God’s Faithfulness for 28 Years
November 12 marks the 28th anniversary of the founding of Eastridge Community Church. This morning I shared about the anniversary on the Covington Campus as part of the offering thought. Here’s what I shared:
Twenty-eight years ago this very morning, a group of about seven families stepped out in faith with the goal of starting a Bible-believing church unlike anything Newton County had ever seen. That first Sunday, we met at the home of our founding pastor, Rob Raynor. We sang some worship songs together, took Communion out of Dixie cups, and had a devotion, and then some of us got stuck watching the kids while the adults made some decisions about what we were going to be.
After our first service that day, my grandparents drove down from Marietta, where they had been in Sunday School and a service at their own church, and met us there at the Raynors’ house. They gave us the gift of our first Communion tray and some money to help start the church.
My grandparents, who would later move to Covington and become ministry partners here at Eastridge, were among the first in an unbroken line of faithful giving to support God’s kingdom through Eastridge Community Church.
Since November 1989:
We have opened two campuses on the east and south sides of Newton County.
We started a campus at Lake Oconee that spun off into a distinct church with two campuses of its own.
We have a Spanish-speaking ministry that is coming soon.
We have raised three sets of missionaries from this congregation and supported many others. Our global outreach stretches into Poland, Peru, India, Mexico, Ethiopia, and Honduras.
College students in Washington, DC who will be among the next generation of movers and shakers on the world stage will do so with the foundation of faith in Jesus.
Babies have been saved from abortion, the homeless have been given a second chance, and the chains of addiction and hurt have been broken.
Countless people have met Jesus through Sunday mornings, Thursday nights, children and student ministry, Trunk or Treats, Spring Flings, Christmas Eve services, and so many other venues.
All of this is possible because the Eastridge family gives so faithfully. Because you give, God uses us to bring hope and life change through Jesus Christ to this county and beyond.
I wish those of us who were there that first Sunday morning 28 years ago could thank all of you personally for giving. On behalf of everyone who stepped out in faith in 1989, thank you.