We're Moving!

We're only one week away from moving to our new location! Everyone at JLM is excited about the direction we're headed and it's awesome to see that we're all on the same page as we move forward with God's vision and purpose for us.
The new location on West Main Street has so much potential and offers us some great opportunities to expand our impact in the community. We've seen good, steady growth and progress over the last year in our current location and it's time to move to the next stage of God's plan. It's always nice to outgrow where you are when you know that God has something bigger and better in store!
We're planning some great events to celebrate the new location and the surge of God's Spirit that we are experiencing together. We'll keep everyone informed and hope to see you there!

There is a Tide - JLM Flood Update

Just wanted to put my thoughts down in writing before life speeds forward and covers the moment and the memory in its dust.
I am so thankful for the great people who are coming together at Joyful Life Ministries. Last night was a perfect and inspiring example! There was such a sense of unity that I felt like we could take on the whole world. And we can! Even the crazy Lego Sculpture Event allowed us to grow together and get a vision of what lies ahead for us :)
I shared my favorite Shakespeare quote with everyone last night: "There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries."
We're experiencing that tide and flood right now at JLM. I'm so glad to see each person sharing in the same vision and moving forward to catch the wave of opportunity and promise that's building for us. The people and events God is putting in the same place at this moment are a great indicator of things to come. I look forward to seeing the spiritual fortune that God has in store.
Dedicated to the Vision for Richmond,

Talking to God

It was great to see everyone at our Word on Life Bible Study Discussion last night! We had a great time discussing prayer and getting into the history of why we do some of the things we do, in prayer and in church services in general. Everyone had excellent comments and really added to the discussion.
Afterwards, it was fun staying later than usual and just talking about relationships. We're really growing as a church family and the relationships we're building when we come together give us something to look forward to each service.

Adventure Church - July 8th - Treasure Hunt

Our most recent Adventure Church, a treasure hunt at the Pinnacles in Berea, was a great success! Thanks to the JLM Adventure Team for their hard work. Eric and Mandi prepared and studied for this event for two months and their preparation was obvious. It was great to see Nikki and Tim at the event. It was also great to see how much fun the Word of God can be when we share it in a creative way. Check out our church myspace site for some funny pictures that illustrate the zany events of the day.

Beyond These Walls

Jesus spent time at the Temple, but more often we find Him on the mountaintop teaching the crowds, somewhere feeding the multitude, or working His way through the press of hurting people that tried to get a glimpse of His face or a touch of His garment. How did Jesus find people with needs? He went beyond the walls and reached out where the people were.
Lately, we've tried to focus more intensely on this ministry of Reaching Out. Our recent "Rock the Block" community event was a success the day of the event as we provided food and fellowship to the neighborhood around our church building. Equally rewarding was the arrival of three new visitors at our Daily 180 Show a few days after Rock the Block. Reaching Out brought people in and we were able to share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ with them. Going beyond the walls of a church building and becoming the Church to the community around us is rewarding and it mirrors the ministry of Jesus.
If you want to help or encourage someone this week, you won't have any trouble finding them. Just go where people are and let God's Spirit increase your sensitivity to the needs around you. God bless you as you reach beyond the walls!

Rock the Block - Success

We fulfilled one of our primary purposes this weekend--we got together and ate lots of food! Just kidding. While we did have a great dinner, the greater accomplishment was our first "Rock the Block" neighborhood cookout/block party. Part of our goal is to Reach Out in our community and Saturday gave us an opportunity to do that. We enjoyed meeting new people, grilling and eating good food, and passing out balloons to the children that attended. Overall, Rock the Block was a great success. We're already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to everyone for your hard work in putting this event together!
You can check out some of the event photos in the "my pics" section of the church myspace page: www.myspace.com/jlmrichmond Just click on the Rock the Block photo album.

It Came a Long Way Baby

In our Wednesday night Word On Life Bible Study we set up a Bible Museum as a tribute and look at what it took to get the Bible into our hands. The story of the Bible's passage through time is an amazing narrative of how God's hand led people in history to get involved in the development and continuation of the great Gospel message. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to men like Gutenberg, Wycliffe, and many others who risked and ultimately gave their lives to get the Bible to the "common" people. Our museum looked at the Bible's development from parchment, papyrus, scrolls, and illuminations to the printed pages of Gutenberg's amazing converted winepress, to the mass availability that exists today. How many Bibles, and translations, do you have in your home?
The summary of our museum? People went through enormous risks and dangers to get the Gospel message to us. Let's not allow their efforts to be in vain for our lives. May we have a renewed love for the Bible and a greater appreciation as we read it each day.