It has been a little over a month since our last post. Although I regret not writing sooner, there was purpose in it. In the last post I stated that some cool things were afoot but we were not sure how God was leading or if He was.

I would like to share now how I believe God might be leading, but also want to make it clear that we need your continued prayers for wisdom and direction. A scripture that God continues to put on my heart is in II Timothy 4:5

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

This past week I met with Derek Lam and Christian Beuggert, our pastors at CityLight, about the possibility of Becky Branderburger and me putting together an Evangelistic team that could serve our community. Because of the growth that we are experiencing in our church that is causing us to move to 2 services in the middle of November, there will be a lot of changes and a lot of demands on our congregation, whether in individual service or just experience itself. Because of that, we want to ease into building this team. After we, as a body, are settled with 2 services, probably looking like the beginning of the new year, we will then make it a church wide option. In the mean time, we will start to build slowly and get our leadership in place and pin down exactly how God would lead us and the training that we want to set up. Training, prayer and direction will be our priority for these first several months.

When I say Training, I want to establish a team that is all on the same page. That we have a good understanding of what the gospel is, God’s calling on our lives, our priorities, heart and mindset, practicalities: how to present the gospel, what direction to take someone and finally how to disciple. We will walk away from this with the knowledge and confidence to share the love of Christ, and to make Him known. And please, also understand that this will not only be for witnessing out on the street but also personally with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and enemies.

When I say Prayer, We want to drown this thing in prayer! We do not know what we are doing and we want to keep it that way. Let God do the leading in all of it. If this is of God, we want to stay out of the way. This will include prayer walks around the neighborhoods, times of fasting and time to just get together and pray with the body.

So, if you have any interest at all, even a smidgen (I like that word), I do not care how scared you are, how little confidence you have or lack of knowledge of the Bible, come talk to Becky and me. Even if you will not be on the team, but just want to know how to share the gospel, come talk to me. If this is something you are not ready for now, but possibly something in the future, that’s cool. Just keep it in mind. If you know of anybody that might be interested but does not get this newsletter, please pass it on and put them in touch with us.

Please, let me know your thoughts and interest in this. We definitely want to hear suggestions and ideas of how, when, where, and what. Again, this is just the beginning stages. Let me know your thoughts.

In Christ,

Jeff Cass
540-467-0452
jefferycass@gmail.com