God has prepared a wonderful harvest for us...!

What Is A Dad?

At the funeral today of Dan Abbott, a wonderful man and a charter member of Hillcrest Church, I noticed this poetic tribute to fathers on the service program entitled, "What's A Dad?"

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it...Dad.

Helping NYC Churches Help Hurricane Sandy Victims

Wednesday, October 31st

Dear Antioch Church Family,

Earlier this year, our Pastors and Elders spent several days visiting churches and being mentored by leaders in the greater New York City area, including Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem, the Bronx, and lower Manhattan, along with the New Jersey and Connecticut suburbs. Here is an excerpt from an email I just received from one of them about the conditions in their neighborhood:

70 percent of the people in our city, Jersey City, do not have power. Right now on my block I hear people honking horns and screaming at each other - the streetlights are not working. I'm concerned about the people that are in the housing projects a few blocks from us, I think they might be flooded. Our pastoral staff all have power which is quite a miracle, and our church also has power - many of the people around us don't so that was definitely God. The roof on my house is partially damaged lots shingles missing, and the church roof is damaged from the rains - its a tar roof, water was leaking into the building in a couple of spots during the rain. There has been some looting. Thankfully no one is hurt from the storm or anything else. We have asked the congregation members that have power to take in those that don't temporarily, its in the 40's at night. Convoy of Hope is supposed to be coming but I'm not sure where the resources will be applied, I would like to be able to at least get diapers, milk/formula - I'm concerned for the babies. We kept our daycare open, the parents asked us too so at least their kids would have somewhere warm to be - the schools are all closed.

This is only the second day with no power and people are acting crazy - it's such a shame, but I expect it from non-Christians when they are scared. There's two guys fighting outside right now. Power is supposed to be out for 7 to 10 days, so I'm not sure how people will be acting a few days from now. Hopefully it will happen faster - not sure.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy's devastation, the relationships we established with these pastors and local churches offer us an unusual opportunity to give direct financial assistance to the storm victims in a way that also provides for their ongoing spiritual care.

This Sunday, we will be receiving a special offering for Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief. When you receive this email, I encourage you to pause for a moment and ask God what He would have you give. If you will be unable to attend our worship service, you can also contribute online via our church website by clicking here.

100% of what you designate for this purpose will go to help these congregations meet this need.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call my Administrative Assistant, Lauryn Everett, in our church offices: 972-392-3992 or email her at: leverett@teamantioch.com.

As an Antioch Church, God wants us to meet human needs in His name through radical generosity. Your gift of whatever size will help us do this. Thank you in advance for your giving!

Teresa and I love you and thank God for the privilege of serving you!

Pastor Mark

Syvelle Phillips Funeral Service

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Dear Antioch Church Family,

Yesterday, our dear brother in the Lord, Syvelle Phillips, member of Antioch Church and of our Apostolic Oversight Council, went to be with Jesus.

Visitation will take place this Thursday evening, October 18th from 6-8pm at the Rest Haven Funeral Home at 2500 State Highway 66 East in Rockwall.

The funeral will take place this Friday morning, October 19th, at 11:00am at the Church in the City at 6005 Dalrock Road in Rowlett.

Please join us in praying for his wife, Lovie, and their family.

Pastor Mark

See you tomorrow at "A Family Affair...!"

Saturday, September 29th

Dear Antioch Church Family,

Don't forget our very special Family Affair Worship Service at 10:30am tomorrow morning at the beautiful Room on Main Street. You won’t want to miss this very special moment in God’s presence as our combined English and Hispanic congregations join together in Holy Communion followed by a free catered light meal. 

Located on the 6^th floor of 2030 Main Street close to the Central Expressway - Highway 75, the Room on Main offers views of our cityscape and easy access via automobile, DART rail, or Dallas city bus. We have arranged for free parking for our church family nearby as shown on the map below with detailed directions. Our children’s ministry will provide care for infants and toddlers up to 5 years of age. All other children will join with us in this family-friendly worship experience.

