Three's A Charm

Three boxed up doors.

The seemingly never-ending saga for our refrigerator door continues!

Several items remain in the Flood Rebuilding Project here @ CFA (Columbus First Assembly). The replacement for a refrigerator door in our newly updated church kitchen drags on. Let me bring you up to speed...

Over a month ago we received the shipment of our new commercial appliances. One by one they were unpacked and placed in their position in our newly redesigned kitchen space. However, when the large refrigerator was unpacked from its crate an unseemly corner dent appeared. The process was initiated to have the restaurant supply company replace the door. A claim ticked was opened and an order processed.

First door arrives and is unpackaged and guess what...more dents discovered. Back to the drawing board...more calls...more delays...and more waiting.

Second door arrives and is unpackaged and guess what...that's right, at least two more unsightly dents are found. Calls to my supply rep are made...more emails...more calls...and more waiting!

Third door arrived yesterday and is waiting for the repair rep to unpackage and inspect it. What will they find? Will it pass the scrutiny of all eyes involved? Will this mysterious case be solved soon? Guess you'll just have to come back next week to find out the answer. Come on...all you 24ers (TV Show) have to do it each and every week...so what's a little wait! You can do it!

My carpet nightmare is another long distance journey. This grueling marathon has lasted for months and months...I'm ready to hop off this numbing merry-go-round!! In case your memory has failed you, let me refresh it: The final phase of the project (toddler wing, nursery, S.S. office, storage areas, and hallways) received a bad batch of carpet. The carpet backing would not adhere to the carpet glue, causing a bubble-like look across the spaces. The claim for this problem has gotten snagged in commercial red tape...once again delaying the final completion date. I pressed my carpet rep with "pastoral pressure" and declared that this job must be finished before DEDICATION DAY...no if's, and's or but's about it!! Let's GET R DONE!!!

Yesterday they sent a few installers to carpet the new stairs leading to the basement, plus put up the stringer molding and also cove base. Looks a lot better than those wood stairs!

I still have other odds and ends to wrap up before June 7th's DEDICATION SUNDAY, but I can honestly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our regional worship center is really shaping up beautifully and functionally too! This one year long distance run has been one for the CFA History Books. It will record God's faithfulness, man's perserverance, the body of Christ's participation and the church's diligence!! GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

We are praying fervently for a DEBT FREE MIRACLE orchestrated by a Loving God and witnessed by our amazing church. Not sure how God is going to work this miracle out, but that's not my job. My responsibility is to trust Him and lead our members into seeking Him for supernatural provision and blessing. We BELIEVE God! We are waiting upon Him (Isaiah 30:18, LB).

You can join in for this miracle by contributing on our church website. Click the following link to make your secure online donation: CFA's FLOOD FUND.

By the way, I've got a couple of nice aluminum refrigerator doors I won't be needing...although slightly damaged. How about let's auction these off to the highest bidder? Anyone want to make me a good offer?? (Smile : - )

Pressing on to see the Kingdom of God advance right here at home in Columbus, Indiana, as well as moving forward through our missionary partnerships around the world.

Anxious to give God the glory on Sunday, June 7th....DEDICATION and CELEBRATION SUNDAY!

Love to all.

Reclaiming Our Regional Worship Center!

How about a cold drink or delicious cookie?

Getting ready for our 7th Annual Egg Hunt...

Record crowd...

The mad dash begins...

Liz helping out a young egg hunter

Father and son opening up their eggs

Helen faces the library move with a smile!

Library shelves filling up

Church van dropping off riders

Classrooms ready for students!

New cabinets and counter in nursery

Pastor Joel right after the flood...

Now after the reconstruction!

Basement storage receives 8 new shelves. Thanks David Holman!

Another milestone was made this past week as we resurrected our Sunday School program.

That's right...as a result of the flood for over 10 months we had to do without our Sunday School classes. It was painful. It was difficult. However, we just didn't have the classroom space from which to conduct our small group discipleship classes. But that all changed last Sunday when we opened up all 12 of our newly restored classrooms, plus other spaces used for our Christian Education program. SUNDAY, APRIL 19TH WAS A GREAT DAY!

Help me in getting the word out to our CFA family all over the Bartholomew County region. It's time to get up earlier on Sunday mornings and bring the family to Sunday School. In fact, EVERYBODY OUGHT TO GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL! What is the time for Sunday School? Glad you asked...9 am. Come a little earlier and you can enjoy some soft and delicious donuts, plus a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of orange juice. What an awesome way to begin the Lord's Day. I'll see you this Sunday in Sunday School!

Last night we enjoyed our 2nd Wednesday back for mid-week services. The place was buzzing with activity and a crowd of people headed to their respective ministry areas. My class was filled up...in fact, we had to get more chairs. The youth held their Blow-Out Bash service in the fellowship hall. The children were filing into their new classrooms. What a beautiful picture: Everyone was studying God's Word...PRICELESS!

The Dedication Day ministry team met for the first time on Tuesday. Plans and preparations are being laid for the next BIG milestone event in CFA's 57 year history: DEDICATION OF OUR NEWLY RESTORED REGIONAL WORSHIP CENTER! Don't forget the date: Sunday, June 7th @ 10 am!!

There are only about 5 weeks left till Dedication Day. Let me remind you to pray about our DEBT FREE PRAYER that we are asking everyone to pray about. We are faithfully praying that our Great God would graciously provide the funds (about $200,000 remaining) to pay off all costs associated with the flood rebuilding project. If God is nudging you to help us let me direct you to go to our website and make an online donation. Never forget: WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

www.columbusfirstassembly.org

I've left you with some more photos of our recent Egg Hunt outreach event, plus some more photos of our restored facility.

