Key Prayer Items This Weekend

We'd appreciate your specific prayers over the next few days in the following areas:

• Please pray for Trish.  Doctors have been watching some abnormalities with her thyroid and have scheduled a biopsy of a nodule on Tuesday, December 4.  Please pray for Trish as she endures this procedure and that God would protect her and our baby's health.
• I'm officiating at the wedding ceremony of two of our team members.  Gary and Mesarat (pictured) are getting married on Saturday.  They are planning on about 80 guests attending.  Many of their friends and family are unchurched.  Please pray with us that Jesus will be clearly present in the ceremony and in our words/actions and that we will capitalize on any opportunities God provides to communicate about ClearView.
• Sunday is New Albany's Christmas tree lighting festivities in the town square area.  400-500 people are expected for music, children's activities, and a candle lighting ceremony.  ClearView has been invited to facilitate one of the children's craft areas and assist with assembling and distributing the candles.  This a great opportunity to serve the community and make contacts.  Please pray that God would use this opportunity to open doors for relationship building and that teammates would emerge out of these new contacts.
• We're preparing an 800 piece mailing to new residents in our area.  Please pray that God would use these welcome letters and invitations to our gatherings to spark interest in ClearView.  Pray that teammates would emerge through these contacts.

Thanks for praying!

Giving Thanks

In my quiet time this a.m. I reflected on the many things I am thankful for.  Topping the list were my wife, my kids, my family, the distance God has brought us over the last year, what He is teaching us, and the families that have also embraced the challenge of beginning a new church with us.  As I turned to Scripture one of my favorite praise passages came to mind.  It was a joy to meditate on God's blessings from Psalm 103.  Just in case you need a great passage to check out to reflect on God's goodness...here you go.

Praise God!

Psalm 103
A psalm of David.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,
of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

It's A Girl!

We're excited to report that the little life inside Trish appears, from all indicators (or lack there of!), to be a girl!  This will help balance out the girl/boy ratio in the Wirt household!  We're extremely thankful for our little men and looking forward to meeting the girl we've asked God for! The ultrasound showed healthy development to this point.  We're thankful and excited!  Praise God!

Pray For a Local Bank

A few days ago I learned that a local bank had been robbed this past Saturday.  Yesterday, and again this morning, I felt God prompting me to find a way to serve.

The best idea I could come up with was to take them some treats, go and introduce myself, and let the employees know they were being prayed for.  So, this morning I went to Panera, bought some fresh bagels and cream cheese, ate a few on the way (JUST KIDDING!), and dropped them off at the bank.  When I introduced myself, communicated my concern for the situation, and offered a treat...the girl taking the bag of Panera goodies was visibly impacted.

Please pray with me that a little act of kindness like this will brighten the day of the workers and that whomever was traumatized by this event would be brought peace.  Pray that these people Jesus loves would be led to see Him clearly through an act of kindness.

Caffeinated Contact Making!

God hit a home run for us yesterday!  From 5:15a.-7:30p. we had the opportunity to connect with and love (through service and smiles) hundreds of YMCA staff, poll workers, and voters as we served free (donated!) Caribou Coffee to people at Gahanna's YMCA.  All in all, we served about 4 dozen donuts to poll workers and YMCA staff and about 15 gallons or 175 cups of coffee to people.

What was most exciting was the contacts we were able to make and the conversations we were able to have.  Many people were excited about getting something of value (that they enjoy) for free.  We were also able to talk to a handful of families that communicated they are looking for a church.  I estimate we were able to give out about 20 invitations to our meetings and seed our logo and a smile in countless minds.  

