It has only just begun...

On September 21st at 11am The City community church had its first public service. It was amazing!
Our team small as it might be (17 people) did a phenomenal job getting everything just perfect. The signs outside, the welcome table, the setup and tear down, the ambiance and communion setup, the sound, video, band, children's ministry, and the reception afterwards, everything was not only well planned but well executed. I love working with these people, they are fun to be with, are extremely hard workers, and they love Jesus!
The coolest thing was how many of our friends from work, neighborhoods and service projects joined us for the service, it is really for them that we have started this church in and for Central Austin.
We are exhausted after weeks of intensive preparations, but we are thrilled!

Charter Service

On October 23rd 1985 Hill Country Bible Church Northwest was started by 17 people who committed themselves to see every man, woman and child in Greater Austin reached by the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. Twenty-three years later this commitment has led to 13 churches in the Greater Austin area who long to see God glorified in Austin by seeing men and women gripped by the grace and crazy love of Jesus Christ!
On September 7th 2008 once again 17 people stepped out in faith to see God glorified and people in Central / Downtown Austin gripped by the love of God, as we chartered THE CITY community church.
It was an incredible time as we worshipped together with elders, pastors, and members of various Hill Country Association churches. We even had 3 of the original 17 in attendance as we committed ourselves to God, one another, and the people of Austin.
God has done an incredible miracle in bringing us together from 7 nations, every socio-economic background, and various generations to start this community of faith in the city and for the city!

Commissioning Service 2

Our commissioning service was a really special time for us as a team. Now you can take a part of this experience by watching our commissioning service here!

Commissioning Service

Today marked a major milestone in our journey to start a new church in Austin. Our team of 19 adults and 10 kids was commissioned this morning by our mother church Hill Country Bible Church Northwest. It was a moving moment to stand together with our team in front of several thousand people at HCBC Northwest being prayed for by the current and former elders of the church and send out to continue the vision to reach every man woman and child in Greater Austin with the life changing reality of Jesus Christ.
This closes a chapter of our lives, namely the Residency phase at HCBC. We are being lovingly kicked out of the nest to see more people impacted by the grace and love of God. For our church-plant, the City community church, that means in particular the people of Central Austin. We are now gearing up for our public launch on September 21st 2008, excited to see what God has in store for us!
www.thecityaustin.com

Soft Launch

Sunday August 3rd marked the first service in our soft-launch series that will lead us to our public launch on September 21st 2008. We will be having services on August 3rd, 10th, 24th and September 7th and 14th before we publicly launch THE CITY community church!
We wanted to gain an idea for how the room would feel, how long our setup might take and some of the other logistics involved in transforming a school cafeteria into a cool space for a church. And mind you this is not your average school cafeteria!
Baker School has a theatrical stage in their cafeteria, and high 50ft. ceilings which will make the space incredible once our team gets done with it.
Over 30 people showed up to our first installment of THE CITY's soft-launch and we had a great time celebrating communion, worship and the first message in a series on Prayer: HOW NOT TO PRAY... Part two will be Prayer: How Jesus taught us, Part three is Prayer: Persistent Prayer.
We are so excited to finally be meeting in our space and can't wait to invite our neighbors, co-workers and friends to join us for church.

THE CITY's NEW HOME Part 2

With our new home at Baker school in place we are now able to order equipment to run our services. Audio, Video, Hospitality, Children's ministry, and nursery items all need to be selected, ordered, organized and prepared for setup on a weekly basis.
One of the things that is such a God-thing is that the school allowed us to use 200 of their chairs which saves us roughly $10,000. The administration team also provided us with space to store our gear on a weekly basis which means that we are able to do without the customary trailer many church-plants have to deal with. Our church-plant in Round Rock had to spend $17,000 on their two trailers and that was after receiving a $6,000 credit for giving an old trailer to Church On Wheels. A normal and necessary expense for a mobile church, but thanks to God not one we will have to incur.
We are so blessed to be located right in the heart of the city and are excited to see what God will do through this new church. Tomorrow, July 27th we will be in the building for the first time to pray in the different rooms and to strategize setup, signage and traffic flow for our services.
Next Sunday, August 3rd we will be soft-launching our services. I am excited to see what it will be like to run our first actual service in Downtown Austin. Pray for us please!

