New Planter Spotlight: Michael Veitz
The Veitz Family
Michael Veitz IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR New River Fellowship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
Growing up, my life was driven by the desire to be "successful" and to gain the approval of man. Whether it was athletics, academics, or relationships, I was motivated to do well so that many would view me as a success. That began to change when I came to understand how Jesus had won the approval of God the Father on my behalf.
Ministry, however, can feed into this idol.
- How many people?
- How many dollars?
- How big of a facility?
These questions have been acceptable measurements of success within American Evangelicalism for some years and can be helpful. But they can wreak havoc on the life of a man who seeks to be viewed by his peers as successful. I have seen God continue to work in my life, freeing me from seeking the approval of man. Instead, he has given me a desire to be faithful to what He has called me to do, knowing that because of Jesus, I am fully accepted by God
How have you seen God working in your family?
God has been working in my family in mighty ways. I see my daughters recruiting their friends to come to church, to believe in Jesus, and they are eager to help me plan for church worship. They have bought into what we are doing because they believe that it is of upmost importance for people to believe in Jesus.
Suzanne and I see God at work in our marriage as we labor together to see God's Kingdom grow in our home and in Fort Lauderdale. God has given us unity in the midst of busyness. He has provided us with peace in the midst of uncertainty and confidence that our God will provide and that we will see Him change lives through our work.
How have you seen God working in your church?
We have see God bring many people who do not go to church to New River Fellowship. One gentleman told Mike's friend, "Mike has taught me more about God than any other person in my life."
Suzanne and I do not take this lightly. God has given us an incredible opportunity to meet and find favor with people who do not know Jesus in Fort Lauderdale. We are asking God to build a church around people who are coming to know Jesus for the first time. We have begun to see God do this. People are coming to faith, others are growing in their faith, and many are getting questions answered. We praise God for His faithfulness.
Church Vision
To make, equip, and send followers of Jesus for the glory of God and the good of Fort Lauderdale, South Florida, and the world.
If you would like to reach out to Michael, you can visit the church's website at www.newriverftl.com.
New Planter Spotlight: Charlie Mitchell
The Mitchell Family
Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Epiphany Church Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
God has been a faithful friend during this season of my life in ministry. The early days of 2017 were very difficult for my family and I as we faced many health issues that threatened to derail our ministry efforts in Baltimore City. In spite of that God has work in our weakness and provided all that we could ask or think. My faith in the Lord has only increased as each day more opportunities to serve and make an impact in Baltimore have come in ways that can only be accounted to God. God is faithful.
How have you seen God working in your family?
My wife and children have always been a priority in my life. But as we faced the realities of church planting and the trials of spiritual warfare I quickly realized that rhythms and patterns we had cultivated in the past were not enough to withstand the pressures of church planting in the inner-city. So we have double-down our efforts to address the spiritual and emotional needs of everyone in our household and reinforce rhythms of rest and renewal so that we can sustain a healthy family while planting.
How have you seen God working in your church?
Our church is a miracle from God. When most people speak of starting a new church they use agricultural language to help people understand the process. For us, we use the language of demolition and construction. In the recent months that we have been on the ground in Baltimore City, God has brought us people who are ready to work and serve iso Baltimore would better reflect the kingdom of God. It has been astounding to watch.
Church Mission
At Epiphany Church, our aim is to be in the community, for the city, showing off the glory of Christ. We do this by cultivating communities of Spirit-led followers of Jesus that enjoy God, engage the city, and reach the world.
If you would like to reach out to Russell, you can visit the church's website at www.epiphanybmore.com.
New Planter Spotlight: Brian Sullivan
The Sullivan Family
Brian Sullivan
BRIAN SULLIVAN IS THE HEAD PASTOR FOR CROSSPOINTE CHURCH JUPITER IN JUPITER, FLORIDA. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
God is growing in me a deeper appreciation and awareness of his faithfulness, which leads to greater contentment in Christ. God is always faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9), so the issue isn't with him, it's with me seeing and believing his faithfulness. So often my heart can drift to worry - about the church, our family, finances, people, etc. - but the gospel reminds me that the power is in Jesus being faithful for me. There have been numerous times over the past year of planting CrossPointe Jupiter that I can reflect on and see God's faithfulness. This reflection has been a healthy practice for me. I often stop and praise him for the ways he has been, is and will be faithful. This discipline has helped cultivate more and more a heart of trust, rest, joy and celebration of Jesus and his faithfulness.
"Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant...but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope." Hebrews 3:5-6
How have you seen God working in your family?
We knew leaving a church community that we helped plant would be challenging. The people of CrossPointe Winter Park loved and cared for us so well. This was the only church our children had ever known. Moving into an area where we didn't have many Christ-centered relationships forced us to lean more heavily into Christ and one another as a family. While planting has had a lot of challenges, it has also been sweet as we have sought to be intentional with our family time, but also with others as we invite them to be a part of the church. My relationship with my wife Corrina has also strengthened as we have gone through this church planting process together. We are one another's biggest cheerleader and encourager through both the celebrations and the struggles.
We are grateful for God's faithfulness to build his church and to bring Christ-centered relationships into our lives to support, encourage and care for our family.
How have you seen God working in your church?
Jesus is faithful to build his church (Matthew 16:18) and he provides. While we have sought to be faithful in what Jesus calls us to - missional living, making disciples, prayer, proclamation of his word and loving others - it has been so impactful to see how Christ has worked and is working. To look at the people who have connected in community, the meaningful friendships he's brought, meeting our financial needs both as a church and personally, places to gather at just the right time -- over and over God has been faithful and provided. This has changed me in that I regularly look back and celebrate what he has done. This gives me great peace in the present as I trust that he will continue to build and provide now. This gets me excited about the future to see how he will continue to build his church as we seek to point this community to Jesus.
Church Mission
The mission of CrossPointe is to point our community to Jesus Christ.
As this happens, we will see our vision of our "community being informed and transformed by the power of the gospel for the glory of God" realized.
As the GOSPEL continues to work in us individually and collectively as a church, we believe that it will radically transform the contours and fabric of our lives individually, communally and culturally.
Our prayer is that we would see people move:
From Suppression to CELEBRATION (Romans 1:18-23)
It is clear from the scriptures that we are not spiritually neutral. We desire to help people move from suppressing God's truth into a full-blown celebration of God’s truth.
From Distraction to CONNECTION (Matthew 13:18-23)
The affluence of our community offers much opportunity for distraction. Connection is about being cut to the heart and repenting of our idolatry - our love of lesser things - and helping people connect their story to God's story.
From Isolation to COMMUNITY (Acts 2:42-47)
Busy schedules coupled with an individualistic culture create a situation that is ripe for isolation. We will seek to live lives in authentic community.
From Consumption to CONTRIBUTION (Mathew 28:18-20)
Perhaps the dominant narrative of our Western culture is one of consumption. However, the true narrative of the Bible tells us that we were made as contributors, as stewards. This has implications on how people utilize their time, talent, and treasure.
If you would like to reach out to Brian, you can visit the church's website at www.cpjupiter.com.
New Planter Spotlight: Josh Floyd
The Floyd Family
Josh Floyd IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Grace Community Church in Lakeland, FLORIDA. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
The biggest way I've seen the Lord working in my life over this past year is in dealing with my idol of performance and looking like I have it all together. I gave a talk on a men's retreat a year ago and it absolutely bombed. It was so bad it actually threw me into the grief cycle. I realized how I was finding my identity in how well I spoke and could deliver a message rather in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross on my behalf. It has been an incredibly humbling yet very blessed journey over the past year drinking deeply more and more from the fountain of grace.
How have you seen God working in your family?
Seeing my wife, Liz, continue to grow in grace has been such a blessing. Being a stay at home mom of four little kids, and keeping the house clean, cooking meals, running kids to school and back, washing and folding all the clothes, hosting launch team meetings and being a supportive church planter wife is a full time, often times thankless and unpaid job! And she does it as unto the Lord! My faith has been increased by watching how she clings to the Lord in everything she does. It has also be great watching my young children grasp the gospel, understand who Jesus is and what he has done for us, and a desire to pray and be in God's word.
How have you seen God working in your church?
We have not launched yet but I have seen God work both in our mother church, Trinity in Lakeland, and in our small launch team that is getting ready to start Grace Community on the north side of Lakeland. People who have been sitting on the sidelines for years in church are wanting to throw in, use their gifts, serve and tithe like never before. People have gone from not knowing the names of their neighbors to befriending them, inviting them to our new church and praying for their salvation. People are coming alive to the biblical implications of living in authentic community like they never have before. People who are de-churched or un-churched are telling us they plan on coming to our church because of the individual and personal invites they are receiving from our launch team. God is so good!
Church Mission
To be a church where people know Jesus through worship and biblical preaching, grow in Jesus through authentic community and personal practices and go with Jesus where he calls us to serve and surrender.
