THE

Rising

Church

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The need for the Gospel to be preached throughout the world is great. As our own country identifies

itself less and less as a God-believing, church-participating, Gospel-proclaiming people – the need

for the Gospel here in America has increased significantly.

The Church – the bride of Christ – is the vehicle God has chosen and has given the responsibility

of proclaiming His glory and good works so that He may be made known throughout the world.

God has given us the calling and the vision to plant The Rising Church – a people transformed by

the Gospel, set apart for the glory of God and sent out for the salvation for the world. We are

excited to plant this church in the most affluent and influential area of the country – Northern

Virginia. Imagine the impact that could be made on our country and ultimately our world if the

people of Northern Virginia and the D. C. Metro area were consumed by the Gospel of Jesus

Christ.

This is what God has called us to do. He said, “Go!” so we are going.

Jason G. Lamb

Church Plant Pastor

The Rising Church

Jason, Neva, Christian, Brayden & Micah Lamb

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Why “The Rising Church?” Names carry great significance in Scripture. In the Old Testament the names of prophets and people were revealing descriptors of their lives and more importantly who God is. Isaiah: YHWH is salvation, Elijah: my God is YHWH, Zechariah: YHWH remembers, and Jeremiah: YHWH raises up – just to name a few. This same idea was true for us as we prayed over and discussed what we should name this church. We wanted something that would communicate the idea of mission and movement. A name that would indicate God’s purpose for His global Church embodied in what this local gathering of believers would be about. Through our prayers and seeking God we came to, The Rising Church. It creates beautiful imagery when you think about it:

We worship the risen God.

We desire to raise our voices and lives to Him in worship.

We want the Church to rise up amidst the culture with the mission of the Gospel.

We are called to raise up believers in their faith.

We want to raise up this generation in light of the Gospel.

We very much believe that hope is rising.

God has called us to be The Rising! All of this encompasses what we envision when we pray about, think about and plan for The Rising Church. In many ways our name communicates what the church is about but it is also the first step in defining the culture and DNA that will define us as a church. We are The Rising Church.

Vision

People…

TRANSFORMED by the Gospel.

SET APART for God’s glory.

SENT OUT on His mission.

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Values Gospel-Centered – The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only the beginning of the Christian faith, it is the sum total of every believers existence and experience. Everything begins and ends with the Gospel of grace and we will be a people that live this out. (Romans 1:16, 1 Cor 2:1-5) Grace – Grace and love are God’s greatest gifts to us. As we have received God’s amazing grace we want help others experience it as well. We are all broken. We are all hurting. We are all in need of being restored to God through Jesus Christ. We will be a people who demonstrate and give away God’s grace to those who so desperately need it. (Eph 3:14-21) Worship – We will be a people that pursue a high and lofty view of God! He is and will be the primary object of our affection. The love that we have for God will be expressed through God-honoring and singular focused worship of Him! (Is 6:1-8, Psalm 136, Matt 22:36-40) Transformation – We will be a people who desire to become more like Jesus Christ! We believe in Jesus for our salvation and that belief is also the foundation for the transformation that God desires to see in every believer through the work of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives. (Romans 8:26-30, Romans 12:1-2, Phil 3:7-14) Mission – We will be a people who take up the mission of God to redeem and restore the world to its Creator. Ultimate victory in this mission was achieved through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection and is now our message to proclaim to a lost and dying world. (Luke 19:10, Matt 28:18-20, 2 Cor 5:11-21) Family – We love and want to minister well to families. Whether you have a family of 1 or your family extends into double-digits we want to love and minister well to and through families. (Deut 6:4-9, Eph 6:1-4, James 1:27) Community – We have not been designed to go through life alone. We are designed to experience life in relationships with other people. We want every person who is part of TRC to belong to small group community. We also want everyone who is part of TRC to be involved in the life of our greater community through service and active participation. (Acts 2:42-47) Diversity – God loves all people and all people groups. The Gospel is for everyone. We want to be a church that reflects God’s love and the object of His love by being a body of believers that is made of every tribe, tongue, and nation that is represented in Leesburg, VA. (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8) Generosity – We are here to give it all away. We haven’t been set apart as God’s people to keep His love and grace to ourselves. Through our time, resources, and lives we want to give God glory by being stewards of what He has given us for his glory and not our personal gain. (Matt 6:21)

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Where to plant Determining where we would plant a church was a critical question that we prayed through early on in our process. God made it obvious to us to plant in Northern Virginia and affirmed that decision on our first site visit in November 2013. We made an additional trip in March 2014, which is when God gave us a vision and heart for the people and families of Leesburg, VA. God has revealed several reasons why Northern Virginia is where He is leading us to plant:

There is a great need for people in this region to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only 5.5% of residence in Loudon County identifies as evangelicals and over 60% of the population is unaffiliated with any religious body.

Diversity is great in this area and with that comes an amazing opportunity to reach people of every ethnic and people group. We strongly desire and will pursue being a church that is multi-ethnic in its reach.

We have a great deal of familiarity with the area, culture, and people. Jason spent his middle school and high school years here and the Lamb family invested 5 years of ministry in their early marriage at Providence Baptist Church in McLean, VA.