I'll see you in the morning...!

Pastor Mark Brand

Our first service downtown is this Sunday...!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Dear Antioch Church Family,

This Sunday we will take an historic step forward as we celebrate our first worship service downtown at 10:30am in the Dallas Black Dance Theatre at 2700 Flora Street. After months of praying, believing, and preparing, God has opened a door for us to glorify Him and serve others throughout the Metroplex from the very heart of Dallas!

Here is some practical and important information to help you find your way to our new meeting location:

• HOW TO GET THERE - The Dallas Black Dance Theatre is quickly and easily accessible from anywhere in the greater Dallas area by either car or public transportation (See the end of this letter for details).
• TIME - Our English language worship service will begin at 10:30am. Our Spanish language worship service will run concurrently.
• CHILDREN’S MINISTRY WITH PASTOR PATSY – Check-in will begin at 10:00am.
• COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP - We will provide coffee and light refreshments for thirty minutes prior to the start of our worship services.
• FREE PARKING - Plenty of parking available in two separate lots. One is immediately adjacent to the Theatre itself. The other is located one block away at the corner of Ross & Routh Streets.We are expecting a great crowd, so if you want to park in the adjacent lot, I encourage you to come early!

As we enter into this new and exciting phase of our ministry, I want to encourage you to do three things:

• PRAY – Ask and believe God for His special blessing to rest upon our church family as we take this exciting new step forward into our destiny. Pray for the presence of God to fill the Dallas Black Dance Theatre as we gather together and lift up our voices in praise to Him. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give me a fresh, new anointing as I preach God’s Word. Pray for the army of volunteers that will be sacrificially investing their time and giftings in our ministries each week. Though often unnoticed behind the scenes, their work is absolutely vital to everything we do. Pray that souls will be saved and lives transformed in every single service and that God will give great increase to our congregation.
• SERVE – Worshipping in this interim, downtown location will require an enormous amount of set-up and tear-down every Sunday. We are also rolling out brand-new ministries designed to welcome and integrate our first-time guests. Here is the “bottom-line”: WE NEED YOU…! If you have not already found your place of service in our congregation’s ministries or if you are willing to invest additional time in service to the Lord through our church, please contact Pastor David Estrada immediately via email, text, or phone (david.estrada@teamantioch.com or 972-333-2094).
• BRING – God wants to grow our church. He will use you and me to do it as we bring others to our services and ministries. As I have been doing this myself in recent weeks, I have been amazed at the level of interest, even excitement, my words have sparked in the hearts of total strangers. The Holy Spirit is sovereignly at work preparing many, many people’s hearts to respond to a personal invitation to come and check out the new church God is birthing in downtown Dallas. I encourage you to capitalize on this by inviting everyone you can to come with you this weekend.

As I reflect upon all that God has done to position our church family for this moment and all that He is about to do in and through us, my heart is deeply moved. We are called to be a unique, Antioch kind of church…

…one filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit…
…one that loves God’s Word and tries to do everything it says…
…one that cares for the needy and works hard to transform our own community…
…one that sends out missionaries to impact nations around the world…
…one whose ethnic diversity looks like Dallas…

                                                                               …one that looks like heaven…!

As we allow God to use us to raise up this very special kind of spiritual community, we are going to experience the thrill and the privilege of seeing Him help us bring many, many people into a personal, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more fulfilling or more meaningful for any one of our lives.

I am so thankful for the privilege of working together with you to see this vision become a reality. Teresa and I love you and thank God for the privilege of serving you. We believe the very, very best is yet to come…and YOU are going to be a part of it…!

See you this Sunday…!

Pastor Mark Brand

P.S. Tomorrow, Saturday, September 8th, we are holding a special volunteer orientation and training session at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre from 3-6pm. We would love to have you join us if you are not already planning to attend. Email Pastor David Estrada at:david.estrada@teamantioch.com or call him at: (972) 333-2094 to let him know and we will add some additional refreshments just for you.

