Evangelism Every Day

The Church Jesus Is Building

On Sunday we made an exciting announcement at Compass HB: God has given us a building. Starting in the new year, we will be leasing a 24/7 facility. Lord willing, our first service at 5082 Argosy here in Huntington Beach will be January 11^th at 11:00 AM.

PRAISE GOD FOR ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS SOONER THAN WE EVER EXPECTED AND MORE THAN ALL WE ASKED FOR!

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised us he was going to build his church. And we are witnesses to Jesus keeping this promise at Compass HB. Even before this exciting announcement, Jesus has shown us he can build his church without even needing a building.

Although the church is people and not a building, the practical reality is God’s people need a place to gather together to worship him and hear from his word. From our announcement of planting a church, we have been praying for this place to meet. God began to answer this prayer request by opening a door for us at Marina High School. From meeting with people at the school, to the school district office to the city hall of Huntington Beach, there were many doors that God had to open for us. Perhaps the biggest step along the way was how God gave us approval from the city for a Conditional Use Permit the very week of our first service on September 7^th! Talk about perfect timing!

BUT THIS WAS JUST THE BEGINNING OF GOD’S GOODNESS TO US!

Just because we have a place to meet in the amphitheater at Marina High School doesn’t mean we have stopped having needs. We need to set up and tear down every week. What will we do if it rains? What about the Sundays where we cannot meet at Marina because they have a school activity? It seems there are always more needs, but God keeps meeting every one of them!

 

#1. God has provided people to set up and tear down every single Sunday.

There is a lot of work to be done at Marina just so we can have a service. We need to set up our stage, our ez-ups (AKA our roof) and all of our tech equipment outside. This doesn’t even count our three Kids Ministry classrooms inside. Yet, God has put it on the hearts of his people to serve. Every Sunday we gather to pray before the service and God us gotten us ready once again. Then God provides people to serve by tearing it down when we are done!

#2. God has provided another room so we can move our service inside.

Since we meet outside in the amphitheater (or Bowl as it is known here in HB) many people have asked what we are going to do if it rains. God answered that question our first Sunday by providing another room we could use on campus. One Sunday when there were gusts of wind up to 40 miles per hour we could not set up the ez-ups (AKA raising the roof). So we moved the Kids Ministry into this bonus room and moved our main service inside. Plan B was an A+! Some people even preferred meeting inside, enjoying luxuries like chairs with backs and even air conditioning! How good is God? He provides for us two places to do church in one location!

#3. God has provided another venue for us to meet at the movie theater!

Ever since we started at Marina High School they told us they already had an activity scheduled on December 7^th. So God opened up the door for us to meet at the movie theater down the street. Bella Terra had never had a church meet there before. Most of us had never done church at a movie theater! God worked it out beautifully! Bella Terra already told us they were excited to have us back on Christmas Eve at 5:00 PM! How awesome is it that on the Sunday we cannot meet at Marina High School, God not only provides another place for us to meet at the movie theater, but that is also the day we announce he has given us a building where can assemble in the new year?!

We only have four more weeks of service at Marina High school!

I will not forget God’s goodness to provide a place for us every step of the way. Even though we have not had a space to call our own he has built up a church of 250 people. Because of God’s faithfulness to us these past 14 weeks, I am even more confident in his goodness to come in the future!

LET’S PRAY JESUS WILL USE THIS NEW BUILDING TO CONTINUE BUILDING HIS CHURCH!

Many people have told me they will come to our church when we get a building. Well, on January 11^th they will have their chance. God has opened our biggest door yet with this building. Let’s pray he will draw more people to come and hear the gospel of Jesus. This is the real foundation he is building his church on: the revelation that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

I am sure there will be many more needs we will have in this new space. There will be financial needs with the higher rent. There will be physical needs as there is a lot in this building to fix and keep clean. But if God has been so good to meet our every need so far, how could we doubt him now? Let’s keep praying he will provide everything we need in this new place for us! After all, look at how he has answered these prayers so far!

Please pray specifically for our first service on January 11^th at 11:00 AM.

With all that Jesus has done so far to build our church, I think it will be appropriate to preach on the following passage:

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ~Matthew 16:17-18