THE CITY's NEW HOME Part 1

Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for our church. We just confirmed a location for our new church.
We will be meeting on Sunday mornings at Baker School, which is located at 39th and Guadalupe in Central Austin. The location could not be any better and the facilities are wonderful.The school was built in 1911 and is a great historical building. It no longer houses a school but instead is home to the District Offices of Austin ISD.

Connecting at Central Christian Church

Thank you to all of you guys at Central. It was great to see your smiling faces and to reconnect with so many of you. Many of you came up to tell me that you are praying for us - I so appreciate it! I believe more than ever that we are in desperate need for the prayers of God's people so He can be glorified through our work in Austin.
Thank you so much to Chris and Dennis for hosting us the whole time - your house and family felt like home and we love you! Garrett - when are you coming out to check out UT?
Please keep on praying for us as we are entering the launch phase of church-planting!

We are coming to Central tonight and tomorrow!

Matthias, Andrea, Robby & Crystal will all be at the services this weekend!! Matthias will share an update in the Gallery. We would love to see you all there.

Austin, We have Permission to Launch!

As of this morning at 8am THE CITY community church has officially been green-lighted for launch!

After extensive presentations with the church-plant team of Hill Country Bible Church during the last several weeks and 8 months of prayer, evangelism, building a Core team and connecting within the community, I met with the elder board this morning for a final presentation.

The elders of HCBC Northwest had just a few more questions today and have joyfully given us the green light to launch THE CITY. Having officially welcomed us as launching a new daughter church these men laid hands on us to pray for us trusting that Jesus will indeed build his church in Austin.

I am so excited right now and I am honored to serve Jesus in the great city of Austin!

LET THE NATIONS BE GLAD!

I know it's been a while since I have updated you guys on the progress of our CORE team. And some of you are wondering if it is still just Robby and Crystal and Andrea and I. Well I told you about Todd joining our team and moving to Austin but I really need to update you on all the new individuals making this new community of Christ followers in Central/Downtown Austin a reality.
Last night we had a CORE team meeting and we had people from 7 nations sitting at the table. It is crazy but in a very real way we are seeing a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-generational team take shape to reach the city of Austin.
Just last night we had people from Canada, El Salvador, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, USA, and Germany. And that is just our CORE team. In addition to this we had a law-professor from Israel attend our small group and a young man of Chinese ancestry.
I love it!

Jesus Alone

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the privilege to be sent by HCBC to a conference in NYC. Thank you to the team that deemed it appropriate to invest in me through this conference and thank you to the people of Hill Country Bible Church for their gracious support of the ministry I am a part of!
The theme of the conference was DWELL based on the passage in Jeremiah that speaks about the remnant of the Jewish people in exile to dwell in the city and seek it's welfare. But in my opinion the title could have just as well been Jesus alone.
Each speaker in his own way brought church planting in our urban centers back to this one theme: JESUS ALONE!
CJ Mahaney spoke about humility (he has a great book out on this topic: click here) which really speaks about laying aside my pride and self-will and the need for me to let Jesus have preeminence in everything. Mark Driscoll spoke of "dwelling in the text" the idea of loving Jesus passionately and loving him through being in His word. He spoke of the dangers of being in the word for the sake of a sermon or a good marriage or good parenting or even a good church. But the bottom line is that we must read the Bible because we love Jesus passionately and we encounter Him in scripture. To put it succinctly: You have to know and love Jesus and in order to do that you have to in scripture often and intentionally. JESUS ALONE!
Darrin Patrick asked the question, "do I have non-christian friends" but we might as well phrase his question am I being like Jesus to the people around me? Do I love them and care for them individually just as Jesus loved and cared tax collectors and prostitutes? Living missionally or living like Jesus: JESUS ALONE!
Tim Keller spoke several times in typical intellectual Keller fashion (I loved it...), but his key message was about the elements of the Gospel. Tim distilled the Gospel to it's core message naming three core elements: Manger - Cross - Crown. Jesus' Incarnation, His Death and His Exaltation! JESUS ALONE!
I want to keep that mindset always before me, planting a church is hard work, and it it exhilarating and it is fun and stressful, but ultimately it is about JESUS ALONE! He is worthy of all my efforts, and making the church all about Him and His glory is naturally create a church concerned for people's welfare, the poor, social justice, civil rights, environmental issues, etc. but not as ends in themselves but as natural byproducts of people making it their primary aim to love and exalt JESUS ALONE in everything they do!