FINDING OUR NEW LOCATION

By DART Rail

Take any train on any line toward downtown. Get off at the Pearl Street station. The Dallas Black Dance Theatre is 4 ½ blocks away at Ross Avenue and Arts Plaza. If you have problems walking that distance, please contact Pastor David Estrada via email, text, or by phone, and he will arrange for you to picked up at the station.

By DART Bus

City buses #24 and #51 stop immediately adjacent to the property (Get off at theRoss@ArtsPlaza stop).

Bus #24 runs between the Mockingbird and West End DART Rail stations.

Online schedules for both DART Rail and Bus are available at: www.dart.org.

By Car (via US 75/Central Expressway)

Coming south on US 75/Central Expressway, follow the I-45 signs past the Woodall Rogers Freeway and immediately take the Ross Avenue exit (#285). Turn right at the stoplight onto Ross Avenue and the Dallas Black Dance Theatre parking lot will be on your right.

By Car (via I-35/Woodall Rogers)

Coming either north or south on I-35, follow the US-75 signs onto Woodall Rogers Freeway. Take the Pearl Street/Arts District exit. It will loop around in a circle and bring you to the stoplight at the Woodall Rogers frontage road at the foot of the new Museum Tower Apartment Building. Turn right onto the Woodall Rogers frontage road and continue forward while staying in the far right lane past the Dallas Symphony/Meyerson Center, the AT&T Performing Arts Center, and the Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts. Follow the frontage road as it curves to the right past Fellowship.Com church until you come to the stoplight at Ross Avenue. Turn right onto Ross Avenue and the Dallas Black Dance Theatre parking lot will be on your right.

Step by step, the vision becomes reality...!

Why Move Downtown?

A very special announcement...!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dear Antioch Church Family,

I have some GREAT news…!

We are going to be able to move our Sunday morning worship services into the heart of downtown Dallas starting September 9th…! The interim location God has provided for us as the architects and builders work on our own, permanent church campus is a very special place with lots of rich history. Our vision to be a church in the heart of our city is about to become a reality…! PTL…!

We have already relocated our church offices into rented space above the Chipotle restaurant on the West End DART Rail station platform, just a few steps away from our own property and across the intersection from the Corner Bakery. This is an ideal place for our ministry base during the upcoming construction of our new church campus.

Our staff and I invite you to drop by and check out our new offices during our “Open House” tomorrow afternoon (Friday the 17th) from noon - 5:00PM. We will have coffee and light refreshments and we would love show you around and answer whatever questions you may have about this new phase of our congregation’s ministry.

Our new church offices are located at: 208 North Market Street, Suite #450, Dallas, TX 75202. The easiest way to reach them is by taking any of the DART rail trains or city buses to the West End DART Rail Station. If you prefer to drive your car, please call us at 972-392-3992 so we can furnish you with a code you can use to park free in the lot next door.

I look forward to seeing you at our open house tomorrow and in our service this Sunday. Teresa and I love you and thank God for the privilege of serving you…! We believe the very, very best is yet to come and we are glad you are going to be a part of it…!

Pastor Mark

The Jankes Are Coming...!

Make your Vision Breakfast reservation now...!

We Have Bought The Block...!

Praying For Our City

Here are some thoughts that came to my heart this week while praying over our city downtown.

A Call to Prayer and Fasting...

HAPPY NEW YEAR…!

Dear Hillcrest Church Family,

Here we are on the cusp of a brand new year and as I heard one person put it many years ago, “Our future is as bright as the promises of God!” The Lord has planted a very simple yet powerful promise from His Word deep in my heart,

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8 ESV) 

As we begin our annual 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting today, I call upon you to ask God how He would have you to participate in this time. Through prayer and fasting, we are laying a foundation for our future as individuals and as a congregation.

