Our First Baptism

 

Our Baptimal of Minnesota's Boundary Waters

The first weekend of October was an exciting time for Trinity City Church.  A member of our Launch Team decided to get baptized.  He did not come to the Lord through the ministry of Trinity, but we did get the privilege of baptizing him.   Only this event was not your typical baptism.  He wanted to be baptized in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota during the fall.  So during a cold morning of about 40 degrees, we entered into the waters of Clear Lake and had a baptism to the glory of God!  The baptism itself was certainly more of a rush than the cold waters.  I thank God and feel honored to have baptized this member of our Launch Team.

Bryan

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* The picture above is from www.backpacker.com

Meet TCC’s Ministry Intern

Our mission at Trinity City Church is to glorify Jesus by igniting a movement of the gospel for the joy of our city and all nations.  Part of applying this vision is to raise up future leaders who have a passionate love for God,  have a compassionate love for all people, are on mission to spread the gospel, and follow Jesus Christ with devotion.  It is a joy to see this vision (what we call our ethos) being applied in our first Intern of Pastoral Ministry.  Here is a little info on Charles DeZiel:

Charlie is the Intern for Pastoral Ministry at TCC. He works part-time as a software engineering contractor, and is a Master of Divinity student at Bethlehem Seminary in downtown Minneapolis.

After growing up in Michigan’s glorious Upper Peninsula, Charlie then moved to the wilderness of New Hampshire, where he graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in computer science. Since college, Charlie has acquired a mix of ministry and computer science experience. He has served on staff with the Navigators Christian Fellowhip at the University of Minnesota, and currently volunteers as a Shepherd for the Navigators’ nationwide college ministry staff training program. He has also worked as a software engineer for Accenture, and as a computational biology researcher for Microsoft and Dartmouth College.

In addition to ministry and the nerdiest of computer research, Charlie enjoys the outdoors, food, people, controlled fires, sweet books, and Batman.

Meet the Thoms: their passion for the lost and planting

I want to introduce you all to the first family in the core team: the Thom family.  As you get to know them, I pray that you are as encouraged as I am about not only them being a part of this plant, but also about the mighty work that God had done, is doing and will do in their lives.  Also, check out Ryan’s site that is posted on the right, where you can hear his music and also see pictures of him and his family (click here to see pictures).  May you be blessed as you meet the Thoms.  Enjoy their first post.

- Bryan

Why are you passionate about reaching people who do not worship Jesus? 

The simplest answer is that God created people to worship Him.  People who do not worship Jesus are chasing after the wind.  We used to be those people.  We worshiped the things of this world instead of the King of Kings and found ourselves, and our desires meaningless.  Life apart from worshiping Jesus is dry and frozen in ungratefulness.  We desire to be a part of God’s work in bringing unthawing joy to others as they personally experience the delight of a worshipful life in Christ.  We also want to be a part of bringing God glory through being and making intimate, daily worshipers of Jesus Christ who gather together locally, making a joyful noise to Him.            

Why plant in the Twin Cities/How did you catch a passion for church planting? 

We’ve always been open to where God would lead us in ministry.  In December of 05′ God brought us to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to continue preparing us for full time ministry.  One by one we have surrendered our passions and desires to our compassionate Lord.  Recently the Lord opened us up for the adventure of planting a church in the Twin Cities.   

We know God’s heart is for the church as His bride (our oldest daughter Isabelle calls the church God’s Team!)  So we asked ourselves… is there is anything better than being a part of God’s planting process, (the growth of His team!?)  ”Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”  We are motivated by Jesus’ great commission to grow His Church and look forward to acting out this command in the Twin Cities.  We are also moved by the need for more churches built by the transforming truth and power of the gospel in the Twin Cities.   

We have heard about the artistic culture and hope to share our passion of writing and making music that speaks truth about who God is.  Lord willing, music will be a tool for us to evangelize unbelievers as well as to gather new and old followers of Jesus into a deeper fellowship with Him and each other.  As we trust in Jehovah Jireh to guide, lead, and provide, we anticipate Him doing great things for His name in the Twin Cities. 

- Posted by Ryan Thom

Meet the Lairs: Bryan’s Testimony

I grew up going to a mainline church but never embraced Jesus as my Lord and God.  In these days depravity defined me.  I was a rebel against God because I thought that getting drunk and swearing like a sailor was cooler than worshiping Jesus (Romans 1:18-3:20).  I use to think that using the name of Jesus Christ as a curse word was more useful than acknowledging him as Lord.  My heart was as dirty as a septic tank and my five senses were the toilets that flushed in all the filth.  This chapter of bondage would define my life until the summer before my junior year of high school.

