Gearing UP

2007 is almost gone and LifeTree Church is gearing up for an incredible
year! In TWO weeks, we are going to have our first worship service at
Allgood Elementary. If you are in the neighborhood on January 13, 2008, be
sure and drop in. Allgood Elementary is on Hart Road off of Hwy 61 (Villa
Rica Hwy). Get there around 10:30 am and help us with our very first worship
celebration.

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11:51 AM

October Update

Well, I have finished my dissertation and we are working like gangbusters on the church. It is really interesting how God works through us and finesses the vision. We are really focused on reaching families and have developed a small group discipleship design that will help us to make disciples within a family environment.

Please pray for LifeTree and for our leadership.

Beginning of August - Prayer Concerns

It is back to school time once again, and we at LifeTree Church are geared up. Last week we sponsored a breakfast for the teachers at Allgood Elementary, our meeting location. They seemed to have been pleased.

This summer we have been very busy. I have been working on my dissertation, watching the girls, and taking care of some LifeTree Church planning. Steven has moved to Paulding County and has begun working on his church planting responsibilities while working. Brian has been taking classes in New Orleans all summer and working on his church planting responsibilities. It is amazing how well we have adapted to multi-tasking. I pray that God would continue to give us the focus to handle life’s distractions while cultivating the church field.

I would like to give you a few prayer concerns we have at this point:

• Continue to pray for Kent Caperton and his family. His wife will have baby Julianne on September 13, and then Julianne will have a surgery within the first three days in order to correct a heart condition.
• Pray for our fundraising efforts. We are in the process of raising support towards a goal of $150,000. This amount will fund our equipment, facility rental, and outreach ministries for the first year. Check out the details at our website: http://lifetreechurch.org/prospectus.html.
• Pray for our launch team development. We are working towards developing a core group of people who will help launch the church next year. If you would like more information about the launch team, send me an email at jeff@lifetreechurch.org.
• Pray for the people of Paulding County that they will hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and come to know Him as their savior.

Thank you for your prayers and for your ministry.

July Prayer Requests

The one word that can best describe this summer is BUSY. Most of the busy-ness has been focused on me finishing the dissertation I have been working on. My goal is to finish it this summer so that I can focus on church planting in the fall. At the end of May, I made a major jump ahead, but now I am in the tedious stage of technical writing.

In June, the Perry family moved to Dallas, GA. As you are aware, we asked for prayer that Missi would find a job in the area, and I am happy to report that God faithfully answered your prayers. Missi was offered a great nursing job and has been getting settled on the job for the last couple of weeks.

LifeTree Church has begun having a weekly small group meeting on Sunday nights. Currently, we are studying what a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like.

Continue to pray for LifeTree Church as we seek to reach Paulding County. We are meeting some really wonderful people and opportunities for ministry are always present.

Prayer Update for May

Hello Prayer Warriors,

I realize that a lot of time has passed between this post and the last post. We have had a very busy month and a half! First of all, Steven and Missi Perry have been searching for a house so that they could move on the field. I am happy to report that they found a great house in a great location. Pray for them as they work towards moving to Dallas, GA. The plan is to close on June 6 and move in the next weekend. Anyone want to help unpack?

Continue to pray for the Perry's as they seek jobs to help them before the church launches. Missi and Steven both have interviews coming up.

Pray for the Bridges as they remain in New Orleans for Brian's last semester. They have also been experiencing some illness lately.

Recently, I met a woman who lost her husband to cancer last year. They have a six year old boy. Pray for Irene and Matthew as they continue to adjust to the loss of a husband and father.

One of my priorities is to finish my dissertation before I get too involved in the church plant. I am well on my way to finishing, but I am down to the last few months. I will complete the dissertation this summer, but I sure could use some prayer to get through it.

We are about to seek support for the church plant. Our best estimates (based on quotes we have received) have shown that equipment will cost around $50,000 and other start up costs will be around $50,000. Right off the bat we are going to need to raise $100,000. This is church plant is an exercise in faith, and we are trusting God to provide for our needs.

Continue to pray for the people and community of Paulding County. There are so many here who need to hear the gospel and to experience God's grace.

Pray that we will develop a core group of people who will be focused on reaching the unchurched.

LifeTree Church Baptism Brooke

Click to Play

The first baptism of LifeTree Church.

LifeTree Church's First Baptism

It has certainly been a busy couple of weeks! LifeTree Church has really begun to blossom and take shape. This past weekend, we had the Bridges family and the Perry family visit and pray for the community. I think they really were able to see the vision and the need.

During their visit, we drove around Paulding County looking at the new developments that are being built, the new roads that are being laid, and the new businesses opening their doors. Seeing the amount of growth taking place really drove home the importance of LifeTree Church.

Also, most excellent news!! Over the weekend, Brooke accepted Christ as her Savior! As her daddy, I am absolutely thrilled! Since we had the entire current membership of LifeTree Church staying at our house, we decided to go ahead and baptize her on Sunday evening! I am going to try to attach the video of her baptism but if it doesn't work, I'll provide a link. (Sorry for all of the exclamation points in this paragraph. I just think this is exclamation worthy info!!!)