In our service this morning, I am going to be sharing some key principles concerning fasting from the life of Jesus. If you would like further information on this subject, I encourage you to check out two of my blog posts from a few years back by clicking here and here.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

Happy Thanksgiving...!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Dear Hillcrest Church Family,

Teresa and I want to send you our heartfelt prayer for you and all of yours to experience God's richest blessings on this Thanksgiving Day and throughout this holiday season! As we spent today in Oklahoma with her family, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the health God has brought to her sister and Mother following their bouts with cancer.

As I type this email, my heart is also filled with gratitude for many other things... For the way God's faithfulness has been so evident over these past two years as we have cared for my Mom. Every time her condition has deteriorated to the next level and we did not know how we could continue caring for her in our home, God has provided the answers and help we needed at just the right time... For the incredible wealth of friends and relationships He has given to us across the country and around the world, both old and new. The longer I live the more I wish I had time to sit down with each and every one more frequently and catch up on the latest unfolding developments in God's plan for their lives. Ever since my Dad died two years ago this January, heaven has been more real to me than ever before and the prospect of "renewing old and glad acquaintance there" more precious... For the two wonderful children God gave us in answer to prayer after thirteen years of infertility and the heartache of repeated miscarriage. it is such a joy, especially, to see God at work in their lives and to begin to get glimpses of their destinies and to sense the heart God has given them to help the hurting and touch the world... For the wonderful people of Hillcrest Church, both past and present, who have so enriched our lives... For the way God so suddenly and supernaturally delivered our church from such crushing, debilitating debt and for the incredible, unparalleled opportunity we have to plant a church in the heart of our city that will touch our city and look like our city... And for the deep conviction I have in my heart that the very, very best is yet to come...!

Teresa and I love you and thank God for the privilege of serving you...!

Happy Thanksgiving...!

Pastor Mark

Sent to the City - Thriving Wherever God Places You, Sunday, November 14, 2011

God Has Brought Overwhelming Confirmation...!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Dear Hillcrest Church Family,

We have finished counting the response forms from Commitment Sunday and I have some wonderful news to share with you. Our congregation has overwhelmingly confirmed God’s will for our church…!

92% of those who responded to my call to commitment said, “Yes, Pastor Mark, I believe we should follow the vision the Holy Spirit has given you to rebirth our church downtown!” Only 7% said, “No.” In spite of all we have been through these last several years, the God who supernaturally delivered us from debt has now brought us to incredible, Spirit-inspired unity and crystal clarity regarding our future.

A very high percentage of our constitutency participated in this process and a very large majority made the one-year commitment going forward. Our ministry team and I will soon be contacting you who made this commitment so that we can begin exploring new ways to involve you in our ministry outreaches. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your step of faith! I believe with every fiber of my being that we are on the verge of great things. The very best is yet to come for our church family and you are going to be a part of it…!

Several precious people who have life-stage or other issues that will make it impossible for them to regularly attend our services in our new, downtown location communicated their own personal conviction that God is nevertheless calling us to take this dramatic step. I am so very grateful for those of you who did this. Thank you for responding to the prompting of the Spirit and acting in such a selfless way for the good of this local body of believers and God’s greater Kingdom agenda. Your blessing means more to Teresa and me than you could ever know. Your continued prayer support will be a great source of strength to us. God will surely allow you to share in the victories we win for His glory alone. I encourage you to walk with us down this path forward as far as you can. Know that we will bless you from the bottom of our hearts when the moment comes that God leads you to another local church and that we will always consider you a part of our “extended family.” You will always be welcome to come back for a visit or to stay!

I want to speak a word in closing to those of you who do not yet know what the Lord is calling you to do personally. We would love to have you be a part of what God is going to do in this city through our church in this new season. You have unique gifts and there is thus a unique contribution that only you can make to the fulfillment of this vision. I encourage you to continue prayerfully seeking His face for direction. Please be sure to feel free to ask me or any of our ministry leaders any questions you may have. We respect your right and ability to hear from God concerning your own future and we want to be as available to help you in your decision-making process as you would like and to provide you with whatever further information you may need.

