New Facility Grand Opening Celebration

Grand Opening Celebration! 

Date April 18

Time 2:00-3:00pm

Plan to join us as we celebrate all Jesus has done through the body of LifePoint Church. There will be a short ceremony at 2:15pm that will conclude with a prayer of dedication. Afterward the building will be open to tour and finger foods and snacks will be served.

Ebenezer – Our Stone of Help

 Today we celebrate both Palm Sunday and our first service in our new facility. Pastor Lane clarifies the role our new facility will play as we move forward on mission. In 1st Samuel 4-7 3 stones teach us how to rightly respond in worship and obedience to God. The 1st 2 show wrong ways and the third the right way to respond to Him in true worship of the heart. Listen to Ebenezer – Our Stone of Help" now…

City on a Hill December Update

What an incredible fall for LifePoint Church! The Lord continues to bless and move among his people in mighty ways. Fall 2008 will be known as a strategic marker in vision and development of LifePoint Church. I don’t know that I have ever personally worked longer, harder, or more comprehensively for a season in the church. While preparations were made before 2008, our labor began in the spring to prepare for our City on a Hill campaign. This has been a defining season in uniting our people around vision, praying unto the Lord and seeking his will, trusting in the Lord as he leads, and following the Lord in his plan.

The initial steps toward the re-location of LifePoint is underway. In November, we interviewed and selected a general contractor to lead the project. Larry Snyder Construction Company was chosen to lead the project, and they will work alongside Bob Stockdale and his team at Creative Ink Architects to design a building that maximizes our facility based on budget and ministry requirements. This work will take the remainder of this year and into early 2009. Once the “footprint” of the building is established, plans can be finalized and dirt work to prepare the site can begin. Due to the nature of our land, this could be a large project. It has been speculated that there may be rock on our land. <insert pastoral sarcastic tone /> The first clue was the big rock sticking out of the front.

Once excavation is complete, construction can begin. Construction is projected to begin mid-February. The projected timeline for construction is about nine months. This means that we could be moving into our new facility by December 2009. WOW! What has seemed like forever away now seems to be incredibly close! Obviously there are many unknown variables that can influence this timeline.

We will continue to do periodic updates as new information becomes available. Stay connected to www.lifepointozark.com for more info. In the meantime, prayer for these projects points:

• General Contractor: Pray for favor on their behalf as they coordinate the project among hundreds of people.
• Architects: Pray for the plans as they continue to draw a building that maximizes space for mission.
• Weather: Winter in Missouri. Need I say more?
• Budget and Finances: Pray that in this process LifePoint is able to get a premium facility for ministry and mission that represents faithful stewardship unto the glory of God!

For today, let us continue to pray and seek the Lord in all ways. Let us labor for the gospel as the Lord gives us favor with people and influence for his kingdom purpose. Love your neighbor and share the love of Christ with them. Pray that God will continue to pour out his blessings on LifePoint in the days to come. This is certainly not the most stable of times to be engaging in a project of this nature. But among the circumstances of uncertainty God is orchestrating the plan of his will for his glory. Nothing could be more solid. Encourage one another with the grace and love of Jesus!

Yearn, Yield, Yes: You Are God’s Plan for City on a Hill

What does it mean to yearn for God? As fellow citizens in this city on a hill, we are challenged to understand that God’s plan is to use us to build it. Listen now…

Trust: The Power of City on a Hill

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” In this sermon, we consider ‘trust’ as an active verb and ‘lean’ as a passive verb, and we are challenged to express our trust in God by giving of our treasures. Listen now…

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Incarnational: The Strategy of City on a Hill

Why do you love the city in which you live? This week, we study Jeremiah 29 and read a letter the prophet wrote to the exiles in Babylon. Like them, we know our city is not our permanent home; however, God has plans for us while we remain here. Listen now…

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What Is God Doing Through a City on a Hill?