Please pray for our newest believer, Brooke, that she will continue to grow in her relationship with Jesus Christ and will boldly proclaim His gospel.

Also, continue to pray for LifeTree Church's search for a worship leader.

Thirdly, pray that LifeTree Church will receive the funding it needs to carry out the mission of reaching Paulding County and all the world with the gospel.

New Logo for LifeTree Church

I wanted to give a quick update about our logo. We have a new logo! My brother, Mark, has a friend at the Mellow Mushroom named Dusty. Dusty drew three logos and the last was the one we wanted. Go to the website to check out our new logo.

www.lifetreechurch.org

A Productive February

Well, February is coming to a close and God has really blessed LifeTree Church this month. Over the course of the month, we were incorporated, our Trustee Board met, the prospectus is nearly completed, and we have added two families to our leadership team.

Steven and Missi Perry have heard God's call to plant a church in Paulding County, GA and are moving here from New Orleans this summer. Steven is going to serve as a teaching pastor with responsibilities involving missions and evangelism.

Brian and Karen Bridges are also going to move here from New Orleans, but they are going to move around the first of January, 2008. Brian is going to serve as a teaching pastor with responsibilities involving small groups.

Please pray for the Perrys and the Bridges as they make arrangements to move to GA.

Also, pray for the completion of the prospectus.

Thirdly, pray for the community of Paulding County. Karen and I are building relationships with our neighbors and other community families.

Thank you for your prayers. God Bless.

Assessment, Prospectus and Raising Support. OH MY!

This has been an eventful couple of weeks for LifeTree Church. We completed the steps necessary for incorporation and are now able to receive funds. Also, we began work on our church plant prospectus. This is the brochure (pamphlet) we will distribute to potential supporters (churches, businesses, individuals, etc.) I am hoping to have the prospectus completed and printed before March 1.

Finally, Karen and I completed our assessment. When denominations are asked to provide support for new church plants, they prefer to have the lead church planter (and his wife) assessed to determine if they have the personality, gifts, and calling to successfully plant a church. This is primarily a matter of good stewardship. West Ridge Church was good enough to provide the assessment opportunity and added a wonderful marriage assessment. We really enjoyed the process and were pleased to confirm that our marriage is strong and healthy.

Prayer requests for the upcoming month include:

1. Prospectus Development and Logo design. Pray for us as we develop the prospectus to share with others. The prospectus is the first experience that the world will have with LifeTree Church. It is highly important that we have a high quality prospectus to introduce ourselves to the world. Also, we are brainstorming and working with creative types to come up with an exceptional logo. Pray that the artist is able to grasp the full concept of LifeTree Church and visually convey who we are.
2. Core group development. We continue to share the gospel and cultivate relationships hoping to find those whom God desires to be in our core group. Please pray that God will prepare these families for the task ahead. Also pray that we will find the core group members.
3. Church Planting Team. We are also praying for God to provide some capable men and their families to join us in the planting process. Please pray for these men as they seek God's will for them and their families.

These are the top three prayer requests we have for the upcoming couple of weeks. Personally, pray for Karen as she continues to heal from her tonsilectomy, and pray for me as I am traveling next week. I am headed to New Orleans to work on some research and to meet with a few potential team members.

Blessings,

Jeff

Prayers for the week

I would like to thank you for your continued prayers. This week we will be working on a few things. There is a city council meeting Tuesday night and an adult bookstore has applied for a business license. I am joining a group of concerned citizens to block this business license. Please pray that the city council will understand the destructive nature of this type of store and deny the business license. Also, pray for the man who wants to start this business, that he will realize the sin of pornography and will repent.

We are also working on incorporation procedures so that we can begin to raise funds. Please pray that the process will go smoothly and quickly.

I have been thinking about what positions we need on our church planting team. Specifically, I wonder what ministry positions are required and what type of person I should look for. Please pray that I will have the proper discernment in making these decisions.

Have a blessed week.

Activities for this week

As I sit here mourning the loss of the New Orleans Saints to the Chicago Bears, I am planning my week's activities. Here are a few things you can pray about for LifeTree Church.

• I am recruiting an accountant to serve on the board of directors. I need someone who has impeccable integrity and financial savvy. This person will be the secretary/treasurer of the board of directors, which means that he/she will process our funds. Please pray that we find the right person. I would like to file papers for incorporation before the end of January.
• I am working with Clay Hiott to find a web hosting service and develop our church webpage. Pray that we find a good web hosting service. If you have any recommendations, we would love to hear them.
• Tuesday night is the Paulding Commissioners meeting. I will be attending this meeting in order to meet some of the leadership of the community. Maybe we will find a man of peace who can help us with the plant.
• We are continuing to reach out to our neighbors in the community to share the gospel and develop a core group.

Thanks for your prayers.

Prayer Team Sought

This is the initial post of the LifeTree Church. LifeTree Church is a new church in Paulding County, Georgia. We are intent on creating changed lives - boldly living for God, and building strong families. In the near future, I will post more on how we intend to accomlish this feat. At this time, I want to invite all those who may be interested to join with us in prayer.

We need a great deal of prayer to undertake a ministry of this nature. If you would like to join the prayer team, send me an email at:

jeffreyfarmer@comcast.net