We received some very exciting news this week that shows that God is definitely for us at Church of the Messiah.  This week the city inspector signed off on the next to last of his inspections that we will need to pass prior to worshiping in our new building!  With that signature in hand, David Monk and his team at ShayCore Enterprises have been able to begin sheet-rocking the ceiling.  As of Wednesday evening, they were more than 75% completed. We can see our new altar platform starting to be set into place!             Here is what will be out new “sound booth.”  No more shifting chairs around and setting up each Sunday morning.           Shaycore has installed some beautiful double-doors between the worship space and the hallway.  They may not look like much now, but wait until they are painted!  Speaking of paint, we expect the sanctuary to painted next week and carpet will go in very soon after that.     Finally, on Wednesday, we received this gentleman and 99 of his closest friends!  They are lining our hallway waiting for the construction to be finished in the new sanctuary so that they can be set in place. While you are probably thinking that it has taken forever to go this far and it will take even longer to finish, that is where you are wrong!  The permitting process is the longest part of the whole affair and after that everything else will go by so fast that you will hardly believe it.  Expect updates to be coming rapid fire beginning next week! We are planning an ALL HANDS ON DECK WORK DAY for Saturday, October 26.  We will need teams of workers painting the nursery as well as people trimming trees over the parking lot and helping to put the finishing touches on the new building. We will have many prayer needs in the process.   We still need favor with both the city inspector and fire marshal who need to finally sign off before we can move in.  We need there to be “no hiccups” in our electrical systems andand for there to be no more surprises as we draw to a close.  Also pray that God gives us  many hands to make light work of our finishing touches!

We received some crushing news today.  Many of you know Randall and Andrea Terry.  Randall was the founder of Operation Rescue and has been a pillar of the Pro-Life Community for decades.  Andrea led our Women’s Retreat a few years ago.  Both were members of Church of the Messiah for a season along with their four wonderful sons.  We heard news today through Fr. Terry Gensemer of CEC-for-Life that Michael Winston Terry, Randall and Andrea’s 10 year-old son has been diagnosed with cancer.  They are currently not sure of the specific type, but they know that the cancer has spread and is already at Stage 4.  This is, of course, incredibly serious, and Randall and Andrea have taken to social media to begin asking everyone to begin praying for their son.  Please add Michael Winston to your prayer list.  For more information, you can visit Randall’s web-page where he has set up a special section dedicated to Michael by clicking HERE.

THE LATEST UPDATE:  We received this word from Fr. Terry Gensemer today.  The doctors are 99% sure it is lymphoma. That is way better than ewing-sarcoma but Michael is still in a fight for his life. The Cancer has metastasized to his kidneys and pancreas.  Randall and Andrea are admitting Michael to John Hopkins on Thursday to begin Chemotherapy no later than Friday. Randall and Andrea beg your prayers, and thank you for your love and support.

This past Sunday, a long-time friend of Church of the Messiah Tamela “Tammy” Dugger went home to be with the Lord.  In the early days of Church of the Messiah, Tammy, along with her husband Buddy, served on the worship team for many years and also went on several worship missions along with many members of the Church of the Messiah worship department.  A memorial service will be held Friday, September 27, at 11 o’clock at Ft. Caroline Baptist Church (click HERE for a map).

Rest eternal grant to Tamela, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon her.

May her soul, and the souls of the the faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Tammy and many familiar faces on a worship mission trip.

Starting in two weeks, Jacksonville begins another 40 Days for Life Campaign!  40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigils to end abortion.

Beginning on September 25 and running through November 3, willing pro-life Christians will have an opportunity to sign up for an hour-long vigil outside the new, proposed Planned Parenthood location on Powers Avenue.  Click HERE to sign up for a time slot.

On Saturday, September 28, Christians throughout the city will participate in a Jericho March around the new, proposed Planned Parenthood location, marching on public sidewalks around the Planned Parenthood building at 5978 Powers Avenue (Click HERE for a map) six times offering prayer and praise to God Almighty, and pleading for an end to abortion in Jacksonville. On the seventh time we will shout with the victory that God is answering our prayers. We will start the March with an 8′ Cross of the Unborn, the Ten Commandments, the American Flag and the Christian Flag. This will be followed by the Pastors and church leaders from all different denominations.

This is always an amazing event! After the first Jericho March 3 ½ years ago, the Planned Parenthood location on Beach Blvd stopped doing abortions. The day of the second Jericho March, 5 babies were saved. Last fall, we held a Jericho March around the empty Planned Parenthood building, and, to this day, it remains UNOCCUPIED!  Also, since the first Jericho March in 2009, abortions have dropped to a 10 year low of 6,547.

If you are able to attend, please RSVP on the Jericho March Event Page on Church of the Messiah’s Facebook Page or by contacting Lizz Looker directly.