Church Vision
Grace Community Church exists to be a blessing - where we live, work and play - in North Lakeland and beyond all to the glory of God.
We hope to impact our context in North Lakeland by providing a grace-based, gospel-centered PCA church in a city that is predominantly peppered with works-based, legalistic churches that do not preach the gospel (sadly). And North Lakeland does not have a PCA church.
We are trying to reach the lost, those who have been de-churched or un-churched. Success looks like remaining true to the gospel of Jesus Christ as presented in the infallible Scriptures of the OT and NT, befriend and meeting needs of the people in our community who the Lord lays on our hearts and brings to this community of believers, and we prayerfully hope to be self-sustaining in three years. We believe we will be bearing fruit as people are growing in the walk with Christ and more and more people are coming to faith in Jesus, we are growing in numbers and plan on planting a church in 7-10 years. We hope the school in which we are meeting in is blessed by us being there and more and more families come to faith in Jesus through our presence and care to this community. We also pray that our city is blessed by our presence.
If you would like to reach out to Josh, you can visit the church's website at www.gcclakeland.com.
New Planter Spotlight: Russell Jeffares
The Jeffares Family
Russell Jeffares
RUSSELL JEFFARES is the the head pastor for Vintage Grace Church in Orange Park, Florida. We are honored to partner with him and the church community beginning in 2018.
Gospel In Life
Amanda and I both were prodigals who were saved by God's amazing mercy. We both pursued sin and the good news saved us both from disaster; and when we married, I adopted her son Ashton. We now live in radical forgiveness and new position as God's son and daughter. The gospel has been the foundation of our marriage. Our ability to love, forgive, and be transparent has saved our marriage on numerous occasions. Now as church planters, the gospel keeps us from despair in the face of discouragement, able to love others when they do not love in return, and an unflinching hope that our labor in not in vain.
Gospel In Family
We knew that church planting would put heavy pressure on our family. Therefore we decided to be as intentional as possible with our marriage and with our children. In general we decided it was imperative that we both had good, gospel centered coaching. With our marriage we have continued to have regular intentional time together (dates), frequent get-aways (a day or two), and regular marriage counseling (once a month). These measures have kept us gospel-centered, on the same page, and has helped when we've faced difficulties in the plant. With our children, we knew we needed to be just as intentional. Therefore we have made sure that we have intentional, special time with them (outings, trips, kids dates, game nights, movie nights). In addition, we have worked to protect their space. We host a lot, and at first their rooms and belongings were often effected. As a result, we have since made special effort to insure that their space and belongings were protected. In many ways, church planting has helped our marriage and our relationships with our kids. It has forced us to be more intentional and drawn us closer together.
Greatest Impact
We have learned so much in this church planting process. I can only briefly list some here.
- The vital importance of prayer. Planting has forced us to our knees in reliance upon God.
- Carefully defining success. We are called to be faithful and intentional. We cannot change hearts.
- Clinging to the gospel. God's love and approval is paramount to the thoughts, opinions, and expectations of other.
- Never underestimate resistance to the cross.
- Listen to your wife. Bottom line, church planting has continually caused Amanda and me both to rest upon God's love, digging into Scripture, and relying upon our support network.
Church Mission
Vintage Grace is about brining the gospel to the OakLeaf community through engaging worship, authentic relationships, and Bible centered teaching. OakLeaf is a growing community with over 50,000 residents and over 170,000 people within a 15 minute drive. It is one of the fastest growing communities and rated one of the top places to live in Florida. There are few churches in this area attempting to reach people with the good news of Jesus; and there are no Reformed churches in this area. A church is needed to expose people to the love of Jesus, engage them in God-honoring worship, connect them in meaningful relationships, and provide support to their families. In five years we hope to have powerful, gospel-centered worship with more than 200 people, missional communities throughout the different enclaves of OakLeaf, and beginning to plant churches north in the westside of Jacksonville.
Church Vision
We desire to plant a healthy, generous, multiplying church in the OakLeaf because of the great need and lack of churches (particularly gospel-centered, Reformed) on the westside of Jacksonville. We hope to not just plant a single congregation but a church that is ready to plant churches and resource church plants. We believe that God is capable of great things, so we are expecting Him to do great things. A good portion of our initial budgets (after self-sufficiency) will be devoted to funding a church planting apprentice who will be preparing to launch another church further north into the westside of Jacksonville.
If you would like to reach out to Russell, you can visit the church's website at www.vintagegrace.church.