Ok so over the past year we have prepared in every aspect for the beginning of this launch. However, we learned quickly that it doesn’t matter what plans you have, because when God is in control and His timing is all that matters. We had every intention of launching come September, with preview services preceding it beginning three months prior to launch, but God had other plans. As many of you know we had a number of setbacks with the location in which God worked out in His TIMING. Due to this situation we found ourselves launching in a period of time that is not necessarily know for planting a church; considering it is the end of the year and not typically the time people are looking to start or change something in their life. 

There are a number of different ways to launch a church as a matter of fact the books on this issue are growing in number on a daily basis and if you talk to any church planter they all seem to point you in the direction they went. We followed the model of having previews and launching as large as you possibly can, and this is a great model that has been used effectively by a number of different churches. Yet in the process of following this model we found a few flaws that we were unsure of so we still continued the path we were on, while the whole time in the back of my mind searching about the way it should be done. 

During this process one of the flaws I had noticed as well as others on the team was brought out to us when we were challenged at Elevation Church in Charlotte. While I am in no way bashing this model of church planting the question that kept looming and that was asked is this: What happens when all the “well wishers” are gone and the real numbers show the next week? Which in my opinion is a good question. In other words, what if you have 250 at launch day if only 70 return the next week? Will it hurt you or help you?  Which the goal of this model is not only to launch large but in the process of previews and the large launch you add people that buy into the vision and help you further. I understood the principle, I was just unsure if people could get over such a big difference of numbers. When you launch large it includes a number of friends and family and people from other churches that come and help inflate you numbers to make it full as possibly can be, thus showing people that are visiting that something good is going on. 

Originally we had every intention of making a big push for all of our family and friends to show up but God in is His infinite timing helped us out, because by pushing our dates further and further back it virtually eliminated those that had planned to make the trip, not that we didn’t want everyone to celebrate with us, but we were unsure of what it would look like the next week. After the trip to Charlotte we didn’t make a big push and as a result just a few close family members showed up, and the cool thing is it didn’t over inflate our number thus we have maintained an average of just over 75 people on a weekly basis, but as I stated in previous posts it also caused us to focus on the fact that 18 people have made a commitment to Christ during that time, and that is the sole reason we are here as our vision is “To help people become fully committed to Christ”. God is so awesome, and I look forward to the many more life changes to come as we continue to grow in Him and through Him. Thanks to all who have made this possibly through prayer, finances, and love shown during this time, you have a part in what God is doing right here in Little Elm, Texas. Look out devil God is just getting started here with The Crossing and we can’t wait to see what all He has in store. Matthew 16:18 … upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.