Greater Things with T.J. McCormick

I just got back from Ft. Lauderdale where Shayla and I got to go to quite a few churches in the surrounding area and check out what was happening in the local church. It was great to see that there were a few churches who were really connecting with the community. They are really thriving and seeing God do great things in there area of FTL.
I got the opportunity to meet with quite a few pastors in the area to start to network about how we can work together to reach our community for Jesus. It was a great time of sharing and encouraging us to come together on what we agree on to see Jesus made famous in our area. It was amazing how we would just show up to events and different areas of the community and have these random encounters with local pastors.

We also had the opportunity to visit Monarch High School, which is the school that we would like to start our church in this upcoming September. Another church is currently meeting in the school so it was great to be able to see the school in action as a church. The facility is unbelievable with seating up to 550 in the main auditorium with theatre seating, a huge cafeteria for older children and plenty of classrooms for younger kids on the weekend. I got the opportunity to take the pastor who is currently in the building to lunch on Monday and share how we would like to launch our church in the building and his reaction of being totally up for that. In fact he is working on getting out of the school and finding a permanent facility for their church and what great timing we had for launching. God is so faithful when you listen to his voice and obey his commands.

Shayla and I really believe that if we “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to us.” God is completely faithful to His word.

Shayla and I just returned from Atlanta, Georgia where we went through our assessment for planting a church with the Association of Related Churches. After two days of interviews, role playing, team presentations and individual presentations we got the phone call that we were fully approved to be a church plant through the ARC.

We really enjoyed the process of going through the assessment. We got to meet some other great church planters and really got a chance to play out some real life realities that we are about to face with fundraising as well as presenting our vision to potential launch team members. Thanks for all your prayers and support over the last week.

My wife and I are getting ready to head up to Atlanta Sunday for our assessment to be church planters with the Association of Related Churches. We are so excited to be teaming up with such a great organization who has a passion to plant life-giving churches all throughout the U.S. We have taken all of our personality profiles and sent in video messages to prepare for these two days of assessment. Please be praying for Shayla and I as we go through interviews and different tests to assess our readiness and fit to be church planters with the ARC.

I have been reading this book, “In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” by Mark Batterson. It is totally rocking my world. He asks this question, “Are you living a life that is worth telling stories about?” This question just brought me to my knees with the thought of what God was doing in my own life. I had to thank God that He has given Shayla and I this vision to step out of the realm of certainty and into the realm of the unknown. We know that it is in that place of fear, adversity and reckless abandon for following God that the life that Batterson asks about will be our own. It will be filled with amazing stories of lives being changed, marriages restored and hearts being rendered back to the Father. I know that God is moving in unbelievable ways to set up Coastal Community Church to impact the Ft. Lauderdale area for Christ like never before.

I just spent the week in Ft. Lauderdale building relationships with some potential individuals who would be a part of the dream team for Coastal Community Church. I had a great time sharing the vision of what this life giving church would look like and how we as a body could affect our community for Jesus Christ. I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Rob Hoskins, who is the president of Book of Hope, and got some really great insight on the state of the church in Ft. Lauderdale and the need for the local church to make an impact. In Ft. Lauderdale there are less than 49% of the people who claim to believe in God where the national average is 89%. That just lets us know that God has definetly led us to a place that is in desperate need to hear of the life changing message of Jesus Christ.