Jeff Murphy

                     November 2008 
 

 | mychurchcolumbus.com | mymurphys@gmail.com | P.O. Box 8925 | Columbus, GA 31907 

Here’s the answer to your prayers—My Church has a home! 

God sent us people. God sent us equipment. But, less than 3 months from our launch date, God had not yet given us a facility. Everywhere we looked, doors were being closed on potential launch locations—movie theaters, universities, schools, warehouses—everyone was telling us no! 

Then we found this incredible option in a brand new strip mall owned by a Christian businessman. Of course, the price was way out of our budget; so, we met with the owner, shared our vision, made a ridiculous lowball offer and guess what? He said “NO!” Our launch team spent the next few weeks fasting and praying. We were seriously considering setting up a tent. Then on October 24, God filled me with unexplainable boldness. I just felt compelled to call the guy and ask again. This time, he said, “YES!!!!” 

You’re looking at a 7,300 square foot miracle. The developer is going to finish the build-out to our specks for free! My church not only has a launch location—we’ve got a starter home, complete with worship center, lobby and kids rooms! How’s that for a financial miracle right in the middle of the worst economic month in 20 years? Praise God!! Come on, say it with me—“Praise God!!” 

God continues to give us favor and put people in our path who need help finding their way back to Him. We cannot wait to see the lives that will be changed in this facility! We are going to need to buy chairs, which is about a $9,000 unexpected expense. If you would like to provide a seat for someone, every $30 you donate will purchase another chair. Our plan is to start with 300 seats and add multiple services as soon as we can! 

Thank you for being a part of our miracle!

We are now accepting tax-deductible donations directly through My Church. Please make your checks payable to My Church and send to us at P.O. Box 8925, Columbus, GA 31907. If you have been giving online or by credit card, we will contact you as soon as we are able to receive online donations through our website at mychurchcolumbus.com. Your November contribution can still be accepted online through Mountain Lake Church.

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• Born & raised in Ft. Lauderdale
• Met my wife Christy Hindson at Liberty University
• Loved & lived student ministry for 10 years, primarily in Columbus, GA
• Led hundreds of students to Christ
• Went back to seminary & became a min. of ed. at a mega-church (Lord, help!)
• Planted our first church in north Atlanta 2002
• Grew to 400 in 4 years and led hundreds of people to Christ

       recent highlight: When we moved into our cul-de-sac in 2002, our neighbors were so mad that a “preacher” was moving in they threatened to line up and moon me. Five years later, every family on our street had accepted Christ and was serving in our church. current calling Within about three months, every one of those neighbors we led to Christ relocated. So, we started to ask the natural question—“God, who do you want us to invest our lives in next?” Christy and I are wired for personal, relational ministry. It’s very important to us to have our family intentionally engaged in reaching and discipling people around us. After a year of prayer and a series of defining moments, we knew God was calling us back to Columbus, Georgia. We believe God’s desire is to use our influence in Columbus from our student ministry days with our church planting experience in Atlanta to maximize our impact for His Kingdom. When we finish this incredibly valuable residency at Mountain Lake church and ChurchPlanters.com (highly recommend it), we will move to Columbus with a goal of launching a new church by January ’09. Columbus, GA stats The city of Columbus is the third largest city in Georgia, located 1 ½ hours southwest of the Atlanta airport. It is adjacent to Phenix City, Alabama, which doubles the potential for outreach and multi-site ministry. According to the 2007 demographic reports…

• Almost 300,000 people live in Columbus and its tri-county region.
• The population doubles to 600,000 if you include the Alabama counties and the entire Columbus Valley region .
• 86% of those people are unchurched.
• The majority of unchurched people are ages 11-39.

 new church plantAccording to the stats, the people in Columbus, GA not only need a new church—they need a new kind of church. They need a church on a mission to reduce lostness. They need a church who will break down the barriers of traditional religion and connect with the younger generations. They need a church who will actively demonstrate grace and hope in the community. They need a church who will do whatever it takes to open the door for people who “don’t do church” to find Jesus Christ.  The Murphys are ready to lead this adventure in Columbus! Our dream is to raise up leaders and plant missional churches in our 16 surrounding counties. prayer & partnerships We can’t do this alone. We need you to pray for us and partner with us! Here’s how…

1. Sign up for the blog
2. Send us your email/address at jmurphy@mountainlakechurch.org
3. Join our team! (Columbus is a great place to live!)

 We’d love to hear from you!

I came across these Stats(By Dave Early) today and thought they were amazing.

I am more excited then ever to not just plant a church– but to begin a movement!! I beleive we can Change the World!!!!   Who wants to be apart of that??   I know I do…

Observations on Church Planting.

1. There are 195 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the top f

our largest “unchurched” nations in the world.

2. In spite of the rise of mega-churches, no county in America has a greater church population than it did ten years ago.

3. During the last ten years, combined communicant membership of all Protestant denominations declined by 9.5 percent (4,498,242), while the national population increased by 11.4 percent (24,153,000).

4. Each year 3,500 to 4,000 churches close their doors forever; yet only as many as 1,500 new churches are started.

5. There are now nearly 60 percent fewer churches per 10,000 persons than in 1920.

• In 1920 27 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 1950 17 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 1996 11 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.

6. “Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining.”

7. One American denomination recently found that 80% of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old.

8. Hence the claim of many leaders: “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches” (Peter Wagner).