been before. With that new strength we will reach more people for Jesus Christ then ever before.

Yesterday Katie and I and a team of 3 other people spent about 6 hours sifting through our equipment with the insurance adjusters and the property restoration company. Once again although many of the items look intact they are a total lost due to smoke and soot damage. This was a long and tiresome task but the whole time I was going through it I kept getting a sense that God is going to use this in a huge way to grow our church and reach those far from Him. I WOULD NOT MISS THE NEXT TWO SUNDAY’S IF I WERE YOU!

As we were sifting through our equipment we pulled out the drawer where we keep our pipe and drape system. On top of our pipe and drape system were some cheap little carpets we got from IKEA that were totally melted. When we removed them we found our pipe and drape system almost completely untouched by the fire. This was a total shock to us because the whole outside wall and doors to this area were completely burned. It came as a shock to the restoration company as well. After a little wiping down they were almost as good as new! We kept those back and we will be using them this Sunday. It will be a little reminder that we can go through the fire and come out without even the smell of smoke on us.

After going through all of our items we took what we could (look for the smoky black road signs this weekend) and let the restoration company take the rest.  We will need to be renting a lot of equipment for the next couple of weeks and once the insurance money comes in we will be able to purchase new items.  We have a limited amount of insurance money to cover the replacement of all our equipment, rental of the equipment in the meantime and pay for all the adjusters and restoration companies etc. We need extra finances now so if you are able to give above and beyond your normal tithes please go here and do so now.

Today someone asked me if we will have services as normal this weekend. I kind of smiled and laughed and said, “This weekend will probably be anything but normal”. I know that this weekend will be amazing because any time God’s people come under fire (no pun intended) they always rally together and something miraculous happens. The fact that we are having service together this weekend 5 days after losing our meeting place and equipment is a miracle.

This weekend is one I would not miss! Although this is one of the most devastating weeks of Urban’s history and one of the toughest weeks of my life as a pastor one thing remains the same, I will be worshiping Him this weekend…. No I will be worshiping Him even more than I ever have. Like David stripped from his kingly robes in 2 Samuel 6 dancing in his linen ephod we will dance before the Lord and worship Him even as we have been stripped of all that was valuable to us.  Like Paul and Silas sitting in the worst possible situation we will sing, pray and worship the Lord and as we do we will see chains broke in Jesus name. Like the 3 Hebrew boys cast into the fire we will dance around with the King of Kings and come out of the fiery furnace unburned and without the smell of smoke on us. Church come ready to worship and celebrate because even though we have lost much, God is for us and if God is for us who can be against us! I have learned this week that when you are thrown into the fire you might as well learn to make the most of it and dance and worship your way through it.

See you this Sunday 10:30am Board of Education Auditorium 4100 Normal Street San Diego, CA 92101

Dream Big

Ben