The concrete around the entry and walkways is already poured and the stone barbeque that you see there will be made possible because we ran natural gas lines outside the wall of the building to allow for that. What can we say? We love to party!

*NOTE: For faster connections, you can watch it in high-definition by toggling the button in the bottom right-hand corner.

*NOTE: The video will automatically try to play at a quality based on your browser connection. However, you can watch it in high-definition or lower-definition by toggling the “HQ” button in the bottom right corner of the player once the video starts playing.

This is exactly the kind of thing that we couldn’t do before we had the property and we are looking forward to more events like this being held on-site right in the heart of our beautiful city in Syracuse.

*NOTE TO PASTORS – This video is available for download from our pastor’s section for showing in your church.

By now you have probably heard of the US Men’s Swim Team’s dramatic victory in the 400 meter freestyle relay. The French team had told the press before the meet that, “We’re going to smash the Americans. That’s what we came to do.” These words were spoken by French swimmer Alain Bernard, who was the current record holder for the 100 meter. He was going to anchor the French team, swimming the last 100 meters of the relay.

Things did not go well for the Amercans…in a relay, they rely on Michael Phelps to get them off to a great start and give them a lead. However, as Phelps completed his part of the relay, the Amercans did not have the lead. In fact, going in the last leg of the race, the Americans were still a length behind the French and it all came down to Jason Lezak…32 years old, against the world record holder Bernard, for 2 lengths of the pool.

By the time they touched the opposite end and began the last 50 meters, Lezak still had not closed the gap at all. This is the best part…it was at this point that Lezak looked at Bernard to his right and briefly abandoned hope.

“The thought really entered my mind for a split second,” Lezak said. “There’s no way.”

However, as soon as the thought entered, it was wiped away by quite a different perspective…

“I changed,” he said. “I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous. I’m at the Olympic Games, I’m here for the United States of America. I don’t care how bad it hurts, I’m going after it.’

Long story short, Lezak swam the race of his life…gaining on Bernard steadily over the last length of the pool, and at the end barely outtouched him…breaking the world record and giving America the gold.

Over the last year, I am sure the same thoughts entered the minds of many of us. I remember the meeting on Sunday morning where we all had a chance as a church to discuss the proposed purchase of property. For most of us, while we liked the idea, I think we exhibited the same momentary fear that Lezak had. There’s no way. We’re too small. We’ve never given over $5000/month and now we have to give over $8,000. We don’t have what it takes.

However, in spite of our fears we decided to press on, saying “This is ridiculous. We’re doing God’s work here. We don’t care how much it hurts, we’re pressing on by faith.”

In the end, it has been and will continue to be a tremendously rewarding experience.

I’ve posted the video of Lezak’s swim below. You gotta see it. I encourage you to thank God today for the opportunity He has given us to be a part of something so special.

I look forward to seeing all of you when I get back from Canada. Have fun this Sunday on the property. The tent has been reconstructed, and the location will get better every week. See you soon!

This is truly an answer to prayer and the beginning of the most exciting part of our church growth. Continue to pray and fulfill your pledges as we move forward. The first project will be getting the auxillary building ready to meet in and then we build!