Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A New Season

Today marks a day that will forever change my life. For the past few months the Lord has truly opened my heart for the city of Huntington Beach. It all started last May. The Lord put a call on my heart to down to main street and begin to pray. So I began to go down there as much as possible. At this point I hadn't told anyone about what God was showing me. One of my friends, Bryan, calls me one day and straight says, "We need to go down to Huntington and pray. The Lord is calling us." I was sooo stoked. Now it was starting to build.

I ended up going away for three months this past summer on a missions trip to Czech Republic but the whole time still felt the pull toward Huntington. When I got back the Lord quickly introduced me to others who had that same calling. All of us knew we needed to be down on main street serving God. It started out with us praying, then standing outside starbucks handing out the gospel of John, and now we just hand out straight Bibles. Everyone who walks by we ask if they would like a free Bible. The ones who stop, we pray over and give them information on how to get connected at Rockharbor. It so amazing how the Lord works down there. The things we have seen and experienced will never be forgotten. But the Lord wasn't finished yet.

A couple months ago, it became clear to all of us that Huntington needed a new church. We had no idea what that was going to look like. With heavy prayer it became clear. We need to start that church. Not a church like anyone has seen before but one completely lead by the Holy Spirit. One that is outward focused, builds up disciples to send out to the nations, teaches the hard things of the Bible that most churches tend to stay away from, and ultimately provide a place for people to feel loved and cared for. It is a place where everyone is welcome, whether homeless or rich. To have community with one another and become a family. All of that begins tonight, Tuesday, February 1st. Our first meeting. Praise the Lord!

 The name of the church is "In His Grace" (cause there's nothing better than being in His grace right?)
919 Georgia street unit 1, huntington beach at 6:30pm Tuesdays

12 comments:

  1. Justin, pretty sweet to see God leading. I remember when Brian first started talking about his burden for HB. Should be interesting to see what God decides to do with your open hearts.

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  2. Wow. This is incredible Justin!! Amazing to see you and your friends taking the initiative to start this journey. I pray that God leads you all and that His will can be accomplished through you.

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  3. YEEEES! This was so amazing to read. I love that God follows through with the specific things His spirit stirs up in His people. This is just the beginning of an even deeper relationship with Him and the life provoking ministry He has called you into. :) WORD!

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  4. This is so encouraging Justin. I love hearing about home churches like this, such a beautiful picture of the early church. I would to come check it out next week. I'll definitely be praying for you guys.

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  5. Dude justin! I did NOT hear about this at lunch today! why not? lol anyways its no big deal, I'm just messin...virtually. That is so cool. You're a Churchplanter! man I gotta hear more about this next time I see you.

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  6. Seriously, Mr. Covert Lunch Operative. I wish I'd read this before we broke bread together. I'd love to hear more.

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  7. Bro, so encouraged by your boldness in following the Spirit's prompting! Radical.
    I'm praying for it!

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  8. Justin, this is so sweet! What an amazing leap of faith you are taking. Such an encouragement to hear your story of praying, seeking, and acting on what God is putting on your heart. Cant wait to hear more and come and check it out!

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  9. "One that is outward focused, builds up disciples to send out to the nations, teaches the hard things of the Bible that most churches tend to stay away from, and ultimately provide a place for people to feel loved and cared for."
    That is the church I want to be apart of.

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