If the Lord has already made it clear to you that your season at Hillcrest Church will come to and end when we relocate, I want to thank you for all you have done in the past to help us minister to people in the midst of the storms we have weathered. You helped make it happen! I pray God’s blessings be with you always!

In closing, let me speak a word to every one of you. No matter what your response was on Commitment Sunday, Teresa and I love you! We will always be willing to serve you in any way that we can in the future regardless of whether or not you are a formal member of this church.

Let’s Take the City…!

Pastor Mark Brand

The Antioch Church - A Call to Commitment, (Commitment Sunday), November 6, 2011

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During our Commitment Sunday service yesterday, immediately before I preached, Brandon, a young artist in our church and the son of Pastor David Estrada, along with Aaron and Ashley from our worship team, presented me with a painting illustrating the word David Yeghnazar gave our congregation while preaching on September 18th: "Hillcrest, If you as a church and as a people are willing to suffer and walk the narrow road, God will give you the city." This was a very special moment that took me totally by surprise...! Click on the image below to see it what happened:



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This Sunday is Commitment Sunday…!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Dear Hillcrest Church Family,

This weekend, we are going to make one of the most significant decisions in the history of our congregation. On Vision Sunday, I shared my conviction with you that God is calling us to rebirth our church downtown and I asked you to join me in 90 Days of Prayer leading up to Commitment Sunday. As each member of our church body shares their response to this vision, I believe God is going to speak clearly and decisively through the corporate voice of His people. By uniting around the direction He brings, we will be positioned to move forward into our destiny.

As we have sought the face of the Lord together about this matter over the past weeks, I have thought a lot about the following question: "Why is it so important that we relocate our ministry downtown?"

Four specific convictions have settled in my own heart as answers:

First…We will be following the express leading of the Holy Spirit.

The single most important factor in the spiritual health and fruitfulness of any church family is the degree to which they discern and do God's will together. Strong, godly local churches are not built through human wisdom or ability, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Human personality and gifting can draw a crowd, but only the Lord can grow a New Testament congregation.

God works most powerfully in and through those church families that allow Him to guide their ministries. Sometimes His instructions seem counter-intuitive to our human reasoning, but He alone knows which hearts are most prepared to hear the Gospel and which places are about to experience unusual outpourings of His power and grace. Following His leading is the path to fruitfulness.

The Apostle Peter discovered this principle after fishing all night and catching nothing in Luke chapter five. Jesus then told him to cast his nets in a different direction. When Peter obeyed, they were suddenly filled with fish. The Apostle Paul failed twice in his efforts to take the Gospel to new places in Acts chapter sixteen. God then spoke to him through a vision in the night, telling him to reorient his ministry toward Macedonia. When Paul obeyed, he was able to plant one of the greatest churches in the New Testament in the city of Philippi in spite of fierce opposition. We have never needed God's guidance at Hillcrest Church more than we do right now. Our destiny will be changed forever by the decision we are about to make.

The Lord could have chosen to simply eliminate our debt without providing us any cash from our equity. Given the economy and the circumstances we faced not many months ago, from a human point of view that would have been a miracle in itself. Instead, God has deliberately entrusted us with an unusually large amount of money to use in replanting our church.

By loosing us from the entanglements and problems of the past, He has given us an incredible opportunity to completely reposition and reorient our ministry so that we are able to reach the greatest possible number of people here at home and around the world. This particular doorway will never open to us again. We must not allow our own personal preferences, comfort level, desire for stability, or anything else to keep us from stewarding this moment in such a way that the Kingdom of God reaps the greatest possible benefit. We must courageously rise up in faith, seize this moment, and do whatever He says.

Second…We will be able to raise up a racially, ethnically, and socially blended congregation.

This is at the very heart of what Jesus Christ is calling us to be and to do at Hillcrest Church. It is not enough for us to simply be a ministry that welcomes people of every skin color, culture, language, economic circumstance, and social constituency. God is calling us to target every sector of the population of Dallas equally. Simply put, unless our Sunday morning congregation comes to look like our city, we will have failed in our assignment, no matter how beautiful a building we might construct or how large our church might become. In order to fulfill our destiny and reach all people equally, we must be accessible to all people equally.

