LIVING WATER MAGAZINE

Transcription

1 LIVING WATER MAGAZINE VISION 2018

2 Challenge accepted! MARK HIRST, LEAD PASTOR If you want to be my disciples you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me. Jesus (Luke 9:24) The challenge was big 2,000 years ago and it is just as big today. In essence, Jesus is asking, Are you willing to do whatever it takes to follow me? Are you willing to surrender your life? Are you willing to give generously and sacrificially of your time, talent, & treasure? Are you willing to live life in community? Are you willing to share your New Life and invite others to know Jesus? ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. If you are willing, then the promises and upsides are beyond anything we can ask or imagine in both this life and the next. Accepting the challenge will not only transform your life, but will create the invitation for others to find transformation. So what does it look like for a group of Jesus followers to come together to do whatever it takes to lead His church forward in 2018? We have boiled it down to a few foundational principles that begin our understanding of living out our whatever it takes commitment. At Living Water, we call this challenge ownership and each year we invite people to join or renew this commitment to Jesus through our church. Join me in accepting the challenge to do whatever it takes in 2018! Ownership 2018: We are real people, living relevant lives, relentlessly pursuing New Life in Jesus Christ. Together, we will fulfill our vision... WHATEVER IT TAKES! I WILL SERVE LIVING WATER I WILL THRIVE IN COMMUNITY By participating regularly in By engaging in a small talents through serving a worship gathering By investing my time and I WILL GIVE FINANCIALLY By sharing my New Life with By committing to give 10% (tithe) By leading with generosity group and encouraging many and pouring my life and looking for greater ways relationships into one to give By reading Scripture, listening to the Spirit, and praying for our church

3 OUR CODE NEVER GIVE UP BY: DENNIS HARBERT As parents and grandparents, we want the best for our children and grandchildren. We want them to be healthy, happy, and successful. As Christians, we want something even higher and more important for them. We want them to know Jesus, aspire to be like Him and to follow His teachings. We want them to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus. Our family members are our number one discipleship responsibility. We can... love them as God loves them, talk to them about their values and worldview, take them to church and Sunday school, be an example and monitor their activities, screen and evaluate their friends and acquantainces, etc. Our most effective efforts often fall short of our fondest desires. Having done all that we can do, we need to have faith that Jesus will find them. Ultimately, they are His project. He is relentless. He will leave the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep. We have four children. The oldest resisted our best efforts to reach her for Jesus. She is smart, strong, and capable. She is a successful career woman. Why turn to God when you are doing just fine on your own? Then it happened. A crisis beyond her control. What the devil meant for bad, God used for good. We listened and gave her support. We said, Come to our church. You ll find help and support. Low and behold, she did. After coming to Living Water for nine months, she can only be described as a new creation in Christ. She has had a dramatic transformation. She has greater peace, a thankful heart, helps others, prays and obeys, and studies the Word. Transformation is the essence of Jesus ministry. It is the mission of Living Water Church! Parents, never give up. God s Not Done! Baptism is an outward expression of our New Life in Christ. It shows what took place in your heart at the time of salvation; that you... Believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior Share in His death and resurrection, illustrated by going under the water (dead to your old life), then rising again (new life) Are symbolically washed clean, and your sins are forgiven by Christ s death on the cross. Interested in being baptized? Complete the online form at lwchurch.com/baptism or pick up a New Life baptism card at your campus!

