It’s Monday, and we are coming out of another great weekend at DC Metro Church with the kickoff of our Warrior II Series.  In fact, this weekend, we also saw the greatest attendence in DC Metro Church’s History!  Seems like I have been allowed to say that pretty regularly as God continues to add to the number of people that have been led to call DC Metro Church their HOME CHURCH (We Love You Guys!)!

THINKING OUTSIDE OUR WORLD – Lately, I have been thinking about how pumped I am that DC Metro Church is involved in planting churches all over the country…  In Fact, Already this year, we have been able to help financially support 16 church plants across the US!!!  Go GOD!

As I was thinking about how pumped I am to be a part of this, I was reminded, once again, of the fact that “We Are A Church Plant!”  Although I’ve always known DC Metro would be “a church plant that plants churches”, to think about how many churches we have helped to launch already this year is quite staggering…  My other thought lately is that I feel as though it is something that I personally don’t talk about enough on Sundays or in my blog.  Afterall, this is quite amazing, a church plant, planting churches, that plant churches…

With that said, I wanted to take a sec to share with the greater DC Metro Family all the lives that you are impacting all over the country through your prayers and your faithful giving.  Below is a list of the amazing new churches that you and I have helped to plant in communities all over the country through the ARC (www.relatedchurches.com).  The list contains the name, location, launch date, and the incredible church planting pastors that you have helped to support…

Go God!

Check out these 16 church plants that have been launched so far this year – listed below…

Story Church

Jeremy & Kimi Copeland – Durham, NC

Launched January 10, 2010

www.storychurch.org

Joseph & Eleana Garza – San Antonio, TX

Launched January 17, 2010

www.newgenerationfellowship.net

Jason & Courtney Gurley – Anniston, AL

Launched February 14, 2010

www.thefreedomchurch.org

Drew & Jana Epperson – Monee, IL

Launched February 14, 2010

www.secondplacechurch.com

John & Laura Daniels – Starkville, MS

Launched January 10, 2010

www.lifechurchms.com

Jonathan & Erin Howell – Jackson, TN

Launched February 7, 2010

www.thelifechurch.com

Jamaal & Vasha Nelson – New York, NY

Launched February 14, 2010

www.championcenter.org

Joel & Michelle Miller – Allen, TX

Launched February 7, 2010

www.thesummit.tv

Matt & Lindsay Nelson – Tulsa, OK

Launched January 31, 2010

www.citychurchtulsa.com

Aaron & Nicole Olinski – Melbourne, FL

Launched January 31, 2010

www.gracechurchmelbourne.com

Eddie & Marla Poole – Mt. Juliet, TN

Launched January 10, 2010

www.mjlifechurch.tv

Mark & Trisha Quattrochi – Tarpon Springs, FL

Launched January 17, 2010

www.gracefamilychurch.org

Chad & Jennifer Stafford – Daphne, AL

Launched January 10, 2010

www.coastalchurch.tv

Jason & Bonnie Ruth Rolf – McKinney, TX

Launched January 16, 2010

www.freedomchurchnow.org

Mike & Robin Shay – Menomonie, WI

Launched February 14, 2010

www.branches-church.com

Raphael & Amica Yon – Raleigh, NC

Launched January 31, 2010

www.churchatthepark.tv

Congrats to all these new churches and their Pastors…

CONGRATS also to DC Metro Church for your faithfulness and consistency in your giving so that we can continue to partner financially to help make these critical new church plants happen all over the country.  So no matter what is going on in your world today, whether good or even bad, God is BIGGER &  YOU ARE IMPACTING THE WORLD FOR JESUS THROUGH DC METRO!!!

Speaking of IMPACT… Just a quick stat, these 16 church plants had a first Sunday attendance total of 3,584 people!  It’s all about people…

Lets continue to ask God to do amazing things in and through us at DC Metro Church! Go God and Go DC Metro!

D

I have been so proud of you all this past weekend and already this week. Despite the blizzard, we have been mobilized like never before through service to our community. By “being the church” together, we have found opportunities to serve our neighbors, friends, family, and even complete strangers like Jesus.

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about check out the quick video here:

http://www.dcmetrochurch.org/blizzard-2010/

I have always been amazed by the idea that we are to become more and more like Jesus in life, but even more amazed by the way that that happens…

It happens when we do what Jesus did.

Congrats again on being the Hands and Feet of Jesus in Blizzard 2010!

What an opportunity to serve Him!

I Can’t Wait to get back together this Sunday at DC Metro Church!

Go God!

pd

PS – Send in your testomies of service!
blizzard2010@dcmetrochurch.org

Serving others was the theme of Jesus’ last two illustrated messages… in fact, we are most like Jesus when we serve…

Click below for more information on a key “Choice that Awakens Life!”