While the Lord is not calling us to plant an inner-city church, He is calling us to plant a city-reaching church…a church that looks like our city…a church that looks like heaven…! A downtown Dallas location will make this possible in a way that simply cannot be achieved from North Dallas. In the genius of the Holy Spirit, He is prompting us to move in the direction of major societal change so that we can reap the greatest possible harvest for many decades to come. A fully blended congregation may not symbolize what America has been, but it is at the very heart of what America is becoming.

Third…We will be able to reach people living in the heart of our city.

With the explosive growth of the entire DFW Metroplex, our city has reached the point that many people are beginning to view downtown living as an attractive alternative to long daily commutes. The number of residents in the central part of our city has begun to grow rapidly over the last decade. New condos and other types of housing are springing up throughout the area. Civic and business leaders have been tracking this very closely and are taking steps to encourage and capitalize on this trend. Last April, for instance, the Dallas City Council unanimously adopted the comprehensive Downtown Dallas 360 Plan calling for massive investment and re-development in seven central-city neighborhoods. Integral to the overall plan are many specific steps designed to greatly enhance the residential appeal of each of these districts. (Visit http://www.downtowndallas360.com online for more information).

As is the case with every part of our Metroplex, there are existing churches downtown, but none have our specific Word and Spirit, multi-racial, highly missionary DNA. The ever-increasing number of people who live in the central part of our city need our unique ministry. Most of our nation's greatest and fastest growing churches were planted in areas which were experiencing significant population growth. By moving us downtown at this time, the Holy Spirit is proactively positioning us to reap an unusual harvest.

Fourth…We will be able to leverage our new location and the city's existing transportation infrastructures to offer Christ-centered answers to some of our city's most pressing needs.

We are not called to be a rescue mission, but the Lord does want us to be His hands extended to people from every part of our city who are dealing with significant life challenges, whether educational, relational, financial, or some other pressing need. Many of these precious people regularly use public transportation to move about the Metroplex. Establishing our congregation's ministries close to a DART stop will make it possible for them, as well as for those who own vehicles, to easily benefit from the outreaches we birth.

When we purchase property close to a major expressway, our city's highly developed network of highways and thoroughfares, coupled with typically light Sunday morning traffic patterns, will allow most anyone living within the city limits or close suburbs to reach our new campus in less than twenty minutes. For those of us who already call Hillcrest Church home, this relocation may require a change of paradigm and a bit more effort, but the sacrifices we make will result in many more changed lives…spiritual fruit that will bring God glory and will be well worth whatever it costs us.

Once we unite together this Sunday in strong consensus around the vision God has given, we will immediately begin a multi-faceted process which includes the following key elements:

