{"id":11743,"date":"2019-11-01T15:03:53","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/messagemagazinetesthome.wpcomstaging.com\/?p=11743"},"modified":"2021-08-10T18:47:48","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T18:47:48","slug":"creating-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openbiblemessage.org\/es\/2019\/11\/creating-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating New"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\nslowly shut the door and turned to my husband, Bill, as the tears streamed down\nhis face. His face had turned completely white and his unsteady legs led him to\nthe bed. I confirmed the test was positive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just\na month earlier in April of 2017, we had discussed the need for margin in our\nworlds. Bill had decided to reduce his hours as a local hospital chaplain to\nbuild in enough headspace to really listen to God\u2019s leading, not fully knowing\nwhat was in store. We didn\u2019t need a shake-up. We were content. We didn\u2019t need\nanything more to feel like we were serving the Lord and His people. As associate\npastors of Hope Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, we had a lot of freedom to\npursue the many facets of ministry we loved. We could lead worship, teach the\nyouth, and counsel young couples as they started their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntest had confirmed that we would be having another baby. With our two children\nin high school, this would make a nearly sixteen-year gap between our daughter\nMelanie and the new baby. And yet as this new life grew inside me, a desire for\nnew life began to grow in our hearts. As people celebrated the joy and\nexcitement this new little one would bring to our family, it spurred our hearts\nto think about what joy and excitement God had for us in other areas of our lives.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Burchit family (left to right): Bill, Liam, Natalie, Robby, and Melanie<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Liam\nwas born December 18, 2017, and just a month later Bill was sitting in a room\nwith several other leaders from Open Bible Central Region who were being\npresented with a new initiative to plant churches. He called me with excitement.\nCould this be the nudge the Holy Spirit had prompted us with so many months\nago? Was this whole thing bigger than adding a little person to our own family?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nwe looked at our circumstances and what it would take to plant a church, we had\nserious reservations. Our oldest son, Robby, was heading into his senior year\nof high school. Melanie was ready to get her driver\u2019s license. And then there\nwere diapers and bottles! It would just be too much. No one was pushing us to\ntake this step. We could have easily stayed put in our content little world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nisn\u2019t it just like our Father to give us the nudge . . . and then the shove\nwhen we need to step out in faith? Everywhere we turned over the next several\nweeks, there were signs, confirming words that new life always begets new life.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we were praying and seeking God\u2019s vision for a new church, we clearly heard Him say, \u201cI\u2019m creating something new,\u201d and a picture was painted on a canvas in our hearts and minds. We were His unfinished masterpiece, and He was giving us the brush to create something new. Our mantra became \u201ccreating new\u201d as we began to sketch out an eighteen-month plan to prepare, train for, and launch Canvas Church<\/a>, but God had a different plan. Just as human life takes nine months of growth and preparation for birth, God moved quickly and gave us nine months to bring this vision to fruition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the nine months since our launch date in January 2019, God has done incredible things, too many for this article to convey. We\u2019ve seen God create new relationships, new purpose, and new vision in our lives and community. We awaken each day watching our youngest grow in new ways and celebrating the new things God\u2019s doing in our lives. We are His work in progress. He has promised to finish what He\u2019s started. What is God creating that\u2019s new in you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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