Orbit Church – Holy Week Newsletter
Palm Sunday always catches me off guard because of the amount of prep we put into Easter services. But Palm Sunday is a steady reminder that my expectations are almost always different than God’s will. Like many of you have heard me say, some things are ABOVE MY PAY GRADE.
That’s what we have found so far now that we’ve moved to AZ. Read to the end to see our most exciting news! Enjoy this Holy Week Newsletter!
So we arrived at 21385 W Terri Lee Dr., Buckeye, AZ 85396 on February 27, 2023 (I know, quite the mouthful 😂).
One thing you should know about the West Valley of Phoenix is that only 10% of people claim to be religious over here. We have found that to be true as we rarely encounter anyone who is currently attending a church! It’s strange though…people are extremely open to the Gospel even though Jesus has been heavily sidelined here in the Valley.
One of many things I can tell you is that God had primed the pump for our neighbors. Our next door neighbors (who hadn’t attended church since before COVID) joined us for church on our first Sunday here (and almost every Sunday since).
Stories, stories, stories...I've got so many already, but most are still unfolding. If I were to tell you about every conversation, interest in our launch team and potential win in our future, you'd get bored and I'd look dumb at some point. Let it suffice to tell you this: God is working big time. Come check it out for yourself this year!
What’s this about Rock Point Church?
You will see a lot about Rock Point Church over the coming months, so let me update you!
Remember one of our partners, Vision Arizona? Well, every church planting network has coaches. Rock Point and its lead pastor Bill Bush have taken on the coaching task for us! Rock Point launched in the early 2000s and is now running a regular attendance of close to 6,000 on the weekends. They know the Valley and how to grow here, so we are excited to be able to learn from them as we begin our launch process!
Pastor Bill has a heart for church planting. He has a vision to send people from Rock Point and share their resources to help other churches launch in the Valley. Here is one small example of how this plays out: After I spoke to their 150-person staff about Orbit Church, their creative video producer came to me and said, “If you guys need creative video content, just let me know. We are here for you.” [Hint: They have nicer cameras than we do 😂😂].
All I’m saying is that it’s an amazing gift from God to have access to expertise and resources of a 6,000 person church while Orbit Church is in its infancy stage.
Karezz & Maggie Goggins
CRAZY STORY!
I received a text on January 21 at 11:06PM. It had been a really long and difficult day. I remember thinking just an hour prior to the Facebook message, “God, are you going to send me anyone willing to raise funds to come on staff?” Some of the young adults from my young adults small group in Joplin, MO were at my house and I was sitting on the couch with that depressed look I sometimes get 😅. [You may not know this, but while I am extremely confident in the calling that God has given us to plant this church in Buckeye, I am also extremely human and prone to wonder about my own ability to accomplish this very calling.]
To summarize, Karezz had followed me on Facebook at some point, saw the vision video we shared in August of 2022 (here is the video for those who need a refresher) and sat on it for almost 6 months. He and his wife Maggie had watched it multiple times, checked out our website, Youtube and all the other creeper stuff prior to sending me this message. All I can say is that it was about as tactful as a random Facebook message can be. He has been a worship and production lead for several years and wanted to explore whether he and Maggie were called to join the launch team. After several weeks of interviews, reference checks, vision casting and discernment, they felt called and we felt led to invite them to be a part of the Orbit Church staff.
How cool is God that He would time it this way?!
In order for Karezz to join the Orbit Church team, they will need to raise $225,000. As soon as they began privately sharing, two donors were kind enough to commit to total of $800/month, so they still need to raise around $5,500 in monthly commitments to get out here by the beginning of June!
If you feel led to support Karezz and Maggie monthly or with a one-time gift, please use the link below.
FUNDING THE VISION?
Facts:
You all have graciously given over $125,000 already.
We are cash flow positive with monthly recurring gifts totaling $10,239.
Goals:
We could launch in January 2024 if we were able to secure an additional 5k in monthly commitments. Would you prayerfully consider fulfilling one of the following monthly gift categories?
15 people to give $100/mo
6 people to give $250/mo
2 people to give $500/mo
1 person to give $1,000/mo
