Let's Use This Facility

Good Morning Surprise Christian Church,

I hope you have had a wonderful week. I have been praying for Lord to guide our steps as a church moving into this new season. Tomorrow is the last day that we will be on our "studio tour" as we move to filming for Sunday's in our new facility. We are going to walk step by step, faithfully and prayerfully, as we work to a full return as a church gathering. There have been several roadblocks in the way, and a number of delays. It can be a frustrating process moving into a new building, but I believe the Lord is teaching me and us to trust His ways and be patient. For whatever reason, God has prevented our meeting over the past few months. My efforts to get us into other meeting locations, from meeting in another church or maneuvering around the school, have failed. Moving into the building has felt like a slow crawl instead of a full sprint, and I imagine will continue to do so. Yet, God has been faithful, opening door after door as we have gone through this process.

I miss our church gathering! My weekly fasts have been, in many ways, a time of mourning as I miss the church and I know that God has commanded us to meet. So the question arises, why the delays? Why the roadblocks? As I was praying over the Psalms this morning, I came across Psalm 37. The Lord spoke directly to my heart this morning as the Psalm says starting in verse 3: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!" The context of this passage tells us that David is writing to the people of Israel when He says "dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness." We can certainly draw from their example here as they so often failed to wait for the Lord. Just think of the golden calf incident at Mount Sinai! 

So many times the people of Israel were simply unwilling to wait for the Lord to act and so they acted themselves. We cannot make that same mistake church. This season is challenging. Yet, I believe God's timing is perfect. Right as America is about to face one of it's most difficult seasons, battling COVID, racial issues reaching a boiling point, and a very divisive election about to take place, we are beginning to return as a church. God protected us from the upswing in COVID here in AZ, and He has slowed myself, Pastor Brian, and Pastor Brad down enough to rethink some of the ways we lead the church. We are entering an uncertain but exciting new season! The time is now to stand for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not just with our words but with our actions. The time is now to stop making excuses and compromises. The time is now to stop allowing our politics and traditions rule over our lives instead of Jesus. The time is now to break free from addiction and sinful habits. The time is now to stand in the culture, unafraid of the testimony of Jesus. The time is now to help fulfill the Great Commission in Surprise.

Let's band together as a church, let's use this new facility as a training ground, to be ready to go to war. Not against others, but against the devil. Against his hold on our lives, against demonic influence in our community, against the schemes and plots he undergoes to breakdown our homes and our cities. We go not armed with hatred or with anger, but with love and the mercy of Jesus, armed with the Good News that Jesus is King. We go not to tear down but to build up. We go not to hurt but to heal. I want this building to be a beacon of light, a place where people come to learn about King Jesus, to be served and loved by His people, and to be commissioned to go do the same for others. By God's Grace and on His timing, let's use this facility!

SOME UPDATES:

We are beginning to meet again! This will be a slow process because the building isn't built yet. There is a lot of work that needs to be done!

First, if you signed up for the building construction team, there is a bit of a delay right now. I was hoping we could start demo on the 1st but in my conversations with the city, that won't be the case for now. We had to get an architect involved, which we were under the impression initially that we wouldn't have to do that (one of the road blocks I was speaking of). The architect and his engineers will be at the building on the 2nd, and will work on finishing up the drawings and getting them into the city so we can start demo. This process may take a minute, I apologize! My expectation is that we will be able to begin by the end of the month. 

Secondly, we hit an unexpected roadblock with demo, but that doesn't mean we can't use the building! A few things we are going to begin doing.

1. On Saturday nights, at 5:00 PM we will be filming the sermon for Sunday in the building. The good news is, we are inviting you to join us! Every Wednesday, starting this upcoming Wednesday, we will be releasing tickets via email and on our social media to come attend as we film the sermon. We figured this is a good way to start bringing everyone together again! The reason for the tickets is that we are limiting the number of people to 25 for now. Mainly because the space has a wall running through the center that we aren't able to demo yet and we only have one toilet! As we test it out, we may add some additional space. One last note on this, this won't be a full service like your used to. There will be worship and the sermon, but no communion (I will get to that in a second) or tithe offerings being taken. Nonetheless, we will gather and worship the Lord! I hope that you will come join us on Sat. at 5 on Sep. 5th as we begin meeting again!

2. We will being taking communion as a church Sunday mornings at 8AM at the new facility. I am inviting you out to come join us as we take communion as a body! This has been on my heart since day 1 of live streaming. Communion simply can't happen in a biblical manner without the gathering of the church. I want to invite you to come join us for communion and prayer at the new facility on Sunday, September 6th!

3. Finally, on Thursday's from 3-5, the staff will be at the facility ready to meet with you and do tours of the new building, since you guys haven't been able to see the inside yet. We will breakdown our plans for the new build out with you! come join us Thursday, September 10th!

If you don't have the address to the new facility, it is 16630 W. Greenway Road, Surprise AZ, 85388. We are in the four suites next to the main building that used to be Westside fitness. If you are attending any of these events, please wear a mask in accordance with city guidelines. We will be obedient to our local government as commanded in Scripture, as an act of joyful obedience to the Lord. 

A SERVICE OPPORTUNITY

The city is beginning to put out service opportunities once again. This is an amazing opportunity to get involved in the community in a safe manner. I have attached a flyer to this email/post that details out the info for that event running through the first part of next week. I encourage you to get out and serve our city!

SUPPORT SCC

As we move into this facility, we could use your support! We have many things coming up financially, from the architect, to demo and construction, to filling out the new facility with the needed equipment. As a result, we are asking that you prayerfully consider giving to the Surprise Christian Church building fund. You can give to the fund utilizing pushpay (https://www.surprise.church/giving) by simply selecting the dropdown that says: "Building Fund". You can also sponsor specific items through pushpay by heading to this link: https://my.surprise.church/page/820. We appreciate your support!

IN CLOSING

Be praying that God bless His church. We have an amazing opportunity, pray that God opens the door for the Gospel in Surprise through this new endeavor! I love you all, God bless you and your family. Grace and Peace to you. 

-Pastor Drew Carroll

DOS SMFB SEPT.pdf