4 THRIVING IN COMMUNITY Being a part of a small group is knowing that in your darkest hour, you have someone to call on. In any phase of life, we can t do life alone, but this is especially true in tragedy. Just after Christmas in 2017, Amy Webb tragically lost her father. Death came suddenly, without warning, and left the family feeling broken and in need of community to heal. The way Amy s small group surrounded her made it impossible for her to feel alone. Amy: Since my dad passed away over the holidays, it was very hard to make plans of any kind. We wanted to make this as easy as possible for ourselves and our kids. One of the first phone calls I made was to Pastor Nathan. I told him what happened, asked him to pray for us, and asked if he would perform the service. Then I posted in our small group Facebook page what happened because I knew that we needed all the prayers and support we could get. The power of prayer is so strong! Next, I called my friend from my small group, Melissa Grabill. Even though she was out of town for the holidays, she said to me, I have this... you go be with your family. Don t worry about a thing! That seriously was the only other call I had to make. Our small group took care of everything...they made food and helped with the service. They also called and texted us to see how we were doing. I was so overwhelmed by the support and was so glad to not have to worry about the small stuff. The fact that our small group was willing to do all that for us makes them our second family. I honestly don t know if I could have gotten through those four days without them. Knowing that they put their lives on hold though the holidays for us really meant a lot. I ll never be able to repay them, but that s the thing about small group family... they don t expect to be repaid! If we were not part of a small group, I am not sure we would have been able to give my dad the memorial he deserved. He was an amazing man who meant so much to so many people. That s what we wanted to make sure people remember about him. Thanks to all that our small group and church did, his memorial was beautiful. Losing my dad has been one of the hardest things I have had to go through, but being part of Living Water and this Code of Don t Do Life Alone gives me so much comfort. I know that I am not alone. I have never felt so much love in my life. I love everything about this church and the people in it! If you are not part of a small group, you are truly missing out. It s an easy way to make friends and get connected to people who already have one thing in common: God. It s knowing that in your darkest hour, you have someone to call on. No judgement is passed. Most of all, you never have to do life alone again! Be a part of something that matters. JOIN A SMALL GROUP Being a part of a small group is a great way to empower one another to grow. Together in small group, we thrive by enjoying life, serving others, and becoming disciple-makers. To take the first step in joining a small group, contact: John Grandy, john@lwchurch.com Nathan McWherter, nathan@lwchurch.com NEW LIFE JOURNEY CLASSES A disciple is surrendered to God, continually changed by the Holy Spirit, and empowered to live like Jesus. What s your next step? The new life journey gives you the tools to move forward stronger. Starting point Build a solid foundation for your new life journey DISCOVER Explore your identity and grow in confidence EQUIP Be empowered to make disciples GET MORE INFO AT YOUR CAMPUS, VISIT LWCHURCH.COM/CLASSES

5 SERVE IT CHANGES YOU! Discover how Leah Bullard has been transformed by serving. You Serve in Epic Student Ministry. What is your role? Leah: I am the leader for the 6th grade girls along with Ann Torgler and Savannah Doty. What led you to Epic as a place to give back? Leah: Being raised in the foster care system, I have seen many young girls come and go from detention homes, abusive foster homes, and even rehab. I watched my foster mom struggle and strong arm love into these girls. Even though the fight was hard, once my foster mom broke down those walls, it was like a miracle happening right in front of me. I wanted to follow in her footsteps, I wanted to be a part of changing lives. It then became a back burner in my life but still always lingered. After my family and I started coming to Living Water, these strong desires to work with kids again came barreling full force. I kept saying to myself, No, this isn t the time and besides, Leah, you want to work with foster kids. However, everytime my husband and I got the chance to help foster kids or kids in mentoring programs, something would stand in our way. So, one day after church I simply asked Pastor Mark, Hey, so I am stuck in a rutt and I really want to help kids but my husband and I keep getting shut down or the timing isn t right so what should I do? He told me that Epic needed leaders and they just happened to have a booth set up THAT DAY to sign up and it also happened to be for the 6th grade girls. So I did, and it has been the best decision I have made in a long time. What impact has serving had on your life? Leah: Serving in Epic has impacted my life in many ways. The main one is learning how to pray with and for a complete stranger. My girls mean so much to me but at first I just didn t know how to pray with them or for them. I have always felt uncomfortable praying for people I didn t know for the simple fact, I just didn t know how. It is just awesome how these girls have changed the way I pray. I find myself praying for customers I come into contact with at work, or for people in front of me at the grocery store. I have them to thank for that. Watching one girl pray for another girl s sick grandmother and they never met the grandmother, just really warms my heart. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES? Leah: Since this is my first year, my biggest challenge is learning who all the students are...there are a lot of them! Also, my group of girls are all so different and all have a different story to tell. Some talk all through group and some barely say two words, and that s okay. The last challenge is trying to make them all feel heard and loved. I have never been the best with groups, I communicate better oneon-one. That being said, sometimes it feels like I pay more attention to the more interactive and talkative girls, and it s not intentional at all so being able to check myself and remember there are other girls in the group and they are just as much a part of the discussion and their voices are just as important to me. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO HASN T FOUND A PLACE TO SERVE YET, BUT WOULD LIKE TO? Leah: I go straight from a 10-hour day at work to Epic without seeing my own family because I know those girls depend on me. God depends on ME. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!? Serving in my church was not exactly what I wanted. I wanted to work with foster children, hurting children, addicted children. God gave me something better, he gave me EPIC CHILDREN! So just dive in and take a chance, it may not be what YOU WANT but trust in God and he will give you everything you NEED. If you decide serving in that area isn t the best thing for you, continue praying with an open mind and know, God still loves you and will use you in other ways in our church. Leah was 1 of the 55 who were baptized in START SERVING! To get plugged in, visit lwchurch.com/serve or go to the Info Center on Sunday mornings.