New York City

I spent the last three days in New York City, and I must say that I fell in love with this behemoth of a city. I have been in major cities all over the world, Berlin, Moscow, Taipei, Calcutta, Delhi, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Mexico City to name a few. I grew up in Frankfurt Germany, no small town by any stretch of the imagination, and I live downtown Austin, but this city is on an entirely different level. New York defines metropolitan, it is jam packed with people from every nation on earth and it captures the imagination of people the world over. While I've travelled the world I had never been in this amazing city and I must say until you've seen NYC you haven't lived (alright that is a gross overstatement, but hey I'm trying to make a point).

Four of us from Austin were in NY for a conference on urban church-planting put on in collaboration between Acts 29, a church-planting network out of Seattle started by Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Seattle), and Redeemer Presbyterian, a church in Manhattan led by Tim Keller. The conference was called Dwell and had an incredible lineup of speakers, including Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, CJ Mahaney and Darrin Patrick. More on the conference in another post...

The sessions ran from 9am to 9pm and we did our best to see the entire city between 9:30pm and 2am. Seeing the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and Central Park in person for the first time was an incredible experience. We walked for miles taking in as much as possible. Ground Zero was eerie and impacting even 7 years after September 11th, while the view from the top of the Empire State building is still edged in my mind.

Website

Hey Friends -
thank you for all your prayers.
We just went live with our website and would love for all of you to check out what we are doing.
The website can be found at http://www.thecityaustin.com/

Alamo

Well, we live in Texas and around here THE ALAMO has tremendous significance. Now it has a double meaning since we have just gotten a brand new puppy. He is a silver Labrador named Alamo and he is just about the cutest thing you have ever seen.

Raising a puppy is a little like when our kids were little - a lot of work, but boy can you meet a lot of people and effortlessly get into a lot of conversations in the neighborhood, or at our kids games, so I guess he is our "missional" puppy!

Home Sweet Home

Thank you all for your prayers over the past couple of weeks and months in regards to our home search.

I am very excited to be able to say we just got keys to a little home in Austin this afternoon. We will be leasing a little 3 bedroom house for the next 12 to 15 months. The kids are excited to finally have a place they will be able to call home for a while. It is small but very cozy, old but in a classy sort of way, and it even includes a good sized back yard for the kids long awaited dog (more on that later).

The best part is its location. The house is located in the very heart of Austin in the Rosedale neighborhood only a half a mile from our target point at Lamar and West 45th street in Central Austin. It is within walking distance to a great bakery, several cool coffee shops and an amazing brew house called the Drought Horse (oops - I guess my Germanness just came out...)!

Andrea, the kids and I have been praying for a long time about being in the city. Until now we just couldn't find a place that we either could afford or that could accommodate our large family. So we were looking in the suburbs, locating huge, brand new, wonderful homes. Did I mention they were cheap? Well every time we looked at these amazing houses we came back to the same conclusion: "We have got to be in the city!" God has called us to the city and in order to start a church in the heart of Austin we have got to be a part of the city's life; live in it, breathe it's air, rub shoulders with the people that live there, play at the same parks, eat at the same places, shop in the same stores, and develop a love for the place like one can only have for his home.