The question of “What does God want to do through LifePoint?” has resonated in me for years. It didn’t begin this fall, nor in the summer leading up to. This question has been a dominant point of meditation since God birthed a vision within me to plant LifePoint. It actually began as “What is God doing/wanting to do in the world?” Among all the verses of mission in the Scriptures, I am drawn to Ephesians 3:7-13, which teaches a larger perspective of all that God is doing joined with a specific understanding of the Church and personal ministry. The “plan” of God is to reveal his manifold wisdom through the Church. The work of LifePoint is very real in the present but bears the priority and impact of all eternity. While this was not the first question I asked, it is the specific application for LifePoint of the eternal purpose in the heart of God. LifePoint’s City on a Hill campaign is a continuation of defining what God has been doing from the very beginning.

“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes” (Is. 54:2). The prophet speaks to God’s children and says, “Prepare to be enlarged with more people.” It is God’s plan to ransom people from the city that is (earth), redeem them for the city that shall be (heaven), and strategically utilize in the city on a hill (local church). Two specific acts direct what LifePoint must do in order to prepare for God’s blessing: strengthen our membership and expand our mission.

I will elaborate in more detail what each of these mean in the weeks to come. But for now understand that what LifePoint has begun by following God in faith is a path of experiencing God as he uses us for his divine, ordained purpose as a local church. It is humbling to entertain the thought, yet simultaneously obedient to know, that God is revealing his manifold wisdom through LifePoint. While his purposes are eternal, his work is intimately practical. God has not given us the commission to “go and make disciples of all peoples” without also ordering our steps to follow him and empowering our work by faith to accomplish his will.

I invite you…join LifePoint in this work. I challenge you to embrace the vision and allow it to resonate deep within you as God leads, Jesus saves, and the Spirit empowers. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5.14). God said let there be light and there was. Now he’s setting it on a hill to do its work. Get ready to be seen.

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Come: The Invitation of City on a Hill

We are all thirsty. In Isaiah 55, we learn that water, milk, and wine not only meet physical needs but represent God’s grace, goodness, and generosity to us. God is inviting us to experience all three. Listen now…

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Preparing for the Move of God

Even when we remember all the good God has done for us, we can quickly lose sight of that when we see the troubles that lie ahead. As we study Numbers 13 and 14, Pastor Lane calls the people of LifePoint to remember God’s goodness and to pray during the City on a Hill campaign. Listen now…

City on a Hill—A Call to Pray

One question we will surely hear over the next several weeks is “What is City on a Hill?” Each week we will communicate more information in answering this question. Let me begin by simply saying this, City on a Hill is a vision for LifePoint Church to become an ever-increasing influence for the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord has prepared the way and is now leading LifePoint to follow him and build a city on a hill.

For today, we must recognize City on a Hill as a campaign to take the first step in following the Lord’s leading as we pray together so God can shape us to his will and use us, unite together so Holy Spirit can empower lead each person, and commit together so the Lord can reveal his will for how each person will participate in this vision. Every true movement of God begins in prayer. Join us and pray for…

• Unity among the people of LifePoint. Each person must be surrendered listen to and follow God’s Spirit as he moves among LifePoint (Psalm 133; 1 Peter 3:8).
• Guard against attacks form the Evil One. Guard your mind (Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:4-8). Guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23). Guard your way of life (1 Timothy 6:11-12).
• People will make a deepening connection with Christ and LifePoint (Hebrews 13:1-19).
• Spiritual growth for each person and for LifePoint as a church (1 Peter 2:1-3; Ephesians 2:19-22).
• Favor with people for missional advancement (Colossians 4:5-6).

As we pray together, the Lord will work in each heart that is surrendered to him and bring forth the purpose that he has ordained for LifePoint. There will be a time for each person to consider and commit to a financial pledge. There will be a time for each person to gather and bring their offering to the Lord. There will be a time for LifePoint to consider and count the costs in order to be faithful stewards of God’s entrustment to us. Today is not that day. Now is the time to pray and prepare for God’s move among LifePoint. Let us bow before him in humility and surrender. If you were unable to be present with LifePoint on Sunday, September 7, listen to the sermon here and let the Lord begin to prepare your heart.

Let LifePoint delight ourselves in the Lord, so he might delight in LifePoint.

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