That’s why were are here. Because a God spoke the world into motion. Because a God speaks to His creation. Because God called us to obey. So when He calls… we listen.

It’s been three weeks since Genesis Church began and we have not said much about it. It’s our way of filtering through what God is doing, and not getting caught up in the hype formulated by the “church world”. This is a journey… much like discipleship. Not a competitive game for us.

We didn’t start a church to be part of the new “church planting” culture. We didn’t start a church with a desire to see our faces on some conference line up. We started Genesis Church because God said, and we responded. Yes, it took a few years of wrestling with him. Those years becoming miserable and uneasy. Wrestling with God is not something I advise for others. But we knew of the need for the local church. A place for others to participate in. A place for encouragement, support and a place to be equipped, because six days are coming. Yet, somehow we began to realize we needed this for us. Not just the community… be we ourselves were longing for a place to unleash all that God had etched inside each of us.

On January 24th, 2010 that moment to unleash became a reality. What God had birthed inside of us, the flicker that had turned into a blaze had it’s moment to release. We didn’t do preview services, like some. We didn’t do big events like others. Instead we realized that to create the movement God was calling us to, we had to be unique… it had to US! In a city, things are much, much different than a suburb or county. Lots of people, lots of churches, equalling lots of people who say; “I have a church”. So we had to be strategic and different than those before us. We didn’t search books, web sites, blogs, etc. We just decided to find God. God had created us for this, so let’s find Him and continue to find what He is asking of us. It was our desire to BE what we needed to be. Not what someone else thought we should do. If I’m correct, scripture teaches that God builds His church anyway.

However, we were not lazy. We were very diligent, and wise in our approach, use of finances, and moments in preparing for our start. For Genesis Church our gage for success will be different. I know people like numbers, and we do pay attention to those. It was exciting to have 149 on our first Sunday in a city where we were told that to have a hundred in year one is successful. But that’s not what excited me on day one. Because Genesis Church wasn’t built for just day one.

What excited me was that in week 1, week 2, and week 3 we have had families come that had almost given up on the local church. What we find to be successful is a family that hasn’t been in church for 5 years, attending for 3 weeks straight. Where we find our joy is to know that a family that has not been in church for 20 years came and returned for another week. To have families each week drive up after church is over, because they saw our banner by the road and ask for information because they are “needing a church” and would like to come the following week. Thrilled that we could give away the entire first offering we ever received completely for Haiti Relief! Not for some spectacle, but because this church will always be about helping others in this world.

That’s why Genesis Church came to Orlando. Does this city have a lot of churches? Heck yeah!
Does this city need more churches… yes!
Churches that are not here to compete with Disney or any other show. Churches that are serious about the community God has placed them it. Churches that find success not just in how many are coming, but how many are leaving transformed by the renewing of their minds.

Genesis Church has begun! We have had every technical problem imaginable for a young three week old church Our advise to all those who would like to ask… will be from what NOT to do, more than anything. But that hasn’t mattered because our success and our story is not based upon that. Our story will forever be based upon how many people

“rethink life the way God originally intended”.

Here are some pics from the first three weeks. You can finally start listening to our sermons online. But more than trying to see how “successful’ we were at launch, join us in prayer for a city called “the graveyard of church planting”. That we would be a symbol of life and light as God uses us to effectively proclaim his gospel and it would transform the way people lived.

There are more pics here because the pics below are hard to see: www.genesischurchorlando.com

Thanks to all of you who have made this story a reality. God has used you and because of it, families, people, and college students are already rethinking who God is in their world.