I am so grateful to God for Church at the Bay and HIS plan for us! Our church is made up of hundreds of people who bring it every week in their attitude and service. I don’t blog much about numbers but here are some things that I enjoyed watching take place this weekend. By the way, school let out this week and so did many of our folks (vacations- yes!).

• 500 people worshiped with us
• 4 people indicated they committed their lives to Christ for the 1st time
• 40 adults attended Discovering the Bay
• Hundreds were served snow cones (I love the orange and green lips- my favorite-rootbeer)
• Over 100 kids got a better picture of how much God loves them!
• We had 2 new members in the band (did you notice!) and they can bring it
• Dozens of people who cleaned up after each service and set-up for Discovering the Bay

God is so good… I am having the time of my life chasing the dream we call Church at the Bay! Come on guys let’s saddle-up as God uses us to make Tampa a hard place to get to HELL from!

I shot out several tweets (follow me on Twitter) about church planters yesterday. Most of you know this, but for some this may be some fresh info. Two and 1/2 years ago we launched Church at the Bay in Tampa. It was a great launch and we give God all the credit. There were also people who coached and helped us along the way (partner churches and individuals especially Ron Sylvia, Nelson Searcy and Steve Stroope). Because of all the help I received and the principle of generosity, I believe CATB has a responsibility to help other church planters. As a church we have helped start several churches financially and with volunteers. BUT, the big surprise for me has been the “echo effect“. God has wired life to be an echo- what you send out you get back. I have discovered in my attempt to encourage and coach (I coach a network for Next) that I am the biggest receiver. Planters are huge risk takers- Faith livers! As I hang out with them, I find out that my faith is ignited.

There is another group that ignites my faith- Church at the Bay people! They have chosen a church not based on the best program, music or preaching. They have decided to invest in an IPO- which is always risky. They believe God has plans for huge impact for CATB and He has called them to invest. Because of that, they serve, give, invite and pray when others have moved on. I believe these pioneers at The Bay have eyes of Faith and my faith is fueled by the men and women . So CATB, let’s buckle up because:
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“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
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God’s Best
Hal Mayer