Be The Church Tomorrow!

Go God and Go DC Metro Church,

Pastor David

http://www.dcmetrochurch.org/blizzard-2010/

PS – Send me your serving testimonies! – Go God!

       I am really excited about our plan to read the Bible together! I encourage you to jump in with us as we read one chapter a day in the New Testament starting with the book of Matthew. If you were not there on Sunday, I encourage you to listen to the podcast and pick up a bookmark with the reading plan this Sunday. We will read two of the gospels and two of the epistles together by Easter! (Remember that the epistles are not the apostles’ wives as 95% of teenagers guessed- they are one of  twenty-one letters written to different churches or individuals found in the New Testament ).  

       I will give you a little background on Matthew since it is our first book. Matthew is one of the four gospels telling the story of the good news of how Jesus came to the earth, what his life was like while He was here, and the purpose of God becoming man to save us. Matthew was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, so he was an eye witness to many of the events he records. The original purpose of the gospel was to present Jesus as the Jewish Messiah sent by God to fulfill Old Testament prophecy. (Did you know there were over 400 prophecies/ predictions in the OT about a coming Messiah and Jesus fulfilled all of them?)  As you are reading, remember God does not want us to just be gaining more information, but He wants to bring transformation! One writer phrased this concept as “Don’t just read the Bible, let the Bible read you!” 

      I encourage you to try the devotional way of reading I mentioned this weekend and have a little time at GOD’s SPA!  I am still praying for each of you in the fast. We are on the home stretch, but keep going strong until the end. If you have a testimony about anything that God has done in your life during the fast, please let me know!

Prayer Point: Please pray for Metro Kids (K-5th grade) and Elevate (6th-12th grade) and their co-directors, David Goochee and Kim Burton. They are doing a great job leading our students into knowing God, so that they can make Him known in their schools, sports, and wherever they go. Some of the greatest revivals have been started by students- get ready DC Metro for a “generation rising up to take their place with selfless faith…I see a new revival” (words from the worship song “Hosanna” we sing on Sundays )

How is the fast going for you? Taryn and I have realized how when we lay down TV and other legitimate pleasures for a time, it clears out distractions and lessens some of the “noise of life”, so that we can know Him better. I heard that T gave a great message last night at DC Sisterhood about our determined purpose being to know God. I am so proud of her! Guys, get pumped that DC Brotherhood is coming soon…

I want you to be encouraged about what God is doing in the fast. We have already heard numerous testimonies about God breaking in and answering prayers. If you are still waiting for your answer, keep pressing into Him! If you have slipped up and broken into the chocolate chip cookies, snuck a quick peak at facebook or indulged in whatever you were fasting in a moment of weakness, just put it behind you, press “delete”, and jump back in. God sees the “yes” in your heart and that is very pleasing to Him.  I have found that fasting is a way to not only express my hunger for God and dependence on Him, but it actually increases my spiritual hunger. Check out this quote by John Piper:

“Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting.”  

Prayer Point: Please join me in praying for DC Metro Babies and Pre-K. My cousin Andee Stroia has recently become the Director, and she is doing an amazing job. Pray for Andee and her leadership team to be able to impart a contagious passion into our young DC Metroers, so that they will walk closely with God all the days of their lives. One of our goals is that they will be the ones waking up their parents on Sunday morning reminding them that it is time to go to church rather than vice versa. Many of our young ones already have this revelation that being in God’s House enjoying Him with others that love Him too is the best place in the world to be!   See you there Sunday!

Did you know that prayer and fasting help release God’s plan for a nation and are tools He uses to bring many people to Himself?

•  Daniel prayed and fasted for the fulfillment of God’s promise to release Israel from captivity to return to their land to rebuild their capital (Daniel 9:1-3, Daniel 10:2-3).

• God answered Nehemiah after he fasted and prayed for God’s promises to his generation to be those that brought physical and spiritual restoration to their capital city (Nehemiah 1:3-11)

• After Cornelius fasted and prayed, his whole house was saved and a door was opened for the Gentiles to be saved (Acts 10:1-4, 30-31).

God has given us a very specific mission to build a God-first culture in the DC Metro area. Prayer and Fasting are two of the most powerful tools He has given us to help build and release His Kingdom. God is doing more in these 21 days than we can even imagine!

Prayer Point: Let’s follow these great men of God and pray for: 

• The spiritual rebuilding of America’s capital city, where God has strategically placed us
•  DC Metro’s role in building a God-first culture in this area
• The salvation of many of the lost in this area! Remember to be praying for those names that you wrote on the wall of the new building.