Ernest Smith

Have you ever had those moments in life where things could not be explained? You know, when something so great is happening that there are really no words to describe it to others. That is kind of the place we are in right now with this church plant.

However, since I am writing to all of you, I need to figure out a way to describe what God is doing here in the Castle Rock area. Therefore, I am going to give you the top 5 things that I have been learning over the last 2 months of being in Colorado.

1. Two months is not long enough to acclimate to the altitude. The other day I saw someone’s picture on a social media site and it was of them climbing to the top of a “big mountain”. The sign at the top said they were just over 4,000 feet. Where we are living is over 6,000 feet, which just means that every time I walk up a flight of steps, I still breath like I just ran a marathon.

2. When people live out their lives in faith, God ALWAYS provides. It has been truly amazing to watch how each of the team members who moved with us out here have been able to find jobs and places to live. God has been reminding us that when you live by faith, you get to see Him to some incredible things.

3. Friendships don’t cease because you move away. I have been completely amazed at how many people from Charleston still text me, call me and e-mail me…besides my mom. 🙂 It just goes to show that nothing can get in the way of true friendships.

4. A city can only be reached when the churches decide that reaching the lost is more important than holding onto their own. I was so incredibly blessed to be a church back in Charleston, Seacoast, that understood this truth. Now, I am in a city where not just a handful of churches understand it, but a whole movement of churches desire to do whatever it takes to reach the unchurched, even if it means giving up some of their own to start a new church.

5. When the favor of God is on something, most things become unexplainable. There have been so many things along this journey that are unexplainable. Like the one person, a Starbucks barista, in Castle Rock that Sara and I talked to when we visited back in December, “randomly” showed up to a football party we had last week. Or the 100+ people who have already said they want to be a part of the church and we haven’t even had our first launch team meeting. When God is doing it, you can’t explain it.

There are so many lessons we are learning. Some that are blessings and others that are challenging, but will be a blessing at some point. God is moving and we are incredibly thankful that He has allowed us to be a part of this journey.

UPDATE:
Many of you have been asking, so I wanted to make some of you aware. Front Range Christian Church (the name of the church if you haven’t heard already) is officially legal. If God places it on your heart to give to the church, you can send any donations to the following address. We hope to have giving available online within the next couple weeks.

Front Range Christian Church
PO Box 1017
Castle Rock, CO 80104