Jason was raised in a military family and has a great affinity for families who uproot and move due to occupational demands. He himself has moved 20 times in his life. This has given him a strong desire to minister to the people of Northern Virginia as so many families find themselves navigating these types of changes in life.

Potential Launch Site - John W. Tolbert, Jr. Elementary School

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NOVA by the numbers

2.8 million

residence 1/3 of the entire state’s

population 1

5.8 million in the entire DC

Metro area 2

7th largest

metropolitan

area in the

nation 2

63% White

13% Black

12% Hispanic

8% Asian

4% Other 4

Only 5.5%

of the

population

identifies itself

as evangelical 3

66.3% of the

population are

not originally

from the area 1

61.4% unaffiliated

with any

religious body 3

1 “Northern Virginia,” Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Virginia 2 Send America, Washington, DC http://www.sendwashingtondc.com 3 “Loudon County, VA” the ARDA http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/c/51/rcms2010_51107_county_name_2010.asp 4 “Leesburg, VA” Mapping America: Every City, Every Block http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

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Timeline

Spring 2014 Approved through the North American Mission Board as church planters

Final stages of approval with the SBC of VA

PLANT weekend #1 – church plant training provided by the SBC of VA

Seeking and praying for a Sending Church – a church that will sponsor and facilitate our church planting efforts.

Seeking and praying for Sponsoring Churches that will prayerfully and financially support our church for the first 2-3 years.

Recruiting prayer warriors , launch team members, and financial supporters.

Spring 2015

Launch public worship services for The Rising Church!

Fall 2014 Begin hosting vision casting and worship evenings to recruit launch team members.

Begin serving Leesburg through community-focused service projects.

Add a second small group.

Ongoing recruitment of Sponsoring Churches, prayer warriors, launch team, and financial supporters.

Winter 2015 Continue hosting vision casting and worship evenings to recruit launch team members.

Continue serving Leesburg through community-focused service projects.

Add 2 more small groups bringing us to 4 total in the New Year.

Ongoing recruitment of Sponsoring Churches, prayer warriors, and financial supporters.

Summer 2014 The Lamb family relocates to Leesburg, VA

PLANT weekend #2 – church plant training provided by the SBC of VA

Launch first small group.

Begin building strategic relationships within the Leesburg, VA with the help of our persons of peace.

Ongoing recruitment of Sponsoring Churches, prayer warriors, launch team, and financial supporters.

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Financial Goal Our first year’s financial goal is $190,000. These funds will help transition us into the area, allow us to get settled, and include our first 4 months of public worship services and operating expenses as a church. The North American Mission Board and the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia are pooling their resources into a $5,300 a month matching grant for our first year.

+ = $63,000

We have until May 28, 2014 to raise pledges that equal $3,000 a month so that the matching grant will become available to us. However, we have set an ambitious goal for ourselves to raise pledges that equal a total of $5,300 a month by May 28th which, combined with the NAMB and SBC of VA gifts, will equal 2/3 of our first year goal!

Your monthly support of The Rising Church will double itself through this matching grant. Email Jason at jasonglamb@gmail.com to learn how you can contribute.

+ + = $126,000

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Board of advisors Maina Mwaura, the PLACE Campus Pastor at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, AL.

Rob Kelly, Lead Pastor of Northern Hills

Christian Church in Brighton, CO.

Greg Stier, President and Found of Dare 2 Share Ministries Int’l and former church plant pastor of Grace Church, Arvada, CO

Launch Team

Jason & Neva Lamb, and their sons Christian (13) Brayden (4) & Micah (1), are excited to be leading out in this adventure and calling from God to plant The Rising Church in Leesburg, VA.

Zach & Tina Leonard, and their son Ransom (4), are making the move from East Tennessee to Northern Virginia to be a part of The Rising Church Launch Team! This amazing couple share passions in

Worship Arts and working with young people.

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Join The Rising ...by praying for The Rising Church We are completely dependent upon God and the work of His Holy Spirit in the launch and people the mission and vision of The Rising Church will never be accomplished. We covet your prayers! Will you join The Rising by committing to regularly pray for us?

...by giving to The Rising Church We fully believe that God is the One who will make the ministry of The Rising Church happen. In that, we are asking you to partner with us financially to help fuel this ministry. Our need $190,000 for our first year and $1.3 million over our first 5 years.

1-Time, Startup Gift – your financial gift will help us build momentum as we prepare to plant this church.

Monthly Financial Support – your ongoing support for 1 year or more will help sustain the ministry of TRC.

Sponsoring Church – your church’s partnership with us will fuel our ministry and help cultivate a kingdom-minded culture within our churches.

Sending Church – your church’s leadership and guidance for The Rising Church solidified by a commitment of at least $12,000 a year for 3-5 years.

Will you join The Rising by financially supporting us?

...by leading with The Rising Church In addition to prayers and finances we are seeking to recruit our Lead Team that will be part of all local preparations and execution of our pre-launch meetings over the next 9 months culminating in our public launch in the Spring of 2015. We are looking for people who want to be foundational in creating the culture of The Rising Church by living out being set apart and sent out in Northern Virginia. Will you join The Rising by leading with us?

Email Jason at jasonglamb@gmail.com if you would like to join our team in

any of the above ways!