• RE-TOOL – We will begin readying ourselves and our ministries for this new venture by taking part in some of the excellent, innovative, highly specific, and proven training programs available for church planters today. Our ministry leaders and team will work with individuals experienced in church re-birthing and planting to clearly identify any changes we need to make in our ministry paradigms in order to reach and disciple the greatest number of people from our new location and target demographic.
• RE-ALIGN – We will examine every aspect of how we currently operate including ministry structures, staffing solutions, governmental functions, financial procedures, and legal parameters to ensure that we are completely focused on fulfilling our destiny as a downtown Antioch church with lasting fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God.
• RE-ALLOCATE – We will set aside a small percentage of the sale proceeds from our past property to "prime the pump" of both outreach and church growth in view of short-term increase and long-term sustainability. Our policy is to function on the income we receive from our tithes and offerings each week without dipping into our cash reserves, but we will make whatever strategic ministry investments from our capital funds are necessary to build a great church in this city and remain debt-free forever. Our goal will be very simple – to use the funds God has entrusted to us to reach and disciple as many people in our city from all ethnicities and backgrounds as we possibly can while continuing to touch the world through extensive missionary involvement.
• RE-IMAGE – We will do whatever it takes to effectively communicate our Antioch vision, values, and ministries to a broad cross-section of our city's residents. As part of our communications strategy, everything will be "on the table" for discussion, including our church name; the "look and feel" of our Sunday morning worship experience; our approach to advertising; involvement in media ministry; etc. 
• RE-LOCATE – We will search for and secure a medium-term meeting location downtown while also moving forward with the process of purchasing and developing permanent facilities. Our parameters for the property searches will be the following: a downtown location; very easy access from DART rail and a major traffic artery; high visibility; room to accommodate future ministry growth; and debt-free acquisition/development. We will be very active and aggressive in this search, but we realize that the most important thing for us as a church right now is not buying property, but re-launching ministry. The momentum this brings will help clarify exactly which properties we should or should not consider for our long-term campus. We will take whatever amount of time is necessary to be sure we are making the right purchase.
• RE-LAUNCH – After moving our church downtown to our medium-term meeting location and having successfully ministered there for a period of several weeks, we will hold an official "re-launch" of our ministry. This will be designed to draw the largest possible crowd to our first official worship service in our new identity and to build maximum momentum in order to achieve rapid church growth. The input I have already received from people highly skilled and experienced in church planting has convinced me that with God's help, the significant resources available to us, lots of hard work, and strategic planning, we can launch "big" instead of "small."
  

Our positive decision this Sunday to embrace the vision God has given us will be the first of many steps forward toward our new identity and destiny. There will be many other important decisions to make along the way, but everything hinges on what we say to the Lord on this Commitment Sunday.


In this letter, I have shared a few more of my thoughts with you. Now I need you to share your prayerful convictions with me concerning the following two questions:

• Do you believe we should follow the vision the Holy Spirit has given me?
• Are you willing to make a one-year commitment to support this vision by attending our services, investing your finances, and exploring ways that you can serve as a volunteer in our church's ministries?

What I have outlined on Vision Sunday and in the two letters I have sent you is not for the faint of heart. Anyone content with spiritual complacency or comfortable with a merely cultural Christianity will not want to have any part in this endeavor! It is too bold, too far out of the mainstream, too different from what others have done, too impossible without God's supernatural help, for anyone to attempt it…and yet, God in His sovereign, inscrutable, and unpredictable way has brought me to the place where I am personally ready to risk everything I have and everything I am to see this vision become reality.

I realize that I am an unlikely candidate for such a call. The past several years here at Hillcrest Church have been by far the most difficult and painful of my entire life and ministry. On a natural plane, nothing we have experienced together during this season would lead us to believe that our future will be drastically, wonderfully, even gloriously different than our past…and yet, deep inside my heart I sense the Spirit saying, 

"Nothing is too difficult for me. I have brought you and this church through this long, fiery trial in order to purify, refine, and prepare you for this moment, so that the things I do in and through you all to shake this city will be for my glory and my glory alone. Dare to believe me! Dare to follow me! Dare to lay down your lives in service to me and I will be able to use you in ways your eyes have never seen and your ears have never heard, in ways that you would never have dared to imagine."

As I typed those sentences, I remembered the prophetic word Dr. R.T. Kendall gave our church several years ago at the end of his sermon in our Sunday morning worship service as he quoted verses from a passage in Haggai chapter two,

6 "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty. 8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty. 9 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty."

That is what I sense the Holy Spirit saying to me. Now, I need to know what the Holy Spirit is saying to you.

At the end of our worship service this Sunday, I am going to ask everyone present to fill out a response device bearing these two questions. If you are unable to be with us in service, please download a copy from our church website (www.hillcrestchurch.org) and return it to our church office within the next few days.

