It is crazy to think that the next time I send out a monthly update to our prayer team it will be a report on how our launch Sunday went! It seems like yesterday It was January and September felt forever away. Now, here we are in August just a little over 30 days from the initial service for Ascent. I want to thank those of you who have been on this prayer journey from the very start when I sent out the first update in January. I am also thankful for all of you who have joined along the way, it has been such a blessing to meet so many new people as a result of this journey. Here is the August edition of praise reports and prayer requests. Praise Reports1. A growing and dedicated launch team. We have around 58 adults who have committed to helping us start Ascent. I could have never imagined that we would have this many people excited to help us start a life-giving church. I am excited to see how many others will join us over the next 30 days and after we launch services in September. 2. A solid set of launch team meetings. We have had seven launch team meetings so far and all of them have been great! While we have 58 adults on the team, they don’t always show up at the same time due to scheduling conflicts and the craziness of summer. We expected this, even so the lowest attended meeting we have had was 21 adults. It has been a great time of growth and community for us as a team. It has been a blessing to see new friendships formed because of Ascent. Prayer Requests1. Please pray for my time management. As launch approaches at the speed of light my tasks list seems to be growing at an exponential rate. I am in the middle of writing policies and procedures, contacting insurance companies, writing kids material, preparing for my first sermon, building a worship team, purchasing signage and equipment, writing content for the launch team meetings, executing launch team meetings, managing schedules, working with our event location among other things like being a pastor, a husband, and most importantly a Christ follower. Please pray that God would give me wisdom in knowing what is important and what should wait until after we launch. I also ask that you would pray for people to have understanding. I won't be able to answer every request or be the caring pastor I want to be in this season, so that we can adequately start a church that will pastor people well for years and decades to come. Would you pray that people wouldn’t take offense to anything I might overlook right now? I also want to thank you for your patience with me. I have written a handwritten thank-you to everyone who has given towards Ascent so far, because your generosity really means the world to me. However, I haven’t been able to keep up with the thank-you’s lately as more and more of you invest into Ascent, please know that by no means does that mean I am less grateful, because I am very thankful! I just haven’t had the time necessary to show my gratitude like I feel you all deserve. I am so grateful for you and please know that even when I don’t show it, you all mean so much to us! 2. Pray for our finances. Thanks to your generosity we are looking very good financially as far as our pre-launch expenses go, but we are still looking for monthly support. We look great up to September, but after launch our financial forecast isn’t as promising yet. We truly need more consistent monthly support to sustain our ongoing ministry post launch. I don’t say that as a beggar, because I am not afraid - I know God will take care of us. But, I also know that God takes care of us through His people and I wanted to be transparent with you so that I might invite you to partake in the joy of this ministry with us. Would you pray and ask God if He might be calling you to give monthly toward Ascent or make a one-time contribution? I am so grateful for those of you who have already given generously towards the launch of Ascent! You can give online here: myascent.churchcenter.com Or mail a check/cash to this address: 205826 East County Road 49, Sharon, OK 73857 3. Pray for our launch. I probably won’t send another prayer team update until after September 15th, so please be in prayer over our launch sunday. Specifically pray for the following: That our leaders feel equipped and encouraged, that we have more than enough Dream Teamers serving, that we prepare adequately in the areas of children's ministry and hospitality, that our setup is easy, that my sermon is Spirit led, that over 300 people attend and most importantly, that Jesus would save many from the kingdom of death and raise them to new life through faith in His Gospel! Thank YouThank you so much for your generosity. Your generosity with kind words, time, prayers and financial support. I am so proud to be a part of this with you! As always, I’d be honored to pray over any request you might have. Please let me know how I can be praying for you by emailing me at pastorblakefarley@gmail.com
If you’d like to read prayer reports from previous months you can do so by clicking, here. Until next time, Blake
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