Another factor that I believe will be key in the future is an emerging partnership with the YMCA for service opportunities in our community.  As we move forward in one of ClearView's key values-- to be the church (missionaries) where people are (YMCA!)-- partnerships with great community organizations like the YMCA are of inestimable value.  Malik Moore (Membership Services Director-pictured on right with our teammate, Dan Whinnery) wrote this to ClearView at the conclusion of the day:  "It was a great pleasure having you at the YMCA for Election Day.  You are a great example of what it means to be a neighbor.  Our members and visitors all seemed to really enjoy your warming spirit...Please do not hesitate to call me with any ideas you have for partnerships between the Gahanna YMCA and ClearView Church in the future!"

Please praise and thank God with us for this GREAT opportunity to love many people, begin an important relationship with the YMCA, and invite many to our gatherings.  Praise God for the good people at the YMCA and Caribou Coffee.  Pray we can be a blessing to them in Jesus' name!  Please pray that God would translate seeds planted into teammates AND people loved to a clear view of Jesus and mission.  

God Is Big...Creative...Beautiful

We enjoyed a morning this past weekend in the Hocking Hills are of Ohio.  This is just about an hour southeast of Columbus...so it worked for us to get away despite nap schedules, etc.  A rare step outside the hustle of our daily grind...this short jaunt was a welcome respite from life as usual.

We had a great time as a family and were amazed by the fall colors, God's power and creative mastery, and fresh, pine-scented, air.  The boys especially enjoyed climbing on rock formations, hiking some short trails, and playing with sticks, salamanders, and leaves.

I'm reminded again that if God can do all this...certainly He is in control of the everyday events, challenges, and victories of our lives and ministry.  There's something refreshing to the soul about worshiping God in His creation.  It reminds me of His sovereignty, power, and perfection.  And, I need that.  My soul was made to function best when a proper view of God is at the center of it.

Look At The Opportunities...Not Disappointments

Another lesson I'm learning as we move forward in our journey with God... is to look through circumstances that could be disappointing at first glance to the opportunities that God is presenting through things that don't go as we planned.

Saturday (11/3), we had invited Seth's soccer team over for an end-of-season party.  Through previous r.s.v.p.'s we were expecting about 6 families to join us for pizza, games, and fun.  Even though we were to begin at 11:30a., by 11:45a., our family was alone in our house with $50 worth of pizza.  My physical body was playing with the kids in the backyard while while my mind and spirit were wrestling with God about how to handle my disappointment about how the day seemed to be turning out.

Soon the doorbell rang and a family we really enjoy showed up (picture right).  The mom communicated how much their son (the boy on Seth's team) had been looking forward to this day.  Our two families had a wonderful time getting to know each other better, swapping kid stories, watching the OSU game, eating pizza, and playing with our kids.  It really was a pleasant afternoon.

Most importantly, Trish had a good connection with Dianna and I was able to talk with Goran about our work and how we believe the Bible to be true, Jesus to be Lord, and what it means to be a "Jesus-follower".  

We're here to plant a church.  We need to find people.  We're getting involved in the community and doing things like hosting parties to try and move our ministry forward.  It would have been easy (especially before anyone had shown up) to view the day as less than what we had hoped.  BUT, God has His own plan.  He brought out exactly who He intended.  And, to His glory, I believe we looked through the disappointing turn out to the opportunity that was there- connecting with and loving this one family.

I'm celebrating this small milestone because I believe this is an important lesson God has been trying to teach us.  To get where He wants us to go... I know we need to trust Him in everything (even when things don't work out like we planned) and be faithful in the opportunities He DOES bring.

Please pray with us that we'd learn what God wants us to learn and be found wise and faithful in whatever circumstances God brings our way.

Work Where God Is Working...

One of the challenging, faith-testing, areas of church planting is that we are dependent upon God for results.  We're doing everything we can do with the wisdom that God has given us to this point to move forward in launching a church from scratch.  But, when it comes down to it... it is God who gives success and He is the only One that can really bring results and create the momentum we need to move forward.

