2009 in Review

Well, 2009 has come to a close and all I can say is WOW! The Lord has been so good to us and we are extremely grateful for the birth of Living Hope Church here in Marysville, Ohio.

Living Hope Church launched on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. There were 244 people in attendance on that day…to God be the glory! Since then, our average weekly attendance has grown to over 175 on Sunday mornings with new faces every Sunday.

“Homes of Hope”, our new small group ministry, began in September and was a huge success. Overall, there were 9 small groups that met in Marysville and 3 other surrounding cities. Each “Home of Hope” has an outreach ministry project for which they are responsible. The new semester begins again in January and we are praying and anticipating God for mighty things as we strive to serve and share Christ on our street, in our city, and to the nations.

Living Hope Church just held another membership class and baptism service on December 13th. Eight more signed the covenant and joined the church, as well as six more being baptized! Thus far, we have baptized 26 individuals in 2009! Here are a few quick facts about the progress and growth…

• Average weekly attendance has doubled
• Average weekly tithes and offerings have doubled
• 104 members
• 26 baptized
• 5 new babies born with more on the way in 2010!

Your financial commitment to us is critical, as we are still 50% away from being financially self-supporting. Thank you so much for your faithful and sacrificial support, for without which much of this would not be possible.

Finally, I graduated with my Doctor of Ministry degree from The Billy Graham School of Missions & Evangelism at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. The Lord is good and we are praying and asking God to keep His hand upon us in the days ahead!

Faithfully,
Dr. Jeremy Westbrook

Another Resource

Denny Burk, Dean of Boyce College in Louisville, KY has developed his own personalized plan for reading the Bible in a year. You can click here to download it...

Ready to Read the Bible in a Year?

Here is a helpful link if reading the Bible from cover-to-cover is a goal for you in 2010...just click here. It should be the goal of every believer in Christ!

Sunday and Snow

Well, the first Sunday after Christmas turned out to be an awesome time together as a church family! Two families came forward at the invitation desiring to join and ask more questions. However, there were a lot of our core church membership gone out of town traveling. As a matter of fact, there were 20 families gone...that is a lot of people! There were some visitors and I continued preaching from the book of 1 Corinthians. Today, we looked at Chapter 3 and verses 10-15. The Apostle Paul instructs and exhorts the church at Corinth to be careful how they build on the foundation, which is the Lord Jesus. Scripture teaches us that as believers', we will face a second judgment known as the "Bema" seat of Christ, where we will be rewarded for our good works. Dr. Adrian Rogers rightly said that good works are not the root of salvation, but they are the fruit of salvation. Either we are building with gold, silver, and precious stones or we are building with wood, hay, and stubble that will burn up on that day. May we live our lives from an eternal perspective and not waste it, for one day we will lay those crowns at the feet of Jesus, the only one who deserves anything!!

By the way, the snow continues to fall here in OHIO. A good reminder that our sins are now as white as snow thanks to the Lord Jesus...

The New Birth

This time of year brings out so many truths, emotions, and stories of why Jesus came. It is true that without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity is in vain (1 Corinthians 15). However, if Jesus never came born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and died for the sins of the world, these would be NO reason to celebrate Christmas and Easter. This picture is from 2 Sunday's ago when 6 individuals took their next step in following Christ. I would say that another miracle is that of the New Birth found in John 3 when sinners repent and place their faith and trust in none other than the Lord Jesus Christ!

Time to Study

Here is a graduation pic I took with Dr. Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY a couple of weeks ago. As part of the graduation ceremonies, graduates are invited to the home of Dr. Mohler and allowed to tour his home and library. Needless to say, the studying of the Word of God, literature, and world news ranks high on his priority list. Some may say, well he is the President of a Seminary, so he should. The problem is that Scripture exhorts us in 1 Peter 3:15 to, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." Simply, we must be in the Word to proclaim and spread the Word! You and I should devote our hearts, mind, and time to the study of the Bible daily. I want to encourage you not to waste your time and spend it on eternal matters...

Change Of Plans

Well, the Lord in His wisdom & sovereignty changed a lot of plans yesterday. For the 2nd straight Saturday night in a row, our Worship Pastor, Adam Fisher, called and said he would not be able to be there on Sunday morning. This time, however, it was due to the fact of his wife being in labor! All that said, the special choir and the KIDS choir were not able to perform their Christmas music and we learned some very valuable lessons. First of all, what true worship really is and it should never revolve around one person. The second lesson is that we must all be reproducing ourselves in someone else. The Bible teaches us in 2 Timothy 2:2 that we are to teach and model the Scriptures to others and be making disciples. It still was an awesome day, as to the best of my knowledge around 180 were in attendance, with almost 45 of our regular members out of town traveling for Christmas week! I hope to have baptism pics up by tomorrow...

Press On!

Day of Prayer

Dr. Johnny Hunt, the President of The Southern Baptist Convention, has asked that January 31, 2010 be set aside as a day of prayer. Hunt says, "We live in unprecedented times, with Christian and moral foundations rapidly crumbling before our very eyes. Meanwhile, many Christian churches, which should be a mighty force ready to spread salt and light in this dark world, are prepared. God's glory has been set aside while other things have overshadowed our first love." He goes on to say, "The reputation of SBC churches is akin to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-5. Jesus commended them for doing many things, but called them to repent." May we as the church put feet to our faith and fall on our knees. Remember, Jesus never said if you pray and fast, He said when you pray and fast! Should we have these moments where we stop and commit to praying, or should this be a daily commitment? Leave your comments...

Multi-Site Churches

There is an interesting article in the USA Today concerning multi-site churches. You can click here to read it. Much discussion has been raised revolving the use of one church with many locations. Read and leave a comment, what do you think? Is it right, biblical, or does it even matter?

It Is Finished!

As I write these words, it is hard to imagine that the journey which began in 2006 has now come to an end in 2009. God is faithful and has tremendously blessed us in every possible way. On Friday, December 11th, 2009, I graduated with my Doctor of Ministry degree from The Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. You can watch the ceremony by clicking here.