Thanksgiving gift

Wow! There is bold love at Concordia. Bold love for those who have yet to meet Christ in a personal way.  Sacrificial and selfless love that recognizes that creating environments for that encounter might mean being church and doing church in a new way.  For that love, we are so grateful.  In the middle of this mission launch …. where the way has not been clearly marked out ….. where we keep the vision before us that the goal is communicating Jesus in a way that will mean something to this new community and will stick…. we are delighted for those who have traveled this bumpy road without a road map.  We know that there is transformation in this journey.  We are seeing it, we are living it, we are grateful to the Holy Spirit for that gift of a deep and abiding trust in Him that although we cannot see the road far ahead, we are safe and He will guide us to fulfill the call He has given us — Concordia, little Concordia asked to serve at this time and in this place.  We are grateful for God’s abiding love and mercy.  Here are some words of encouragement written by a member of Concordia in response to something Pastor wrote on his blog about ministry being more like finger painting than painting by the numbers.  With permission I share here:

Well Pastor, you painted a very vivid, very “right on the mark” picture for me when it comes to doing church. I realize and appreciate that there’s a time (NOW) and place for the finger painting type of church. And I’m thankful we have a great team at Condordia that is on board for the “I’m not sure where this is going or where we’ll end up” type of service, as this obviously appeals to a different group than traditional church does. It is our mission to reach these people for God. I get that.
However, I much prefer to paint by number! A place for everything and everything in its place. I know what I’m aiming for, how to get there, no surprises, and a nice, neat path to the predictable end result. Now for another HOWEVER-the end result with this predictable, traditional type of service has not been growth, but rather maintaining the status quo or keeping God for ourselves. That is definitely not what we are called to do. So I need to learn to bend, to be willing to get my hands a little messy by getting comfortable with the unpredictable. In short, I need to loosen up a bit if I want to help the unchurched come to know the Great God I serve. So the question for me becomes, Can I learn to be unselfish enough to go with the flow that enables the unchurched to experience God in a way that is comfortable for them????? And do I love “them” enough to try? Yes, I do. And I want to make the effort. Thanks for helping to clarify that for me.

Continue to pray for those who have been invited, those who will come, for the details of the preparation, for protection and strength for the mission launch team, for EVERYTHING concerning this new mission.

Put these dates on your calendar:  Previews December 13, Jan 10, Jan 31, Feb 14 and the GRAND OPENING LAUNCH, February 21 and pray leading up to, during and after these dates!  Just pray every day……

We have seen how your prayers — faithful prayer partners —- are NECESSARY and CRITICAL!

Concordia Participates in a Neighborhood Holiday Parade at the Otay Ranch Town Center on Saturday to promote the Living Nativity!

The preschool children will tell the timeless story of the birth of Christ.  The Living Nativity will feature a camel, donkey, sheep and there will also be a special petting zoo!  The Concordia ladies are sewing like crazy.  We are thankful for the team leaders Karin Smith and Fran Atwood…..they are excited and are sharing their excitement with everyone they talk to and whenever they talk about the event……I can’t believe their enthusiasm isn’t dapened with the  long hours of cutting and sewing!

Please pray for this event which will be held on Saturday, December 12th and 6pm….. a searchlight will guide people in the neighborhood to the site of the Living Nativity.

Thank you for your prayers for Mary Mason.  She reports today that she is feeling a bit better.  Please pray for treatment options ….

Pray for the upcoming worship preview on December 13.  There is much to prepare and do yet.  Pray for protection, strength and multiplied energies for the mission launch team.

Prayer update….

Thank you prayer partners for your love, support and the important work of intercession!

There have been rumors of offers on the Concordia Oxford property but nothing has come in yet.  Our agent has only a two month contract (it ends this month) so continue to pray for God’s will in this matter.

Mary reports that although it is still a mystery as to what happened to her, she is walking without her walker and says she is getting stronger every day. You can read her blog entry of today HERE.

