One of the most encouraging aspects of my job as a pastor at Redeeming Life Church is seeing all the many ways God brings His people together to accomplish His mission. 

Much of this happens right here in Salt Lake City as He grows people and puts a vision of unity in their hearts to collectively labor together to reach an unreached place like Utah. I see new church planters and long time Utah pastors working together for the sake of the gospel, despite some non-essential differences. I see the body of Christ loving each other because they believe Jesus' words in John 17. Now, are any of these groups doing this perfectly? No, of course not...we're human. But it is a beautiful thing to witness the unity of Christians serving together in the greatest mission every conceived; one for the Kingdom.

This past week, God reminded me of this Kingdom level unity when we hosted a missions team from First Baptist Church in Cushing, OK. This team drove out here for six days specifically to help us renovate a building we recently signed a lease on. They worked incredibly hard, most days from sun up to sun down. The men even slept in the building, on cots, in the middle of the construction zone - with no air conditioning! The whole team worked with joy-filled attitudes of service, knowing that they were ultimately serving our King Jesus. This team was an incredible blessing to us at Redeeming Life as we prepare to expand our reach even further in our city for the sake of the gospel.

One of my favorite aspects of this mission teams' time here was the front yard BBQ's we had each evening. Each night a different family from Redeeming Life would host the group, set up the grill, and we would eat, fellowship, pray for and with each other, and even sing worship songs. It was a relaxing and worshipful evening and a beautiful example to all our neighbors who joined us or happened to witness the Church being the Church. 

The new building we have acquired is still in the renovation stage but, Lord willing, on August 7th, 2016 we will begin utilizing it for Sunday services, House of Prayer, worship nights, fellowship groups, addiction recovery, grief share, and a host of other Kingdom focused endeavors.

For example, there is a new neighborhood that has been developed over the past five years called Foxboro. It's approximately 5,000 homes and as of right now there is no Christian church presence in that community. Our new building is about four miles away and we plan to distribute 5,000 gospel door hangers in Foxboro this summer to begin reaching into that community and letting them know we are praying for them. Please join us in praying for this area, that we would be effective in advancing the gospel there.

If you'd like to partner with us in anything we're doing to reach our city and see it redeemed by the power of the gospel, you can find ways to help here.