SO, here it goes...

OPEN LETTER

Dear Friends of THE CITY community church –

We live in an era that has been described by sociologists as a Creative Revolution. Much like the industrial revolution, of the early 1900’s the late 1990’s and the early part of the 21st Century, can be described as an era of revolution. The industrial revolution marked a move to the cities as technology and factory labor drew masses to the urban centers of the world, resulting in overcrowding, poverty, crime, and other so called urban problems. Those who could afford it fled the cities and created the modern phenomenon of suburban life along with soccer moms and mini-vans.
We are currently encountering a return to the city and what sociologist Richard Florida calls the “Rise of the Creative Class”. More and more people are active in the creative occupations, and we are not only speaking of artists, musicians and entertainers, but also doctors, lawyers, software engineers, etc. Those creative people tend to gather in large urban areas that are conducive to creativity and change, bringing along with their creativity, innovation that impacts society and ultimately creates culture. These creative centers of innovators and culture shapers include cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC/Baltimore, Raleigh North Carolina with its Triangle Research Park, Portland and Austin.
As a matter of fact, Austin, which was recently ranked by Forbes as the fastest growing metro area in the United States, has overtaken San Francisco as the most creative city in America. Here centers of government (Austin is the Capital of Texas), entertainment (Austin is nicknamed the live-music capital of the world and is second only to LA/Hollywood in movie making), High Tech (Dell Computers, Samsung, and various software companies are located in Austin as well as major gaming companies such as EA games etc.), and education (the University of Texas at Austin has nearly 60,000 students) dominate the sociological landscape and give rise to tremendous creativity and innovation.
We are dreaming of impacting our culture by reaching the culture shapers of Austin with the Life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. This next generation of leaders and influencers are our primary target group.
In order to accomplish this with the very limited funds of a startup venture we are coming to you to ask you to partner with us for the sake of the kingdom of God here in Austin.
Robby Forsythe a talented musician and seasoned pastor has given up his secure well-paid pastoral position with full benefits and the security and prestige of a multi-thousand person congregation in Southern California in order to help us accomplish this mission in Austin, Texas. He is working various positions in the marketplace here in the city, but to make the most of his abilities and time for the sake of this church-startup we would like to raise his salary and insurance through tax-deductible donations from individuals like you.
Would you pray about partnering with us, please? You can pledge a monthly amount, or send a one-time gift. No amount is too small (or too large ;-)) Send your tax-deductible gift to HCBC c/o Matthias Haeusel at 12124 RR 620 N, Austin, TX 78750. Please make checks out to THE CITY community church, with the words ROBBY FORSYTHE in the tag-line.

Thank you for partnering with us for the Gospel of Christ!


Matthias P. Haeusel
Senior Pastor
THE CITY community church

Financial Support

WOW!
There are a number of you who have been financially supporting us anonymously - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
This is huge to us and helps us do what we need to accomplish in Austin.
I am deeply appreciative for your partnership in the Gospel!

THANK YOU

Hey everybody -
thank you so much to everybody who is praying for us. This is quite an adventure we are on here in Austin and we are quite aware that we need your prayers to make it through.
We have been preoccupied with gathering a CORE team, meeting new people who are far from Jesus, planning strategically how this church is going to operate and function, where to meet and not least importantly where to put down our heads at night.
In all this I am more and more aware that what we are trying to do is going to need as much prayer support as possible, because what we are trying to do is invade the territory of the enemy of God! I am comforted that Jesus says "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not be able to stand against it..." But I realize more than ever that we are in the middle of a spiritual battle. I am not trying to be mystical here or see a demon in every bush but there is very much a spiritual reality to what we are trying to accomplish, and for that I would love your prayer support!

Austin-Fastest growing city in America!