6 BY: MIKE & JANE PETCAVAGE Mike and I were not raised to tithe. As a young married couple we had gotten away from the faith of our childhoods. But, we sought out a new walk with the Lord as young parents. We knew we wanted our boys to grow up with a knowledge of God. We began our personal relationships with Christ in our late 20 s but knew nothing of tithing. One Sunday our pastor preached about it. Well, like most folks our age at the time, we were just getting established in our careers and trying to pay all our bills. We gave a little each week, but not much. Ten percent of our income? How in the world could we do that? Our pastor, a wise old soul, suggested we try giving one percent more than we were currently giving. Well, we could certainly do that! He suggested that in a few weeks try one percent more and a few weeks after that one percent more and so on and so on. He challenged us to see what God would do if we trusted Him with our finances. That sermon did challenge me. I believe now, that the Holy WE CAN T OUT GIVE GOD Spirit was working on me. I was the one writing checks to pay our bills. Mike admits he wasn t as comfortable at first with the challenge, but he agreed to let me give more as long as the bills got paid. Over a period of several months, I kept raising our giving by one percent increments and before you know it we were at 10 percent and didn t miss it! Let me emphasize again. We did not miss it! Little did we know at the time that Malachi 3:10 specifically addresses this test of faith. And today, 30 years later, we are living it out. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so many blessings that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10 As Jane mentioned, we accepted Christ as young parents and were growing in our faith and wanting to set a good Christian example to our young sons. As a child, I remember using small envelopes with a Sunday s date on them to put my offering in before placing it in the collection plate. I wasn t diligent every week in giving which explains why I had a lot of envelopes left over at the end of the year! So as an adult, until that Sunday when we first heard about tithing, my giving was similar to childhood give because it s a good thing to do, not because it was about bringing my first fruits. Looking back when we made the decision to tithe, we weren t just trusting God with our finances. We were being obedient because God always has our best interest in mind! I often think of God as an earthly father and me as a young child. He stands at the pools edge and says, Do you trust me? If so, jump and I will catch you. I won t let harm come to you! Trust me and do what I m asking you to do. To me, tithing is an act of obedience, trusting He will do things greater than I can imagine because of His love for me. Some of you may remember an old hymn that rings eternally true: But we can never prove the delights of His love Until all on the altar we lay; For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows, Are for them who will trust and obey God has blessed our finances and oh so much more! He has taught us the joy of giving. We believe we have been blessed to be a blessing. God has opened the floodgates of heaven and poured out so many blessings that we can never stop praising Him! We are so grateful to a wise and sweet pastor who dared to preach to us God s truth on tithing 30 years ago! Test God in this He will not disappoint! WAYS TO GIVE: In Person by Cash or Check Online at lwchurch.com/give Text $ Amount to

7 NUMBERS HAVE NAMES, NAMES HAVE STORIES, EVERY STORY MATTERS TO GOD. WHAT GOD DID THROUGH US IN BAPTISMS = MASSILLON CAMPUS My first baptism I was not immersed. It felt more like an entrance into a specific denomination then a true baptism. I m making this public statement today being baptized as a true symbol that the old Aaron is dead and I m emerging from the water celebrating my new heart. A child of God. Clean and whole by Jesus blood. Aaron the Brave. -Aaron Raber AVERAGE SUNDAY ATTENDANCE % INCREASE AVERAGE NUMBER OF KIDS (BIRTH-5TH) ON SUNDAYS 168 NEW FAMILY VISITS 389 Adults, Students, & Kids on both campuses NUMBER OF CHILDREN DEDICATED 16

8 CELEBRATE YEAR-END CHRISTMAS GIVE 2017 Our goal was $50,000 to partner with New Destiny Treatment Center as they fight the opioid epidemic. $61,668 INCOME 1,212,469 NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN SMALL GROUPS 359 EXPENSES 1,166,000 NUMBER OF PEOPLE SERVING ON A MINISTRY TEAM 362 GIVEN TO OUTREACH 127,865 We support 7 Outreach Partners around the globe STUDENTS MEALS PACKED AT FMYC 132,000 MEALS PACKED BY EPIC 36,500 SALVATIONS 18 DEBT REMAINING 356,858 Debt reduced in 2017 for the Dalton Campus: $110,396 Students from across the Free Methodist denomination gathered in Colorado to learn, grow, and serve in July One way they served was to pack meals for Feed My Starving Children. Our students packed 36,500 of those meals. All the funds to supply the meals was provided by our 2016 Christmas Give.