We had a successful second preview worship and continue to work on  many things that are needed. We had several sound and technology issues so please pray these get resolved. We are continuing to get the word out. Pray these invitations will fall on receptive hearts and ears (those whom the Lord has been preparing….!)

Please pray for our upcoming community event.  A gift to our community.  It is a Living Nativity but with a very unique presentation.  It is the young child’s perspective and expression of the timeless Christmas story…..told in the public square!  Yes, preschoolers will be the principal actors…..can you imagine a preschool Mary riding into “Old Bethlehem” on a donkey (actually a minature horse).  Pray for this event on December 12.  Pray also for our third preview on December 13.  There will also be a live camel, donkey and sheep as well as a petting zoo for the children.

We are sewing our little hearts out making costumes for 50, 60, 70 actors…..we don’t even know the count anymore. It seems every time we turn around it is “20 more angel costumes!”  Check out some photos on our blog  HERE

Please join us in a prayer of thanksgiving as we open another 3 year old classroom!  We are very excited about the fact that our preschool continues to grow.  We may be at capacity by the end of the year.

Thank you once again for your faithful prayer on our behalf.  We are grateful because we know how critical the work of prayer is to everything we do here.

Keep praying…..

No news yet. On Sunday we were holding a Celebration of Life for one of our long time members who now has an address in heaven when a large group of people came on a second visit to our property. This is not the only church group interested in our property. No other news really. Keep praying the Lord’s will be done in this matter.

Pray also for our upcoming second “preview” service. There is so much to complete before then! I am thankful for a good welcome team in place to serve for that day. Pray that we will receive guests with open hearts and open arms grateful God has entrusted us with those who are seeking Him and that they may be lovingly taken another step on their journey, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Pray also for the many other “details” that need to be in place before Sunday, November 8.

Thank you prayer partners!

“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.” 1 Timothy 2 : 1 (the Message)

Pray for the sale of the Concordia Oxford site!

We did a major clean up and our property is clean, green and inviting for the potential buyers for the Concordia Oxford site.  Yesterday we sent out an urgent — “please pray now” — email for prayer.  We have had lots of interest and yesterday there was a big group touring the site.

Thank you for praying.  Continue to pray please!

Your journeying with us and pleading God’s guidance with us and for us in this mission launch in the thousands of details…….is of such comfort. It was so wonderful to get emails back saying: “I’m praying!!!!”

First “Preview” worship experience SURVEY – Thank you!

Thank you for being a part of this first “PREVIEW” worship experience!  Thank you for taking the time to respond to this survey. Your honest feedback helps us improve!

Click HERE and it will take you to the survey!

Great things to pray for this week!

1.  It is exciting to pray for our first “preview” worship service this Sunday at 10:45.  I can’t believe it is October!  Where did the time go?  It was extremely helpful having the focus group run through on September 27.  Our welcome team had a lot of tweeking to do.  We are doing many things differently on Sunday and hopefully it will create a more welcoming environment and help others navigate some new surroundings more easily.  Pastor and the team working on the Sunday morning experience did a great job on the focus group run through weaving drama, music and message throughout for an interactive experience…..one that had something for people of all ages. Pray especially that our efforts to spread the word and invite people from this new community are successful…..that God brings those He has been preparing since eternity those who will know Him through this ministry.

2.  We have been working HARD cleaning our property for a potential buyer for our Oxford site who will visit us early this week.  I hardly recognize the place.  Not only have 3 trash containers been filled with STUFF that had really lost its usefulness, but we painted, spruced up, planted lovely flowers, laid down some red bark that unified the look of the place.  We gave out property a total makeover! Please pray that this property might be just the property this buyer needs for their ministry.  We are delighted at the prospect that the buyer is seeking a church site. Join us in praying mightily for God’s will in this matter!

