Daniel 3

Wow Church, what an unexpected yet amazing 2 weeks this has been! Even though we have gone through a difficult season with the arson God continues to overwhelm us with HIS blessings and goodness.

Last weekend our “What If” Sunday was incredible thanks to all of you. The place was packed with record attendance for 2012. During the service 6 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ and I am still getting lots of reports about the answered prayer’s that have taken place this week.  Who would have thought that less then 2 weeks after the fire we would be experiencing all of this?

When the fire first hit it was a very surreal type of feeling and actually still is a bit from time to time. Two days after the fire I felt the Holy Spirit lead me to Daniel chapter 3 and there we find the story of 3 Hebrew boys who were thrown into a fiery furnace because they would not worship any other god then the true God (pretty good story, you should go and read it). The story is so awesome because even though they were thrown into the fire God protected them and when the other’s looked in they saw them dancing around with Jesus himself. I am so glad that God gave me that word because I feel like we have been dancing right on through the fire with The Lord Jesus Christ by our side.

I know that Jesus will continue do be with us as we continue to dance through this season of Urban Church. I have to keep reminding myself of that because this has been a very time consuming and tedious task for all the staff as we go through all receipts and work with the insurance etc. We know that this season will come to an end but we are not through it yet and this is where we as a church need to continue to pray and give support.

Here are the three main needs we have right now as a church.

1. Finances. Eventually the insurance money will come to us but it is a bit of a lengthy process so this will take time. In addition to that we have had a great relationship with the school and we were able to store all of our stuff on site. We are no longer able to do this and therefore we need to buy a new cargo trailer as well as a vehicle to tow the large trailerTo secure these two things it is going to cost us just over $10,000. Buying these two items will allow us to stay portable as a church making it easy for transportation as well as set up and pack up for the Partners in Ministry.
2. Prayer. We need prayer for wisdom and guidance on where we are toWe can continue to meet in the auditorium we have been meeting in for the last 2 weeks. If we continue to meet in this location we need to get creative with additional space for the children’s ministry, as it is very limited right now. If God would have us move either to another school or to our own facility we need wisdom on how to make this work also. We know that as you continue to pray that God will continue to show us the steps to take.
3. Partners in Ministry. Now more than ever we need Partners in Ministry. Since the beginning of the New Year we have been growing tremendously and with that growth comes new opportunities to serve and we definitely need more people serving rightIf you are already serving in an area then help me by getting more people involved. If you are not yet serving in an area please take a moment this weekend to stop by the information table and find out where you can begin serving.  Three areas I can think of right now where we need more partners in ministry are; Children’s Ministry, Setup/Pack Up Ministry and the Ushers/Greeters Ministry.

Church, thank you so much for all your generosity, prayers and flexibility during this time.  We know that great things are in store for Urban Church in 2012 so let’s keep dancing through the fire knowing that HE is right by our side dancing with us.

Blessings,

Dream Big

Ben Brinkman – Lead Pastor Urban Church

www.lifeaturban.com