This is so exciting! Forbes magazine just ranked Austin as the fastest growing metro in the country! How great to be in the midst of amazing growth. Pray God will use this church to impact thousands in Austin and beyond! The link to the article:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/30/economy-cities-alabama-biz-cx_bw_0130econcities_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=25000

Latest Message

Matthias had an opportuinity to speak at HCBC Pfluegerville -
God Keeps His Promises: An overview of Exodus

I love this guy!

What a city!

Hey everybody, this is Robby.
Right now i'm sitting on the patio of a place called Spider House. It is a funky coffee shop/bar/hang out spot. Its about 1am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. There is a dj spinning really cool atmospheric music. I am surrounded by a few hundred people who remind me of Daniel Schaaff or Randy Baranosky, and they don't look like they're thinking of going home anytime soon. I live about four blocks away. Right now I'm working on revisions for our church web site on my laptop. It's going to be awesome! The website will be at thecityaustin.com. It should be up in a week or two. I love this city!

Is anything too difficult for the Lord?

As I was reading through Genesis 18 today, I was struck by Sarah laughing at the Word of the Lord. She thought it impossible, and almost silly, for God to give her something so amazing. An heir which He had promised long ago. To her, the renewed promise of a child seemed to come too late. She had longed for a child in her early years. She had no doubt wrestled with God on why, if Abraham was promised heirs, did she not have one? She had even tried to speed up the process, and made Hagar have a son with Abraham. She thought she could hurry the process and get on with the promise. To her, the promise of the heir and blessing was more important than the process. So her response to this long awaited promise, was nervous laughter. God waited to answer her personal prayers in a completely different way, and at an unexpected time.

How often do I laugh at the provision of the Lord? How often do I completely miss the provision of the Lord because it isn't in the form I prayed for? How often do I try and "hurry up" the Lord and fix the situation on my own? So far, church planting is really challenging . However, I believe that the prayers Matthias and I have prayed are being answered. Honestly, where we are in the process of church planting is extemely trying. We don't see how in the world we will find a house in Central Austin, in the next 6 weeks. We have no idea how we will meet hundreds of people to start the church. Over the last week, I started to question our circumstances and found myself "laughing" as Sarah did. My flesh wants to hurry up the process to get on to the promise of a new church plant in Austin. God accomplished everything in Sarah that He desired in His perfect time, for His perfect glory. I long to not question the circumstances, but always believe God for who He is, not what He does or how He does it.
Thanks for all of your prayers!!! Andrea

Milestones

Well, we are now in January of 2008 which means that we have about 8 months until we are to launch our new church.
In order for that to become a reality we will have to see God's miracles over these next weeks and months.
Some of the critical milestones we need to see happen in the next 4 or so months are the following:

1. Prelimiinary Launch Plan and Budget by January 15th
2. Missional Core at 10 people by February 29th
3. 100 Prospects by March 31st
4. 200 Prospects by April 30th
5. 50 Gatherables by May 31st

This means that our small team of core members will essentially immerse itself in the community in every possible way. Meeting neighbors and mechanics and waiters, and hair-dressers and teachers and people at the gym and people we do service projects with and... Well, I think you get the idea. We believe that God has prepared people's hearts in Austin to receive his love, our job is simply to find those he has prepared and be a conduit of that love to them. Sounds easy enough, huh? Well it is not and it includes finding a lot of people who are rather hostile to that love! So pray for our team to be faithful in sharing Christ's love with the people we come in contact with and to be connected with the right people to see this city reached with the good news of God's love and mercy.

Another New Message

Hey guys -
I told some of you how I had to speak at one of our Hill Country Churches down at the University of Texas with 3 hours notice a couple of weeks ago. Some of you have asked about that sermon.
You can find it at http://www.hcbcut.com/sermon_podcasts.php if you are an itunes user you can go to itunes and look up HCBC UT.
It is the message from Dec. 16th titled "Advent: LOVE"