3.  While you are at it…..pray for our preschool program and our director, Mary Mason.  Pray also for an upcoming community event that began its action team planning meetings today.  On December 12 we are hosting a LIVE NATIVITY presentation at Windingwalk.  Wow!  We have discovered it is expensive to rent animals like a simple donkey and sheep.  Do you know anyone who could let us borrow their donkey and 2 sheep for one night  (anyone you know have a camel?)  Perhaps you would like to make a special gift to make this happen for this community.  The preschool children will participate in the program as their Christmas program and it will be a wonderful event for this new community……not to mention getting the opportunity to tell the story of Christ’s birth and what it means for us today!  If you or your congregation would like to help us in any way, please contact me:  Melissa Salomon at mgsalomon@gmail.com

Help in a Mission Launch Effort….come on Saturday!

I lived along the Mississippi River in the “GREAT FLOOD of ’93.” As the waters were rising, whole communities joined together to put up walls of sandbags. More than that, people from communities in close proximity, but not in immediate danger, also came together to help, because the task was just so huge.

I’ve often wondered what the Church would be like if we pitched in together like that to launch missions; if we joined together where we could, both for things we saw coming and for urgent, immediate, unanticipated things that somehow are part of the mission planting process.

I’ve dreamed, for example, that launch of our newest Lutheran mission in Otay Ranch (southeast Chula Vista) wouldn’t just a mission launch of Concordia, but of the whole region. I’ve pictured short term mission support teams from other area churches who could come together, for a limited time, to help with specific needs for the launch, both for things we saw coming and for urgent and unanticipated needs that somehow are also part of the mission planting process.

We have one of those immediate needs right now, and I’d like to ask you to help. As some of you know, we had sold the Oxford property to help finance a portion of the mission start in Otay Ranch. But when the real estate market, collapsed, the sale fell through. We went ahead anyway, knowing that God had called us to play the major part in planting this new church. We took a leap of faith and took on a $6 million loan, even though we average only 100 people in worship.

We anticipated selling the Oxford property to a developer of residential housing, but just last week, “out of the blue,” a potential buyer emerged to purchase the Oxford property as a church. That’s why the urgent call for help. We need to have the property ready to show the potential buyer by Monday, October 5th. That’s just a little over a week away.

We need to clean it, green it, weed it, organize it, and make it look spacious and inviting, so that someone else can see our space as their space. We have people working hard to get the work done; but we don’t have enough people to get it done quickly enough.

1. If you are willing to pray daily, for the next 60 days, for the sale of this Oxford property, please RSVP to this email: melissa@concordiachurch.com

2. If you can help for an hour or more next Saturday October 3 at Concordia Lutheran Church, 267 E. Oxford Street, Chula Vista, CA 91911 (see map here) beginning at 8a.m. to 3p.m, please RSVP to this email:  melissa@concordiachurch.com  so we can organize tasks efficiently and plan for lunch.

3. If you are not able to come on Saturday, October 3, but could come to help during the week, starting September 28th, RSVP to this email: melissa@concordiachurch.com   and let us know what day and time works or you. 

4. If you would like a tour of the new mission in Otay Ranch next Saturday after you come to work, RSVP to this email:  melissa@concordiachurch.com                       

Will you be part of the dream of helping launch this mission TOGETHER as a REGION? We need you. God needs you. And, I think the region needs you. Because what might happen in our region if our churches started working together in mission?

Thanks for your help and support.

-Pastor Richard Schmidt

Thank you for your prayers

Thank you for praying for our first Concordia Community Music Festival.  What fun we had!

Please pray as we get ready for a focus group to evaluate our FAMJAM worship service next Sunday, the 27th and especially for our upcoming FIRST PREVIEW worship service on October 11!

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Dedication and new video!

We dedicated the new worship center today.  We are so humbled by what God has done here in this place and among us.

Thank you for your prayers.  We still need your prayers for staffing.  Pray also for our upcoming community music festival which will take place Saturday, September 19.

Enjoy this 10 minute video unveiled this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/concordiachurch#play/uploads/0/YMgz6hkYUT4