The last several months have been very eventful and exciting at Lifehouse Church East. I’d like to take this opportunity to give you an update, and invite you to partner with us as we boldly step forward in God’s plans for our church. Please take a few minutes to read this letter and give us your heartfelt response and prayers.
Our Cause
Lifehouse exists to reach up to worship God, reach in to develop relationships and devoted Jesus-followers, and reach out to share God’s love with our world.
When Laura and I moved to
“I will give you every place where you set your foot… Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you…”
As I’ve jogged around our city and prayed, I’m pursuaded that God has called us to reach this entire region with the powerful message of Jesus. We won’t stop until we have shared and showed God’s love with everyone possible.
Our Growing impact in the Hagerstown-area
April marked our four-year anniversary of launching Lifehouse on Sunday mornings with 24 people. Since then, we’ve grown to nearly 400 in regular attendance and have seen over 1000 people make a decision to follow Jesus. We’ve served our community in various outreaches, including being the point church for Hagerstown Convoy of Hope in 2008 and again this year on September 26. Last year we coordinated with over 120 local churches and organizations to feed and give groceries to over 2500 people in our community.
Called to Thrive
In late 2008, I felt strongly challenged by God that Lifehouse would “thrive” in ’09. I invited our church to participate in an “Isaiah 58 Fast,” referencing verses 11-12:
“You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.”
From that fast, God revealed what it would mean for our church to “thrive:”
- Lifehouse Church East would thrive and spread out in our community. We would see significant impact and flourish at the theater property.
- We would facilitate unity among other area churches and work together to build The Church in this region, even send leaders out to help other churches.
- We would plant two churches in the next three years, and we are currently developing these church planters.
Check out this video we created explaining THRIVE:
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