Redeemer Baptist Church Newsletter

Table of Contents

Well, winter has definitely revealed itself lately with Asheboro receiving roughly nine inches of snow from this last storm. In God’s kindness it allowed me to slow down, spend time with family, and get some much needed behind the scenes church planting tasks completed.

Overall, January was a productive month. As I said in my previous letter, I was privileged to begin the month preaching at Mt Olive Baptist Church in Pittsboro, NC. It was a great opportunity to bring the Word, spend time with God’s people, and share about the work. I am grateful to Pastor Travis Bodine who graciously invited me to do so.

Of the Sundays we were able to meet, our core team continued our study through 1 Timothy in the evenings, which we are set to finish in a few weeks. It has been a true joy to study this wonderful book. Our group is made up of folks from the Asheboro area who come from multiple different theological backgrounds, so working through Ephesians last year and now 1 Timothy has been a good exposure for some to expositional preaching through books of the Bible.

On January 23, I presented a final prospectus and graduated from my Send NC training, which has proven to be a true blessing that has grown me in many unexpected ways. I am grateful to Paul Ortiz, my cohort leader and the many men and women who constantly served us well during this training process. May the Lord not only bless the planting of Redeemer Baptist Church of Asheboro, but also my brothers from the training cohort who, Lord willing, will be planting churches in NC this year and next.

On January 28, I gave an update to Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Mebane, our sending church, which was filled with much encouragement and prayer. The Lord has been gracious to my family and me by placing us in the care of such a wonderful sending church over the last four years. It is a bittersweet thought of leaving those who has loved us so well.

My family and I love the snow! We took advantage of every sledding opportunity we had. It was a true joy to spend time with my children, especially my oldest daughter Ruby, who is 10 and at a perfect age for this winter weather. She would have gladly spent the entire day out if we had let her. We had hot chocolate, ate snow cream, played board games, and had snowball fights. It was a sweet time, that will not soon be forgotten.

We as a family are well! Life is busy as we are church planting, but the Lord is gracious to provide times like this, where we can easily slow down, spend time together, and feed our relationships. May the Lord continue to help me nurture my relationship with my beloved wife, Brittany, and strive to feed and pour into my precious children He has blessed me with.

As with any church plant, there is still much to be done. We are scheduled to begin in depth core team preparation in a few weeks, where I will teach through our confession, constitution, and covenant along with some other distinctives to establish our DNA as a church.

My February calendar is filled with finalizing some fine tune details regarding our official constituting as a church, weekly rhythms, legal documents, etc. Please be in prayer as I continue chipping away at this work.

We are expected to have our final budget meeting with our core team in a few weeks. Pray for unity and clarity as we do this.

Lord willing, we will begin a men’s breakfast bible study this week with the men in our core team. Our goal is to continue to feed into the comradery that the Lord has already been building and that leaders or future leaders in training may be revealed as we do it. May the Lord raise up those who will serve as elders, deacons, and teachers in this setting.

There are many things to pray for, but I will mention only three. Our greatest need at this time is the confirmation of a Sunday morning worship space. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, in God’s providence we have been connected with a local church two blocks from where we currently meet on Sunday evening that may allow us to use part of their facility on Sunday mornings. There was a meeting scheduled to take place three weeks ago, but because of weather and schedule conflict that has been delayed to hopefully later this week. Please pray for this matter, this is the big need we presently have before us.

Also, please pray for our group. The Lord has blessed us with many wonderful believers who make up our core team, but as we get into the short rows of establishing this work, pray for a unity among us, a bond of peace, and a true and genuine culture of building one another up in love. May we be the hands and feet of Jesus, not only to our broader community in Asheboro, but also our immediate community in the local body of Christ.

Lastly, pray that the Lord will continue to provide the funds needed for this work. Presently, Christ has gifted us with roughly 65% of our year one budget. We have a goal to raise 75% before constituting. Pray that the Lord may do this as we continue in faith that He will provide all of our needs according to His riches and glory. May the Lord of the church establish Redeemer Baptist Church of Asheboro.

For the cause of Christ,

Blake