The August Ultreya is this Tuesday night beginning at 6pm.  It will be a very special Ultreya for two reasons.  First, in preparation for the upcoming Tres Arroyos #7, we will be preparing Palanca, so bring any artsy and craftsy supplies you might have from previous weekends.  Secondly, this is the last Ultreya that we will have at the home of Greg and Diane Looker (Click HERE for a map).  There will not be a local Ultreya in October because of the Tres Arroyos Weekends and, in Novemeber, we will begin having the Ultreyas at Church of the Messiah’s new building where we have plenty of space and an ample kitchen!  This Tuesday night, dinner is pot-luck and begins at 6pm with the grouping beginning at 7pm.  We will conclude with the Holy Eucharist.  The Ultreya is open to anyone who has attended Tres Arroyos or any other three-day retreat along the lines of Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, Awakenings, Lighthouse Via De Christo, etc…

The renovations have definitely begun in earnest at Church of the Messiah’s new building.  What was once a parish hall has been completely gutted!  The drop ceiling has been removed, the paneling has been removed from the walls, and the closets are gone completely.  All of this has been done in preparation to raise the ceiling, redo and repaint the walls, install a platform for our altar and re-carpet the sanctuary.

But the sanctuary is not the only room that is undergoing renovations!  The Ladies’ Office is up and running too.  The room received a brand new coat of paint before everything was moved in.  Carla, now fully recovered from her concussion and pancreatitis, is back to work behind her old desk and credenza.

The Computers are back on-line as well and so is the accounting department, although Janice refused to be caught in this picture.  Obviously, there is still a great deal of unpacking to do, but the office staff, with the incredible help of countless volunteers, is making great strides in getting the place together.

The have even put together a nice lounge in the lobby / foyer for anyone who wants to come and visit.  Construction will be going on for a few more weeks and, obviously, it will take a while before the office is back to its well-oiled precision it had before the move, but this building is quickly becoming our home.  There are still lot of opportunities to help out and plenty of time just to come by and see how to progress is going.  We still have the old office telephone number of 904-721-4199 but the new address is 3754 University Club Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32277 (Click HERE for a map).  If you have not seen the building, try to come by.  If you cannot manage that, keep checking in here and we will keep you updated with all of the latest information!

He may be the youngest retiree at Church of the Messiah, but it is true: Ethan Abbott has retired!  After twenty years of service in the United Stated Navy, Ethan retired on Thursday, August 29, 2013.  Ethan joined the Navy in 1993, the same year he graduated high school.  Having trained at Great Lakes, IL, Millington, TN, and Jacksonville, FL, Ethan reported for his first sea tour at Naval Air Station Widbey Island, WA, in 1995.  While stationed there he earned his Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist, qualified as a Microminiature Electronic Repair Technician and was advanced to Second Class Petty Officer.

In October of 1999, he reported for overseas duty at Naval Air Station, Puerto Rico. During this tour he served as work center supervisor and Avionics Quality Assurance Representative. He also completed an Associates Degree with Central Texas College.   In October of 2002, he reported for sea duty at Kaneohe Bay, HI. While checking in he learned that he had been advanced to First Class Petty Officer. During this tour he served as work center Leading Petty Officer (LPO) and Quality Assurance Representative (QAR). While attached to that squadron, Ethan made considerable contributions to the War on Terror, deploying multiple times to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations around the world.

In November of 2006, he reported to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD for his first shore duty. He was the Integrated Logistics Support Project Team Lead for Special Projects Patrol Squadron Platforms. Ethan was responsible for ensuring the fleet had up to date and accurate technical manuals and accomplishing this qualified him as an Acquisition Logistics Specialist.

In July of 2010, he again reported to Jacksonville, FL, for training as a P-3 Systems Organizational Career Maintenance Technician. Ethan then proceeded to his final sea duty tour  serving as the Line Division LPO, Work center LPO, QAR, and Maintenance Admin/Training LPO. During his final tour in the Navy, Ethan was instrumental in the squadron’s transition from the P-3C Orion to the P-8A Poseidon, also completed his Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from ECPI University.

We at Church of the Messiah already know that Ethan married his beautiful wife Peggy in 1995, and that together they have two wonderful sons: Orrin and Myles.  Join us all in congratulating Ethan and the Abbott family on a career well served in the United States Navy and thanking God Almighty for Ethan and the countless brave men and women like him who sacrifice of themselves every day so that we can enjoy the blessing of liberty.  Thank you, Ethan, and may God bless you and reward you for your service.

Please add Hunter Black, the son of Dean and Kim Black to your prayer list.  After graduating from Robert E. Lee High School, Hunter enlisted in the Air Force.  He was forward deployed to Adana, Turkey and we received word this week that Hunter will be in deployed to Incirlik Air Force Base, which would most likely be “ground zero” in any military  interventions taken against Syria.  Please keep Hunter, the Black family, and all all servicemen and women in your prayers.  We will keep you updated as we receive more information.

CALLING ALL MIGHTY MEN OF GOD–or anyone else with a truck or a van for that matter!  This Saturday, Church of the Messiah is moving our offices to our New Building.  In order to make the move, we need some folks with good strong backs to show up on Saturday morning at 8:00am and start unloading the old office.  We have rented a small moving van and have dollies and carts.  There is an elevator and a nice ramp outside the office, but we can use all of the help that we can get.  Many hands make light work and many vans and trucks make fewer trips!  We will meet at the OLD office at 8:00am (click HERE for a map). If you cannot make it until later call Fr. David at 904-860-9224 or Fr. Scott at 904-424-8597 to find out where we are and meet up with us.  We will unload at the NEW office (click HERE for a map) where will have lunch provided afterwards! We look forward to seeing all of the men of Church of the Messiah (and any of the friends they can gather together) on Saturday morning.