In 25 days, Restore Community Church begins a new chapter in the Sterling Community. October 25, 2009 is the Grand Opening for Sunday morning gatherings. It's the day that we have dreamed of for 10 years, the day we have planned for the last 3 years, and the day we have been building through community service for 12 months.

Please pray for the 40,000 families that will be receiving an invitation to come to Restore Community Church on October 25th.

Please pray for the team of men, women and children who are actively involved in Restore today - who will be the front lines of welcoming and serving in programming and KidQuest on October 25th.

Now please watch this 1 minute video to see what God is doing through Restore - www.restoringcommunity.com

Here are a couple of other glimpses of what God has been doing in the last two weeks alone.

Over the last two weeks Restore has been part of project Replenish. The goal of which was to restock LINK - the emergency food pantry for Sterling. On a Saturday morning we passed out close to 1,200 grocery bags, giving families 1 week to fill them with needed items. The following Saturday we gathered to go back and collect bags - we weighed in with just over 1,200 lbs. of food. Read closely the words of LINK coordinators...

"Thank you so much for the food collection your organization accomplished for Link. It came at a time when our shelves were getting somewhat empty. Before you arrived here we were down to our last roll of toilet paper and last 2 rolls of paper towels and with what you have brought us we are now more than replenished!"

Two weeks ago our team spread across the rows of seats in our adult meeting space, children's meeting space and welcoming area to pray for those who will soon be visiting Restore for the first time. Then we divided into four teams driving to the four corners of our target area, where 40,000 families live, work and play. At each location, teams gathered to pray for Sterling and simultaneously drive stakes into the ground claiming Sterling for the work of God's hand. 

Our corners were comprised of the LCPS Department of Education Building in Ashburn, our county hospital in Lansdowne, a playground in a Lowes Island neighborhood and a regional park in Herndon. Thanks for praying us through this journey - remember it's only just begun!  

Restore Community believes it’s time for the church to exit the building to unleash God’s generosity in the community and live Jesus’ mission. God’s resources are to be used to meet the needs of the people He loves. And through His love we live His mission by working with Jesus to restore people to a right relationship with God and others. The leaders of Restore Community Church plan to multiply and empower people who are serving others in the context of the community and church. This involves promoting spiritual growth through mentoring relationships and movement into various areas of church life.

M. Gunderman Note: I first met Pastor Ron Klabunde last November. We talked about the folks living in need in Sterling and how our ministries could benefit the community by networking and sharing resources. Restore Community Church is the real deal as the congregation has already assisted LINK and Good Shepherd Alliance ministries several times this year. Since 2007 I have been feeling the coming of a church revival in Loudoun County. From Sterling to Round Hill, from Loudoun Heights to South Riding, the awakening has begun.