Kevin Simmons

Personal Updates

It's Going To Get Better

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UPtoNOW

As we entered March our church was in the middle of it’s first significant crisis.
During the weeks prior a few families that were so very pivotal in our start decided to back away. This was something that I was prepared for, because research shows that it’s very difficult for families to be there before, during, and after the start of a new church. Even though I was prepared for it, I was unsure how our young church would respond.
God spoke very clearly to me in the middle of this and told me this:
“You will not only survive, you will be better because of this.”
I’ve stopped trying to define things for God. When God tells me it’s going to get better, I simply trust that however it “gets” is “better”.
So… at that point I had no idea of what to expect, but I knew that I could trust Jesus.
March was fairly normal… until Easter.
In January I had taken a job to help fill a position at a local middle school helping students that were struggling academically. I was stretched and tiring. Gradually, I was seeing that our church belonged to Jesus, and no matter how hard I worked (or didn’t work), He had plans for us.
On Easter, 27 people committed their lives to Jesus at Vortex. We didn’t do any marketing. We didn’t send out mailers. We didn’t promote it on Facebook. Our people just invited other people.
And of those who committed their lives… many of them were for the first time.
That Sunday became a catalyst for an amazing Spring season.
We had our largest month in April, averaging 134 in attendance.
In April and May we started small groups. We started seeing people love on one another in a real and meaningful way. Our small groups were only scheduled to meet for about 8 weeks, but many chose to push beyond that.
As we approached the summer, it was becoming obvious:
God was doing something special at our church.
God’s idea of “better” is always different than ours. That’s why the Gospel is “good news”: because we’ve defined “better” so poorly, the Gospel of Jesus redefines it for us.
Jesus always knows what’s “better”. It’s our job to simply trust and follow Him.

Some Stories Are So Good…

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Some stories are so good, only God could write them…

That’s exactly what has happened in the last few weeks as Vortex Church launched
in Albemarle, NC.

The simple truth is this: God has done something completely amazing.

Personally, September 9th was one of the most incredible days of my entire life. On that day something that Jesus began in my heart over two years earlier came alive.

While it’s rewarding to believe in something, sacrifice for it, and work faithfully to see a vision become a reality… let me confirm a suspicion you might have already:
Vortex is being built by Jesus.

What is happening at Vortex is so far beyond me.
We have an amazing staff, but what is happening is far beyond our staff.
Our volunteer team is simply amazing, but… this story is bigger than all of us.

On September 9th, 243 people assembled to celebrate Jesus in our first public worship service. That number is simply humbling, but it’s what Jesus has done… not us.

On our first Sunday Jesus saved 15 people! Since then we’ve experienced salvations each week. In our first six weeks at Vortex, 23 people have given their lives to Jesus… many of them for the FIRST TIME!

I want to thank the many of you that have prayed for Vortex. Prayer is born out of the realization that God alone can do what we’re asking, and it’s so obvious that God is up to something amazing at Vortex.

I’m humbled that God would allow me to lead such a precious group of people.
It’s truly an honor to be their Pastor.

The story that God’s writing at Vortex isn’t over… in fact, its just starting! I honestly can’t wait to see what He does, because the greatest stories are written by Jesus.

Over the last few months I’ve been obsessed with this small passage of scripture. It’s what God is continually convincing us of, and a prayer that we all need to pray occasionally:
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16-21)

This story HAS been more than we could have ever asked, dreamed, or imagined. Let Jesus get ALL the honor, the glory, and praise for what is happening at Vortex Church!

It’s His story, and His stories are always amazing.

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A Family Update

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Family Updates are a way for us to keep you updated on what’s happening in our family. Like most young families, there’s always something new to share…

FAMILY UPDATE | August 6, 2012

 An Update On Vortex…

God writes amazing stories, if you let Him. That’s exactly what’s happening as our church prepares to launch. Our launch team is growing, and we’re hearing amazing stories from those who are helping us. So,we’re getting ready to launch on September 9th at Eastgate Cinemas in Albemarle, NC.
I can’t describe the excitement that surrounds preparing for launch. I’ll be sharing more about that in the coming weeks, but let’s just say: there are sleepless nights, lots of work to be done, and big prayers to be prayed in the next 5 weeks!!!!

Amanda & Myself…

Amanda is pretty much amazing. She’s still working so that we maintain a source of steady income. She comes home every day and takes care of me and Adahlae. She’s an amazing mother, but who expected anything less?
Marriages are tried during the planting season of a church, and we’ve certainly had our tensions to walk through. God has been so faithful to send supporting, loving people to help us out. Our mothers watch Adahlae each day, which is an incredible amount of help. We’ve also intentionally taken time to invest in eachother. We’ve learned through the years that even in the midst of some craziness, you can back up and take a break. So, please continue to pray that God protects us, because this last month is going to be CRAZY!!!!

Adahlae….

She’s amazing. I love being a Daddy. Her little personality is emerging more and more, and we’re excited because she loves to laugh, loves people, and is MOTIVATED!!!
It’s been my prayer as a Daddy that we would love her well enough that the affections of this world wouldn’t be attractive to her. I’m learning that as a parent: all you can do is all you can do. You’re not in control; Jesus is. We’ve got to trust Him with our kids!
Since she was in her momma’s belly I’ve prayed that God would use her. He already does. She can’t be in a room without getting people’s attention and trying to make them smile at her. I believe this little girl is going to love people in a very powerful way, and it’s still my prayer that God uses her as force in His kingdom.

