Gospel Outreach Ministry Update
December 2009 

As we reflect over the past year, we can undoubtedly say that God has been good to us in so many ways. It has been our desire to bring glory to God in everything we do. Certainly, it is all about Him and not about ourselves. He is the Potter and we are only the clay.

As has become our custom, we periodically provide our Internet viewers with a brief summary of how God has blessed us and how He is leading us along the way. This report covers the period from January to December, 2009

This past year, the new covenant church of God continued to have outreach meetings, including meetings in public outdoor areas, nursing homes, etc… as well as in homes and our rented conference room at the local Courtyard by Marriott. 

Our Wednesday meetings are usually held in the saints’ homes, but occasionally we do something different such as make nursing home or hospital visits. These mid-week meetings are times of sharing, testimony and planning while our Sunday meetings are primarily focused on edifying the body of Christ.

We were blessed to have two out-of-State families share with us this past year in their singing ministry. The Troy Beam family was with us and Bro Troy shared the miraculous story of their son Trevor who was in a serious farming equipment accident. The Lord turned this trial into a major blessing and this family is travelling together across the country to share the goodness of God and what He did for little Trevor and the entire family.

The Rice family was also with us on a couple of occasions, once in a quickly organized open air setting at the park. We always appreciate it when they can spend time with us.

Our assembly has become more and more organic in its practice. Our meetings are informal, open and provide an opportunity to edify one another through each member’s gifting and life experiences. It is our desire to get completely away from any religious tradition that hinders the Lord from working with and through us as He would chose. People who have attended our assembly meetings have come away with positive things to say about the experience. The assembly of saints is operating much more like a family, which is the way it is supposed to be as we all are brothers and sisters in Christ.

The exodus from the Institutional church environment to a purely organic setting has not been a quick one. In fact, for many years while we were in the Institutional church environment, we didn’t even know that there was such a thing as an Institutional church! Since there is no Manuel on how to make this transition, we have found ourselves sorting out and reexamining one thing at a time by the Word of God, keeping the good, while discarding the bad and unnecessary. It has taken us years to get to the point to where we are today. Yet we realize that we have a ways to go. Thankfully, the organic church environment has equipped us to openly and honestly discuss things as they come along. The saints have now become settled and established in the Word such that they know how to handle situations in a proper and biblical manner. This in and of itself has been a major breakthrough because in our former days, unfortunately, we were not properly instructed on how to think and reason for ourselves. We were not accustomed to making decisions that affected the whole body because we left those up to “the ministry”. Now, we have come to realize from the Word of God that all of God’s people are ministers and as part of the priesthood of believers, we have found that we all have a part to play. Some members have different gifts than others, some have more discernment, some more understanding or knowledge, but all are equally important in the decision making process. Surprisingly, it has been a pretty smooth transition with only a few minor bumps in the road, and those were early on in the transition process.

We don’t claim to have completely rid ourselves of everything Institutional, but we can say that we are walking in all the light and understanding that has been given us. Further, we have an openness and willingness to follow the Lord wherever He chooses to lead us.

As you can see from our tape list, there is a good distribution of speaking responsibilities from among those who lead group discussions at our assembly meetings. While we have no program or schedule for any of our weekly meetings, nor do we ask or assign people to speak on certain topics or at certain times, the Lord always works out the details in the manner of His choosing, for His glory and for the benefit of the saints. Many times when we gather together, we do not know who will be leading a discussion or if there will be a speaker at all. This practice of leaving things open for the Spirit of God to freely operate was very unnerving for us at first, as we were accustomed to a preplanned and structured church program. But over time, we have come to realize that the church belongs to Christ and as it's Head, He is will capable of operating it in the manner of His choosing. He has never failed to provide us with rich spiritual food and edification. It is amazing what He can do when we take our hands off and give everything over to Him!

Also, you can see from the topics that have been discussed during our meetings, we ride no hobby horses nor do we have any “favorite subjects” that we focus on. The topics discussed in our meetings reflect a diverse set of biblical subjects that are important to the saints’ daily lives. This has allowed for the saints to become well rounded in their understanding and knowledge of the Word. We can safely say that the saints are established in the truth and that it would take a lot to dislodge them from what they have learned and experienced since we began gathering together. We are very thankful for that! We still occasionally drink the necessary milk (even adults drink milk at times), but the meat of the Word has produced an environment that has caused spiritual growth to take place in the lives of the saints.

We have continued to provide PowerPoint presentations this past year. Three presentations were given on a variety of subjects. We have also used film presentations for the purpose of instruction. Most recently, we have included a series of articles on the Book of Revelation that raises some question in areas that need additional research and understanding. We believe that God wants to more fully reveal understanding to us in this area. These articles have produced much discussion and interest, particularly among our Internet audience.

Our youth continue to grow spiritually. In honor of them, we had a Youth Appreciation Day this past summer and the youth continue to be a crucial part of our meetings and activities. For instance, they took part in the recent Christmas Program that we held at the Forrest Glen Heath Care facility, where we have been conducting regular meetings for nearly 3 years. We really appreciate them and often times, they outnumber the adults! With so many dedicated and gifted youth, the future is brought for our assembly. And unlike when we were in the Institutional church, they enjoy coming to meetings and participating in group discussions.

As noted before, since we have implemented the New Testament eldership governing model, we have no salaried staff, nor do we have much infrastructure costs since we rent a conference room and meet in homes. This has freed up financial resources that we have used for charitable purposes. We have purposed to give away more than we spend on ourselves. Many families and causes have benefited from the gratuity of the saints. It is very common for one the saints to become aware of a need and for the whole assembly to jump in and help supply that need. The saints really have a heart to give and help others! God has abundantly met all of our needs and in turn He has enabled us to meet the needs of many others.

Our websites continue to grow. We now have about ¼ of a million hits and we added nearly 500 new files in 2009! We have established many contacts via the internet.

Most importantly, we have been able to spread the good news of the Gospel to many people this past year.  We have done so, not just by our words, but by our personal actions; for truly, faith without works is dead. We have witnessed much fruit from our outreach endeavors, but only eternity will reveal how many lives and hearts the saints have affected through their daily living. This is our real mission and it has become our central focus.

May God bless each and every one of you this next year!

The Gospel Outreach Ministry Team