The most important thing I need you to do is to be sure you respond exactly as the Holy Spirit has impressed upon your own heart, not as you think I or anyone else will respond. At every point in church history, whenever God has called a people to step out in faith to do something new, there have always been naysayers, gossipers, slanderers, doubters, and finger-pointers. Do not listen to them. Listen to Him. Listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit and then use this response device to communicate your own deepest convictions to me as we trust God together to overshadow the outcome.

I realize your answer to question number one may be different from your answer to question number two. Perhaps your heart resonates with this vision but your life stage or other constraints cause you to hesitate about committing to attend services downtown for a full year. That is not at a problem. It in no way affects my opinion of you or my love for you. Answering "yes" to question number one lets me know that I have your personal blessing to move forward with this vision. That is the most important thing I need to know.

Teresa and I love you very much. Our commitment to you goes far beyond the decisions as I have talked about in this letter. Whatever your answers are to the two questions I am asking, we want you to know that we will always be willing to serve you in any way that we can. We thank God for the privilege of walking together with you on this journey and we are convinced the very, very best is yet to come for us all.

You are important to us at Hillcrest Church. As we build our congregation through reaching unchurched people, we are committed to continuing to provide you with the highest level of ministry possible. 

I look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you in service this Sunday…!

Pastor Mark

P.S. If you did not hear my message on Vision Sunday last August, I urge you to take a few moments and view it online by clicking on the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16499137/highlight/192963.

If for any reason you did not receive the letter I sent to you at the beginning of our 90 Days of Prayer, please be sure and do so before you respond. If you do not have a copy, you can read its contents online by clicking on the following link: http://hillcrestchurch.blogspot.com/2011/09/lets-take-our-city.html.

Greetings from Maracaibo...!

Dear Hillcrest Church Family,

Greetings from Maracaibo, Venezuela!

Pastor Kyle and I have arrived here in preparation for the Global Advance Pastor's Conference where we be ministering through the end of this week. Prior to our departure from Dallas, the last word we had from the team who was already in the ground was that we could expect 1,500+ in attendance in each session. We have just learned that more than 3,000 have formally registered and that number will undoubtedly grow before the meetings begin early Thursday morning.

We covet your earnest prayers for us and for our families back home while we are away. Pastor Kyle and I are keenly aware of the incredible opportunity God is giving us to touch this nation by touching so many of its spiritual leaders. Please join with us in believing God for razor-sharp, specific messages every time we speak and for the power of the Lord to be very much in evidence as we pray for those in attendance.

Please pray as well for God to orchestrate every logistical detail.

The advance team has experienced very clear supernatural opposition as they have put together this event. That fact, along with the deep conviction I am carrying in my own heart and spirit, causes me to believe that the Lord has some very special things in store for our time here. As part of our Hillcrest Church family, we are YOUR hands extended to God's servants from across this country. You have sent us and you will share in any victories we win or spiritual fruit that we bear. This is the Antioch church in action - a local congregation that loves its city but that also loves the world...and YOU are an important part of it...!

While I am away this next Sunday, my dear friend Rabbi Marty Waldeman from Baruch Ha'Shem will be preaching in my place. I encourage you to do whatever it takes to be present in service. I am so very thankful for the spiritual partnership that God has orchestrated between our two congregations and I expect the Lord will use Rabbi Marty to bring a specific word for us during this season. Your presence is also a way of honoring him and the spiritual family he serves for their very gracious hospitality to us during this season.

I am also happy to report that we have elected four new Hillcrest Church

Trustees: Eric Bullard, Linda Greer, Tony Lovio, and Charlie Pollinzi. They will serve alongside Darrell Fletcher, Harry Gresham, and myself. All of the eight candidates that stood for election are wonderful people and I appreciate each of them allowing us to put their name forward. Please be sure and keep both our Elders and our Trustees in your prayers as we move forward. Our church is on the cusp of a wonderful new beginning and we need God's supernatural wisdom in order to fully take advantage of the incredible opportunity He is giving us for the furthering of His kingdom and for His glory alone.

Teresa and I love you and thank God for the privilege of serving you. We believe the best is yet to come…!

Pastor Mark Brand

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