Final Thoughts…

Life gets crazy sometimes. The idea of living a ‘balanced’ life is all too often an excuse to not do something we don’t want to. Life balances itself out over time. Right now is a season of CRAZY! If I refused to do the work it takes to make this what it needs to be, I’d be failing my calling. So… pray that I (and my team) stay focused on what matters.
In case you didn’t know… what matters is Jesus. This season isn’t about our family sacrificing to start a church. It’s about our family sacrificing to respond to Jesus. Jesus is the ULTIMATE priority, and He’s what we’re ultimately chasing!
Call me if we haven’t talked in a while. I’ve been busy.
I love you!
-Kevin
 

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I Hate Moving: An Update

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I thought it would be good to share a bit of what’s been going on over the last few weeks.
First up: we’ve moved. On February 18th our stuff was loaded in Chapin, SC and unloaded in Locust, NC. The home that we’ve lived in for over five years, that we grew a family in, was empty and our stuff has found a new place.
This move wasn’t sudden; it’s something we’ve been working towards and planning for a very long time.
God generously provided the services of a few young men who own and operate a moving service out of Myrtle Beach, SC to move our stuff. We all worked hard, and it was such a stressful, long day. The guys from the moving service made it exponentially better than it would have been on our own.
It all reminded me… I hate moving.
Hate is a pretty strong word. But… yea, I hate it.
The weeks leading up to the move were filled with packing, sorting, sifting, and trips to Goodwill and the county dump. When we moved into that house I remember how empty it felt, what with the two spare rooms we had! Somehow we managed to fill the space with a new nursery for our now 8 month old daughter and what seemed like a billion boxes.
We’ve pretty much landed now. I unpacked my last few boxes a few days ago. There’s still some unpacking to do, but we’ve pretty much moved into our new home in the quaint suburb of Locust, NC… the small village of Mission, NC.
Next up: Our family is doing wonderful even though moving is SUCH a stressful event. There are so many logistic hurdles to cross as you move. God has been very faithful, gracious, and generous as we’ve navigated it all.
God provided Amanda a job at the same bank she worked for in SC. She’s working a bit farther away, compared to the five mile commute she had for the last few months, but God is faithful.
Adahlae is GROWING. She provides constant amazement & amusement for us. Here’s a list of a few things she’s done/accomplished in the last few weeks:
+ Her new favorite thing to do is walking. She’s holding on to our fingers to balance. It’s literally all she wants to do these days.
+ She has six teeth already. Yep.. six of them bad boys have already broke through.
+ Her first word was “Da Da” and we’re pretty sure she know’s that I’m her “Da Da” now.
+ Her second word (from the past weekend) is “Uh Oh!” It caught us by surprise when she started saying it.
+ She’s sitting up on her own and has JUST started pulling herself up when can reach something strong enough to pull up on.
+ She smiles more than any other person I’ve ever been around, and her smiles make me happy.
Adahlae’s grandmothers have generously donated a few days a week to watch her, so during the day she is being spoiled by the love of those two wonderful women. I’m excited that my daughter will get to grow up in close proximity to her grandparents. I’m always amazed at the positive impact a grandparent can make in the life of child when they take the time to invest in that relationship.
Lastly… what we’re here to do: We moved to Stanly County to start a church. It’s been on the horizon for a long time and now, what was only a vision that I’d shared with Jesus and my wife, is dawning.
We’ve been meeting with a group of people that are going to help out as we move forward for a while, and I’m really impressed with them and their commitment to be obedient to Jesus. Honestly I keep saying this (and it sounds a bit trite) but God is really assembling a “Dream Team” around us.
In mid-February we held a small, private worship service. It really wasn’t that big of a production. Through some pretty poor scheduling of mine, it happened to fall on the same weekend we moved! With great humility I can honestly tell you that Jesus is faithful. We had more people in attendance than some churches have on their public launch day and 5 people gave their lives to Jesus… two for the VERY FIRST TIME!
We’ve got a long way to go, but God has proven Himself to be faithful through every step of the this journey. All that we’re doing is for His name, not mine. We’re working to make Him famous, not me.
Jesus is the only issue we have.
Thanks for your love and support. Continue to lift us up in prayer. We need it. For those of you that have been praying… know your prayers are being answered.
-Kevin & Amanda
 
 

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What I want for my birthday …

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This year I’m turning 34 and instead of asking for a bunch of new stuff … I’m giving my birthday away.
Charity Water is an international organization that drills freshwater wells all over the planet in developing nations for people who are dying from contaminated water. (for more information visit: charitywater.org/whywater/ )
So … I’m asking my friends and family to give to them instead of buy me some new stuff. Afterall, I don’t really need any new stuff.
If you’re interested in giving, visit this link & give:
http://mycharitywater.org/kevin34water
As we give, charity water will not only dedicate 100% of the funds to the projects, they will let us know where the money goes. You’ll be able to monitor via Google maps & GPS where your donations are making a difference.
Thanks for being faithful friends and good givers. -Kevin