As I process this... I look at our work and I see God moving very dramatically in some areas and very slowly in others.  It was Henry Blackaby, in his book Experiencing God, that articulated well what we need to do: Discern where God is moving and then make sure you are a part of that (my paraphrase).  The faith-stretching part for me is that (quite honestly) God is not moving right now in the area of bringing us teammates.  Despite our contact making efforts and the many people that we have invited to our meeting or asked to pray about joining our team...movement has been desperately slow.  BUT, what God clearly IS doing is opening up great doors for us to serve people in our community.

I'm quite excited about this... because, after all, ClearView's mission is to love people to a clear view of Jesus and His mission.  God has opened up doors for us to serve at New Albany's Oktoberfest (10/6), brought 412 Commission to us this past week to hand out thousands of fliers, and provided a NEW OPPORTUNITY I'm very excited about: serving coffee to hundreds (and possibly a few thousand) voters this coming Tuesday at Gahanna's YMCA.  This just opened up!

An exciting story... A light finally went on in my head a few weeks ago when I was at the YMCA and I noticed it was listed as a polling location.  I approached one of the directors that I (and some of our team members) have been building a relationship with.  He said he would check with his supervisor about us providing coffee to voters.  A week later, he called saying we have the green light.  The next day, I went to a local coffee/bagel place and asked to see the manager.  On two different occasions that afternoon I waited and waited... and the guy never came out of his office.  So, I went down the street to Caribou Coffee.  The manager was at the counter and said "Hello" immediately.  So, I proceeded to ask her to donate enough coffee for hundreds of voters.  I was amazed as she quickly calculated how much we would need and offered the coffee and cups all throughout the day.  I estimate this is probably about $500 worth of coffee at retail costs!  God truly opened a door for us to partner with the YMCA and provided the resources (despite our tight budget) through this generous Caribou manager!

So, I'm learning:  go where God is working and trust Him for His perfect plan and perfect timing in the areas where He seems to be moving very slow (providing teammates).  In this case that means taking full advantage of Tuesday and all the people we will get to serve and meet AND patronizing Caribou Coffee as often as possible!  :)

Please pray with us that God will lead us to spiritually seeking people we can love and even pioneer-type people we could partner with as we serve coffee on Tuesday.  Please continue to beg God to lead us to the people He has already appointed for us to work with to begin a new church.  I do believe they are out there...we just need to find them.  Perhaps that is why God is moving slow in revealing our team...it forces us to work harder and go deeper into the community to find those we need to launch well.  That is one of the blessings I'm seeing of our situation.  It would be nice to have a team that is growing... but while we wait and beg God for provision in this area... He is opening up GREAT doors to be out among people Jesus loves- where they are.  That really is what the Church is to be any way.

So...we'll go where God is working.  That is exciting!

Halloween Provides Opportunities!

Last night Silas and I handed out candy to neighborhood children AND invitations to our gatherings to their parents while Trish took Seth around the neighborhood on "beggars night". Between Trish and I, we were able to meet many new families and continue conversations/relationships with people we have met and, in some cases, ministered to, in the past. Please pray that invitations given will fall on fertile soil and that smiles and handshakes would be remembered as kindness...and someday associated with Jesus! Thanks!

412 Makes An Impression!

We enjoyed a visit with CE National's 412 Commission (a group of college-age students on a year-long study of the Bible and real-life ministry experiences) yesterday. This group of 12 students and three leaders helped Seth and I distribute over 2,000 fliers in about 6 neighborhoods surrounding ours. Our family was impacted by these high quality, godly, trained, and excellent young people. These are students that love God and many are dreaming of and training for a lifetime of service to God. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm for our work and the all-out effort they put into getting as many fliers out as possible and praying fervently as they walked (or ran!)... even though they have long days of study, travel, and ministry work.

Please pray with us that the fliers we distributed will be like seeds that God blows to fertile soil. Obviously, many will be tossed in the trash... but we're counting on God landing a few right in the hands of spiritually searching people OR people that could be teammates. Pray for fruit! Thanks!