9 OUTREACH PARTNERS 10% of what is received goes to great works and missions around the world. Your support makes it possible for the Gospel to spread across our nation, in countries where sharing your faith is not allowed and in places plagued with isolation, brokenness, and poverty. These partners are extremely grateful for your continued prayers and support. WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! Beyond our Outreach Partners, Living Water financially supports each of these incredible organizations: TRANSPORT FOR CHRIST AXIS MINISTRIES AFTER THE STORM GO FORTH MINISTRY MEXICO CHURCH PLANT MINISTRY *To learn more about each of our Outreach Partners, visit the Outreach kiosk in the lobby. THE SEED COMPANY YOUTH WITH A MISSION VIETNAMESE CHURCH PLANT MINISTRY LIFEWATER We won t stop until every child has safe water. lifewater.org ARUNA PROJECT We bring and sustain freedom through employment marked by holistic care to sexually exploited women in India. arunaproject.com THE SEED COMPANY In 2012, Living Water committed to partnering with The Seed Company, an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Our investment supported a team of workers in Mexico to translate the Bible into the Mixteco native language and make the Bible accessible to them. It s time to celebrate! After five years, the people of the Mixteco de Mechoacán communities now have the full new testament in their own language. Through our partnership, 8,500 lives have been impacted! What did they say when they first heard God s Word in their language? Translator Arnuflo said, When we read translated Scripture to them, they say they hear the voice of Christ speaking to them in Mixteco de Mechoacán START YEAR 2017 END YEAR 8,500 PEOPLE IMPACTED NEW DESTINY We are dedicated to being a safe place for people to recover from addiction newdestinytreatmentcenter.com SALVATION ARMY We preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet humans needs without discrimination salvationarmyusa.org

10 2018 BUDGET An overview of the resources needed for Living Water to carry out our God-given calling in This is a unified budget for both the Dalton & Massillon Campuses which includes all of our part-time and full-time staff in their ministry areas. GATHER FOR WORSHIP $240,213 SUNDAY SERVICES & LEADERSHIP IMPACT THE NEXT GENERATION $189,124 $1,228,728 FACILITY & OPERATIONS $452,897 BUILDINGS, I.T., AND COMMUNICATIONS FREE METHODIST CHURCH $75,690 LIVING WATER LEADERSHIP 2018 Leadership Team: Michal Bowers michalaudrey@yahoo.com Mark Carpenter marks. 1@yahoo.com Bryan Hutson bryanjhutson@outlook.com Rodney Lemon lemonrs@live.com Jen Martin tttjmartin@zoominternet.net Matt Near kmnear@yahoo.com John Nussbaum john.nussbaum@gerberfeed.com Alison Sprunger alison.sprunger@gmail.com FULL-TIME: Mark Hirst, Lead Pastor mark@lwchurch.com Nathan McWherter, Massillon Campus Pastor nathan@lwchurch.com Deb Himes, Director of Operations deb@lwchurch.com Phil Haydn, Director of Worship Arts phil@lwchurch.com Jason Boyer, Next Gen Pastor jason@lwchurch.com Janice Kelley, Director of Children s Ministry janice@lwchurch.com Steve Miller, Facilities Coordinator steve@lwchurch.com LW KIDS & EPIC STUDENTS DO LIFE TOGETHER $147,924 ADULT DISCIPLESHIP & CONNECTION LW OUTREACH $122,880 LOCAL, NATIONAL, & INTERNATIONAL DENOMINATIONAL SUPPORT *IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A DETAILED COPY OF THE 2018 BUDGET, PLEASE CONTACT DEB HIMES AT DEB@LWCHURCH.COM. PART-TIME: John Grandy, Discipleship Pastor (D) john@lwchurch.com Ryan Savage, Worship Leader (M) ryan@lwchurch.com Kelly Manley, Children s Ministry Assistant (D) kelly@lwchurch.com Jo Ressler, Student Ministry Assistant (D) jo@lwchurch.com Robin McFarren, Finance Assistant robin@lwchurch.com Jen Doerfler, Communications jen@lwchurch.com VOLUNTEER: Dan Hostetler, Pastor (D) dan@lwchurch.com Debbie Carpenter, Connection Leader (M) debbie@lwchurch.com Nick Haas, Student Ministry Leader (M) nick@lwchurch.com Melissa Grabill, Next Steps Coordinator (M) melissa@lwchurch.com D = Dalton M = Massillon

11 Share Your Story God has a plan for everyone s life. Sharing could be your next step to celebrate what Jesus has done for you or to reach others for Jesus. We want to celebrate with you! Share your story: info@lwchurch.com DALTON CAMPUS 200 N KURZEN RD. MASSILLON CAMPUS 1135 LINCOLN WAY E.