LifeSpring Blog

"Growing a Legacy" has been the theme for our building campaign for many years. Today, we are seeing that carried out in so many ways: Sunday attendance is growing and worship gatherings filling up. More people were baptized last year than in the last many years. New ministries have been launched, especially support groups and lay-led ministries such as Alongside. We completed our new children’s building and expanded lobby! What a beautiful, practical ministry tool it will be for decades to come. We have added new staff to help members do the work of the ministry. Yet, “Growing a Legacy” is not a one-and-done proposition. It is a continuing process; it is an ongoing commitment. It is a Christian lifestyle. So, join us in the effort to grow a legacy of love, service, giving, authentic community, and disciple-making. How? Keep inviting your friends, neighbors, classmates, and coworkers. Get connected in a LifeGroup or support group if you have not. Join the “Growing a Legacy” campaign by sacrificially giving to help pay off the mortgage of our new building. Be a part of leaving a legacy for generations to come! You can do this by marking an offering envelope or by giving online to the building fund. Find a way to serve your church. We will help you. Fill out a short interest form , and we'll be glad to help you. Pass on the faith. You are sent to “love, follow, and share Jesus.” Great days are ahead as we move the mission and His Kingdom forward! - Pastor Steve

Through our annual Christmas Global Missions Offering, we have the opportunity to make a difference around the globe for Christ—without leaving home. Every year at Christmas time, 50,000+ churches like ours who cooperate to form the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, collect an offering to send and support missionaries and church planters across the globe. Look at these 2023 highlights from the International Mission Board: 3,515 missionaries supported with comprehensive care 1,036 unique people groups engaged 879,798 people heard the gospel 141,206 new believers 116,992 baptisms 269,571 discipled 12,618 trained in church planting 100% of your gift goes straight for missionary support and ministries. 0% for overhead. Beyond our missionaries’ salaries, housing, and medical support, here are examples of what resources our Global Missions Offering provides: $10 buys diapers for 1 month for a missionary pregnancy center in Thailand $25 translates 1 verse into a modern Hindi Bible translation $70 prints 10 Bibles in a central Asian language $100 trains 33 local believers in trauma healing in Ukraine $200 buys 1 missionary family’s evacuation insurance policy $200 helps produce “The Savior,” an evangelistic film to reach Muslims $250 buys 125 Bibles in war-torn Ukraine $1,000 covers 1 Cuban national partner’s health insurance for 1 year $9,600 provides housing in Africa for 2 national partner families Our Global Missions Offering also supports some 5,000 church planting missionaries and chaplains with the North American Mission Board. These missionaries carry out evangelism, compassion, chaplaincy, and church planting work for the 281 million lost people speaking 350 languages who reside in the United States. LSC members and NAMB missionaries, Ryan Johnston and his family, are supported through this offering. Ryan leads church planting throughout the Midwest. Don’t leave Jesus out of your Christmas gifts this season. Consider giving Him the gift of sending and equipping missionaries around the world through this annual offering. Simply designate “Global Missions” on an offering envelope or check the box when giving online. Missionaries will be grateful, and Christ will be lifted up!

Church, let me share a joint message from pastors across the Omaha Metro, both the Heartland Church Network and Within Reach, about the confusing initiatives on the ballot on Election Day. This is not a political issue; it is a moral one, and pastors have the freedom and obligation to speak about this without violating any IRS rules. Here is the statement: We believe no party or candidate has a monopoly on Kingdom values, but we have a unique opportunity here in Nebraska to vote on two opposing non-partisan constitutional amendments on the ballot regarding abortion. Planned Parenthood is behind one. And they want the constitution to guarantee a right to abortion until nine months. Their initiative would remove all laws regarding how abortion is done or safety of women. It would remove the right of a woman to receive an ultrasound. It would allow young girls to get abortions without parental consent, and it would prevent our lawmakers from making any laws related to abortion. It would result in massive numbers of babies dying and thousands of women having personal related tragedies – both physical and mental. Why would they do this? Money. If abortion is legal, wild, and unregulated, they make a load of money. You can guarantee that they will pack the airwaves with deceptive ads. The pro-life forces are presenting another constitutional amendment that bans abortion after 12 weeks (except in cases of medical emergencies, rape and incest). It does not guarantee a right to abortion, in the first trimester, but it does prevent it in the second and third. Further, it keeps our laws on parental consent, ultrasounds and safer medical conditions. It isn’t a perfect law for those of us who oppose abortion at any age, but it is way, way better than the Planned Parenthood laws. The law is that the one that gets the most votes – over 50% wins. So we need to vote YES to the good one and NO to the bad one. A double no or double yes does not help. There will be tons of ads you’ll see in the next four weeks that are completely confusing. Even the ballot is confusing. So we want to help with clarity. We encourage you to vote FOR 434 and AGAINST 439. Remember this phrase “We are FOR 4-3-4.” And we say, “Nein to 4-3-9!” Nein is German for no… so we say, "Nein!" to 439. Friends, this is a cataclysmic issue for our time. Register and vote. Lives are hanging in the balance. Women’s health is hanging in the balance. Let’s do our part. We are FOR 4-3-4. Pastor Steve

Many of you saw the video and appeal for help last Sunday in our services: Zambia is experiencing a major drought; even the majestic Victoria Falls is drying up. The orphanage we support, New Day Orphanage, does not have adequate water for its orphans. So, we need to drill another well and construct a tower, tank, and water lines. The total cost of the project is $15,000. Our retirees, most on fixed income, raised about $2,000 just from an announcement at their monthly potluck. The rest of us can surely join their commitment to provide a well and clean water for orphans. LifeSpring Church has been involved in evangelism and church planting mission work in Zambia since before the New Day Orphanage was started by two couples, including Wes and Laurie Wilcox, members of LifeSpring. Since that time more than a decade ago, we have sent teams to serve at the orphanage, and many in our congregation have “adopted” an orphan at New Day through monthly support. Check out New Day at newdayorphanage.org To give to the well project, make your gift to LifeSpring Church, and designate it for the “New Day Well.” You can give through check or online . Pray about how God would have you give above your normal tithes and offerings for this worthy cause. We can make a difference! Pastor Steve

LifeSpring Church has always been an equipping church. Ephesians 4 tells us that the role of the pastors is to equip people to do the work of the ministry. The pastors want to equip you to be the minister that God has called each one of you to be! We want you to discover your spiritual gifts and then use these with your passions, abilities, personality, and experiences to serve the Body of Christ and the community. God also calls some to use their gifts in vocational ministry, as their part-time or full-time employment. We want to help these individuals discover and fulfill that calling of God. One of the ways that we do that is through interns and residents. We’ve had many interns over the years, helping out in worship, children’s, or student ministries. These are usually young people who want to investigate the ministry. Another way is through our pastoral residency program. This is for individuals who believe that God has called them to some type of vocational ministry, and they want training and mentoring. Let me introduce to you two of our newest residents:

Join us for our "Rooted" study for groups, starting September 8th!

"The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved." Jeremiah 8:20

Care Pastor at LifeSpring Church