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