Keep praying. Keep believing. Keep watching. Keep expecting!

Love to all!

Back home again!

It's been another wild, yet energizing week of ministry activity!

First of all, we were busily preparing for our 7th Annual Easter Egg Hunt which was conducted last Saturday. A host of CFA volunteers were organized into a mini-army headed up by our own Shawn Sylvia. Weather was sunny and cool. The crowd grew into a field of faces. Games were newly designed and constructed for plenty of fun and enjoyment by all on our ministry campus. Jumpies and the Bungee Run are always a hit. Plus, the message of the gospel was presented for a little child to receive it. Prizes were awarded to beaming children. Literally thousands of eggs were awaiting anxious little hands and fingers! This event was a huge success...thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the wonderful people of CFA.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day as well. Resurrection Sunday is always awesome and life-filled. How can Easter not be powerful when God triumphs over death and Jesus reigns with victorious life and majesty? We had special ministry guests from Master's Commission in Lafayette joining us for the whole weekend. They did a super job! I preached an Easter message entitled "The Resurrection of Christ Broke the Barrier!" Click on the title to locate it on our website.

Monday and Tuesday nights were engaged in preparing our regional worship center for small group ministry on Wednesday nights and also in our Sunday School classes. Another solid group of workers assisted in setting up all the new spaces that have recently been rebuilt following the flood last year. Ladies were cleaning and putting away boxes and boxes of stored items in the new kitchen. Youth and youth leaders were busy setting up the Refuge Youth Church in our fellowship hall. Children's workers were setting up the new Toddler wing. Teachers were actively arranging furniture in their classrooms. Helen and David initiated the moving process of all our books, tapes, and resources to the new church library (what a ton of books!). It's going to take some time before Helen has it all organized and ready for our regular readers. But all in all...we had a blast gearing up for ministry back on our home base.

Tonight was our first Family Night back home @ CFA. You could hear the same comments echoed time and time again: "Wow, it's great to be back home! Everything is so clean and bright! Rooms and spaces are so functional now!"

"Lord, these past 10 plus months have stretched us far beyond anything we could have ever imagined. But we fully know that your faithfulness, goodness, mercy and provision have led us to where we are today. Without you guiding us we would have been lost and given up back at the beginning. Thank you for leading us through the uncharted waters of this historic Flood of 2008. Lord, our eyes are still upon you! We pray that you would perform the miracle of bringing us to Dedication Day completely DEBT FREE! Let it be an amazing miracle to add to what you have already accomplished. All for your glory and all for your honor. Lord, we love you!"

Much love to all.

We got our C.O.!

Stairs into toddler wing...

...new basement accordion door between classrooms...

...left side of kitchen...you gotta see the other side!

...inside the Sunday School office...

...installing the library shelves...

...hallway by the fellowship hall...

...fellowship hall bathrooms...

...new basement showers...

...new basement bathroom stall...

Today was a day of celebration...we received our Certificate of Occupancy!

This was the day that both inspectors were scheduled to arrive on our ministry campus and review all the work done in rebuilding our regional worship center. First, the fire inspector came and gave us the green light! Next, the building inspector arrived on the scene and got out his magnifying glass (not really that bad!) and toured our spacious facility. Besides documenting a minor list of items for the contractor to complete we were also given the green light! Praise the Lord!!

We will soon initiate the "moving in" festivities. In fact, we've already scheduled two work days next Monday and Tuesday to prepare for our first service back on Wednesday, April 15th! The place is gonna be rocking with excitement. Already you can sense the enthusiasm and adrenaline rush that our CFA family is exhibiting as we approach the date for "reclaiming our spacious regional worship center."

Classrooms must be set up. Teachers and ministry leaders must seize their new ministry spaces. Closets must be assigned. Tables and chairs arranged to accomodate interactive lessons. The church kitchen must be thoroughly cleaned and organized. New appliances must be turned on and tested. The Sunday School office must be reviewed and outfitted. All six bathrooms are set and ready to go! The storage rooms are ready to receive STUFF...you can never have enough storage rooms.

However, we still have one little problem...the carpet upstairs in the hallways, toddler wing, SS office and nursery still must be replaced in about a month. Did I tell you that the backing on the carpet was defective and not sticking to the glue on the concrete? So we can't get too settled with moving in to those areas except for the basic furniture (tables & chairs), etc.

Our church has seen a lot of activity this past week as contractors and sub-contractors have been in and out finishing up the list of items on the master check sheet. We are watching our facilities transformed before our very eyes...day by day...moment by moment.

Plus, we are gearing up for CFA's 7th Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Sunday Service. This will be the year that we go over the top...10,000 plus eggs will be ready for literally hundreds of screaming, ecstatic children on Saturday, April 11th. For more details and online registration forms visit our church website @ www.columbusfirstassembly.org We've grown to become the CITY'S LARGEST EGG HUNT!

Easter Sunday will be awesome. Thrilling worship...amazing human videos...special music...and a powerful Easter message...plus a special surprise (you must be in attendance to see this!)...will take place this coming Sunday.

On Easter Sunday we will be opening up our rebuilt ministry areas for church members and Easter guests alike to tour through. Pictures help (today I'll only post a few!)...but it's nothing like seeing all the spaces and rooms in person.

Let me invite you to join us this coming EASTER WEEKEND! If you live within an hours drive of Columbus, Indiana let me cordially welcome you to Columbus First Assembly. You will love to personally witness what God is building @ 10th and Iowa Streets.

Love to all!