Clint Bieri

living the call together

Dear Prayer Partners and Friends,

The first month of the church planting residency has been wonderful.  I have been learning a ton and I have many things to tell you that are very cool. Christina’s job continues to go well and she is enjoying her jigsaw puzzles and cross-stitching very much! So far, I would say that lead pastor Josh Franks and I are a good fit in ministry and I am taking a lot away from our staff meetings and prayer times.  Christina and I are truly blessed to have you praying for us and we are praying for you – that you would see God do mighty and wonderful things in the days to come.

Preaching at Center Pointe

I had the honor of preaching my first message at Center Pointe Church on Valentine’s Day.  I would say that speaking there was very encouraging and yet I definitely felt that I didn’t hit my rhythm as a communicator (Christina would say that I wasn’t quite comfortable).  But even though I wasn’t at the highest comfort level, I know that comfort will come quickly and I had a great time teaching about God’s love that endures forever from Psalm 136.  Feel free to listen the message if you like online or download it to your iPod.  I am looking forward to preaching again on Palm Sunday in a message series called Enter the City, Exit the Tomb.

Eternal Conversations

It has been some time since I have been able to share the gospel openly and last week Pastor Josh and I had a great time with two guys from Centerburg.  One of the men had yet to come to a Center Pointe Worship Gathering (until this past weekend).  He has little knowledge of Jesus but has openly said that he wants to know more.  Please pray that God would draw him to himself and also that God would use the people of Center Pointe to lead him to Jesus!  The other gentleman has lived a rough life which he is currently struggling with.  He is trying to “be religious” but as Josh and I were able to share with him, Jesus is bigger than his sin.  Please pray that God would show himself bigger and stronger than this man’s condition and that he would allow Jesus to heal him eternally. This has been a great thing to be a part of and I can’t wait for more conversations like these.

What a month of work has yielded

In the Month of February I had the opportunity to be a part of a large project as well as teach a class forTuesday University.  The project was to redesign the Center Pointe website (www.centerpointecma.com) and to integrate things like sermon audio and church calendar so as to make it extremely useful for those who call Center Pointe home.

Driving, Driving, and more Driving

It seems like all we do is drive and put fuel in our vehicles of late!  Christina is still working in Columbus (which is a real blessing) and I am making the next hour drive north to Centerburg.  I am estimating that we are driving about 880 miles per week just back and forth to work!  Christina and I are filling our time by listening to an audio Bible, talking and listening to music. It is definitely draining having to be in the car this much but we know that this is a part of the journey (literally) that God has us on.

Beginning stages of being ordained

One of the many blessings we are now seeing in being with the Central District of the C&MA is that I have the honor of going through a two year ordination process.  It will be challenging but I have been looking forward to this for about 5 years and now the time has come!

France and Kosovo – European Training

God has given me the opportunity to go France and Kosovo in Europe this April!  I can’t believe I will have this type of opportunity! The over-all purpose of this trip is to see the impact of Post-Modernism on the culture and also see a Post-Christian culture. As we interact with missionaries from both countries the 8 of us who are going will be trying to apply these things in our contexts in Ohio. Unfortunately, Christina is not going to be able to go with me, but I will bring her back something nice!  I will be in Europe for 14 days beginning on April 11 and returning on April 26, 2010.  I will be posting many updates on Facebook and Twitter as well as www.clintbieri.com so that you can stay up on all the action.

Prayer Requests:

• The selling of our house at 520 Buttercup Ave. Please ask God to sell this for us so that we can be more fully involved in what God is doing at Center Pointe Church.
• We desire to have more relationships with people in the Centerburg community.  Please ask God to help us connect with the people so that we might win them for Jesus.
• As I have said above we are on the road a lot.  Please thank God with us that He has kept us safe so far and ask that he would continue to do so.
• We are still actively seeking people to partner with us in the following ways:

1. Partners who will pray with us and for us.  Our goal is 300 people in the next year.
2. Partners who will support Christina and I financially.  If you are interested in contributing please follow this link.
3. Partners who will join us in church planting in Columbus in two years.  If you would, please set your alarm and pray Luke 10:2 with us at 10:02 AM each day – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” We joyfully anticipate those the Lord will call to join us as we go into the harvest field in Columbus.

The month of March looks to bring just as much excitement as February brought our way.  We are thankful for how God is providing for us, teaching us and helping us along in this adventure of church planting! Thank you again for being a part of the journey!

Clint and Christina Bieri