March is a great month. In the sports world they call it March Madness, bringing us college basketball at its best. And there are days where you can really sense that spring is around the corner . . . you begin to feel it in the air.
That’s how I feel about NewPointe right now. There is a good sense of madness! There is a lot happening, and I can feel it – we are on the verge of something very special.
Every year, as a church, we prepare for Easter through a 40-day fast. I love this time of year because everyone who participates grows spiritually. It's always amazing how God grows us when we give something up in order to focus more of our time (even if just a bit) on Him. So this year – consider participating. Grab a 40-day fast guide from any of our info desks or our website, and let God do the rest! The fast begins March 15 and ends Easter morning.
And we have exciting news from our Canton Campus, the former Faith Family Church building at 5305 Broadmoor Circle NW. We've now held 2 massively successful volunteer demolition days that involved close to 150 people and helped us save more than $50,000 in construction costs. Only God can pull that off! Because of these efforts, the construction team is off and running, framing new walls, building the auditorium stage, and making everything happen so we can open this facility on Easter Sunday! They are moving fast, and the building looks different each time I visit.
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of NewPointe’s partnership with Dr. R. Blake Wood in reaching the Middle East for Christ. It started by NewPointe simply sending out Blake’s family as missionaries. Over the course of a decade, we have not only developed the ministry in the Middle East, but we have developed a ministry infrastructure by developing a 501c3 organization called IME (Impact Middle East) which has its own board and annual budget. Together, we have planted over 200 churches in Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq and are ministering to about 5,000 people in those churches. We have raised up and developed more than 20 fully-trained pastors and dozens of house-church leaders. Our Only God vision is to develop pastoral training support and systems in the Middle East so that we can plant even more churches there. Blake and his family will be moving to Seattle, WA, where Blake will be the Lead Pastor at Seattle First FMC. However, as chairman of IME’s Board, Blake will continue to serve and work with us toward this vision. Just as God has positioned NewPointe to bring about hope and change to Northeast Ohio, He has also positioned IME to do the same in the Middle East. Our best days are ahead of us.
As you can see, God is doing some pretty incredible stuff. Zechariah 4:6 reminds us how all of this happens – ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. Living victoriously isn’t your responsibility; it is rather your response to God’s ability. It is our response to who He is and what He has already accomplished for us.
So let me encourage you to continue to nurture and grow your relationship with Christ. Continue to pray and ask God to meet every need, whether financial, healing, relationship, etc. And please continue to pray for our three campuses. There are many opportunities for you to serve so don’t sit this season out – it’s too exciting and too rewarding.
One last thing – on March 13 we are kicking off a new series called I Can’t Get No Satisfaction. It is a great invest and invite series and promises to be life-changing.