God’s redemption came through my best friend’s parents.  He and I would get into endless amounts of sinful and brainless activities causing his parents to send us to events where preachers would yell at me about hell.  Eventually, one of those messages became less about fire insurance and more about my broken relationship with my Creator.  In the summer of 1999, at a camp in southern Minnesota, God used a gospel message to open my filthy heart to believe in the resurrection, and then use my cursing lips to confess that “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:8-13).  What was once an impassionate religion became an adoring Reality!  It is in this moment that God transferred me from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13). 

Now grace defines me … God considers me one of his sons because Christ died for my sins, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). I now see that the glory of God that shines in the face of Jesus Christ is much more brilliant than anything this world can offer (2 Corinthians 4:1-6). Even the pleasures of life – such as marriage and family and friends – are merely a fire cracker of delight compared to the atomic bomb of satisfaction in knowing God through Jesus Christ. I still battle sin but it is not nearly as appealing as it use to be. Sin is nothing but chocolate covered poison that looks good on the outside but is deadly on the inside.  Yet that is me in summary, a sinner saved by God’s grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Ever since God rescued me I have committed my life to proclaiming his message of grace and advancing his kingdom into the hearts of those who do not worship him.  In high school, I served Jesus by becoming a Sunday school teacher and a camp counselor.  I served Jesus in undergrad by helping the homeless in downtown Minneapolis, and by ministering to students at Northwestern College as a Resident Assistant and Ministry Director.  During seminary, I served Jesus by serving the local church of Evanston Bible Fellowship (EBF) as the College Ministry Director (to primarily Northwestern University students) and small group leader.  Presently, I’m still serving my Lord as an elder at EBF and by planting a church in the Twin Cities.  This service is nothing but overflow.  Overflow of love from the infinite love shown to me by God in his Son Jesus.

Looking back and ahead to what God’s great love has done to the life of this sinner gives me inexpressible joy.  A great sinner has been saved by a greater Savior.  What love is this!

- Posted by Bryan

Meet the Lairs: Their passion for planting.

How did you catch passion for church planting?

Tracy and I were the first to catch a vision for reaching the Twin Cities through a church plant.  Church planting has been a passion of mine since going to seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and participating in church planting week.  At the same time, Evanston Bible Fellowship (our local church) was considering sending a planter out to Seattle to reach that city.  It was during this time that I caught a passion to reach others for the gospel through church planting.  It became obvious that one of the most effective ways to make more followers of Jesus Christ is through church planting.  It is how the Lord did it in Acts by the power of his Holy Spirit. We have looked into many other cities since we caught a vision for planting, with Portland and Chicago being the most serious.  Both Tracy and I were absolutely open to where God would call us not matter what the place.  However, God has led our hearts back to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. 

Why plant in the Twin Cities?

The biggest reason is because there is a massive amount of people that still do not worship Jesus in the Twin Cities, particularly in Minneapolis and St. Paul proper.  Based on some stats, only about one in ten people living in this area would affirm that Jesus alone is to be worshiped and obeyed and trusted.  We also experienced this fact by growing up in Minnesota and spending four years in the Twin Cities.  About half the people we meet are religious like Pharisees were religious, and the other half do not go to church at all.  Also, many Christians that we did meet in the Twin Cities are only involved in their church at the consumer level.  That is, they go to church, hear the sermon on Sunday, and then do nothing for Christ’s church the rest of the week.  They consume what the church has to offer and never give back. 

We desire to plant a church that focuses on reaching those who have both an unbiblical understanding of Jesus and those who have no understanding of him at all.  We also, God willingly, want to be a church that has more members than consumers, and that these members produce gospel-centered lives that disciple and lead others to Jesus.

 

- Posted by Bryan

Meeting the Planting Team

I cannot plant this church alone.  God must plant this church, and I believe he will plant this church through a team of individuals rather than merely one individual. 

God is already moving the hearts of people to join this church planting team, and I want you to meet these people as they come aboard.  I’m going to be introducing these individuals and families in posts called “Meet the (name) … “  I also will have a new page at the top titled “Meet the Planting Team” that will have summary profiles of each person and family.  These individuals will have different levels of involvement.  Some will be a part of the plant one year before the launch date for public worship, and others will be a part of the plant just in time for the launch date.  All are dedicated to see this church plant become an established, self-sustaining, and gospel advancing church for God’s glory.

These team members are extremely important parts of this plant.  They are the heart of the plant that will launch the new church and provide its foundational leadership.

Please pray for each person/family as they are introduced on this blog.  May we be used by the Lord to reach new people for Jesus in the Twin Cities!

 - Posted by Bryan