 Within a week after posting our last update on the progress of the new building, our daily lives and interactions changed abruptly and dramatically with the rapid advancement of the COVID-19 virus. Due to COVID-19, all on-campus activities including worship services, noon prayers, church events and activities, and Bible studies have been suspended. The opening service in our new building will be postponed to a future date, as will the dedication and celebration service. Worship services and online community connections are online! Find more information about these opportunities here. We are encouraged that even though we cannot meet together in person, our church remains united – through Zoom and FaceTime calls, attending online Community Groups and Bible studies, staying connected through our weekly Sunday services, prayer meetings, and so much more. We are grateful for every single one of you and continue to pray that God will use each of us to be his salt and light during this time. And, as we move through this Holy Week, take this opportunity to reflect on the astonishing love that God lavished on us through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. We are invited to experience Christ, his great love for us, and the power of the gospel through the Holy Spirit, by walking through his suffering, death, and resurrection. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." – Isaiah 60:1
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 One year ago, as a congregation we broke ground on the site of our new building, and prayed for the Lord's wisdom and guidance and that His hand would be on the construction site as the building was underway. The Lord has been faithful throughout this process and we give Him many thanks! As we near the end of the construction of this physical building, we look forward with great anticipation to beginning the new journey that God has for us as we run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. See you on March 29th at 10:00am!  "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, 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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." – Ephesians 17b-21  Happy New Year! It’s a new year and the completion of our new building is nearing. We are entering the last phases of the amazing project and are counting down the days until the opening service on Sunday, March 29 at 10:00am. Back in mid-November, the steeple was raised which was a sight to behold. It was taken up on a huge crane and lowered down over the construction workers, who then from the inside, bolted the steeple in place. The cross of Christ can be seen for miles around!
The elevator is being installed this month, as well as the exterior metal doors. Gutters and downspouts are also in the works. Finally, the demolition of the fellowship hall and classrooms has been completed in the renovation area and the framing and rough-in for that area is underway. It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since we broke ground on this building. God has been faithful as we have journeyed through this process and we are so grateful to continue in the gospel work of Christ here at Resurrection. "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord." – Psalm 27:4-6  The masonry work is continuing on the stone and brick facade of the building with the current schedule having them completing their work in early December (weather dependent). The stone and brick together is a stunning combination of mixed media. It is also a reminder that we are building our foundation always on Christ. If you are on campus this week or this coming weekend, you will see that the construction of the outside fellowship space with the loggia has begun. This is one of David Drake's favorite words to say regarding the new building spaces and I confess I had to look up the definition when I first heard it: loggia is an Italian word, and it means "architectural feature which is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, sometimes on ground level. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns or arches."
 "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." – Ephesians 2:19-22  A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go inside the new building and document the prayers and scriptures that have been written on the steel. What a privilege it is to be able to partner with this body in God's kingdom work! Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for this project and for our church as we seek to know Christ and to make Him known.
On the inside, the commons area ceiling mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) rough-ins will be finished, and then the framing of the ceiling will be underway. Drywall is being hung and finished in the commons as well in the coming two weeks, as well as the completion of the wall and ceiling rough-in work in the sanctuary. Back on the outside, the footings for the outside fellowship area will be completed as well. As always, we covet your prayers as we move into the latter stages of this new building project. We offer thanks and praise to God for his faithfulness in all things. "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." – Philippians 1:3-6 All Praise Be to God for bringing us safely through this first half (!) of the construction schedule. Can you believe we are already halfway there? Below is a brief update on the construction site from one of our Building Committee members.
As you can tell, the sequence of work begins with the Commons area and moves towards the Sanctuary, so we are currently several steps ahead at the Commons area and you will be able to see those steps repeating at the Sanctuary. As of the last progress meeting on 9/4/19, there have been no significant schedule impacts or concerns that would delay the project (Praise God!). In the next few weeks, Lewis will be working on getting the building “water tight” with the use of temporary windows while we wait for the permanent ones to be procured. That means, they can start installing drywall and finishes in the interior of the building. The most significant upcoming work in terms of visual impact will be the brick installation on the exterior face of the building, and the drywall/insulation installation at the interior walls of the Commons area. These activities will start to make the construction zone look significantly more like finished building. Please note that while we may start to see less and less improvements on the outside of the building, the construction team will continue to be hard at work on the interiors for the remainder of the project.
 Summer has been a time of rejuvenation and recharging for our staff and congregation and we are grateful to the Lord that He gives us seasons through which we can experience this. As we get ready to kick off another year of ministry here at Resurrection, we look forward with great anticipation to our new building completion this coming spring of 2020. The construction site has enjoyed good weather over the summer and the progress has been exciting to watch as it moved from steel structure to cold-formed metal structure, to a structure with wall, windows and an amazing roof! Check out the gallery below with progress photos from June, July, and August and check back in this fall as we continue to move toward completion.  The steel erection of the new building was completed last week! In the days that followed this, there was additional welding and plumbing up of the columns and the Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing (MEP) rough-ins under the slab for the Commons Area were finished. This week we have been watching work progress on the site, including Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing (MEP) rough-ins under the slab for the Sanctuary, and MEP rough-ins for 2nd Floor of the Commons Area. The concrete slab is being poured on grade for the Commons Area. After this is poured, the concrete floor slab for the 2nd floor Commons Area will be done.
And finally, here's one last picture taken this afternoon: You can see the roof trusses are starting to be installed!   The first delivery of steel arrived on the property at the very end of April and it's been amazing to watch the progress of its installation on the site. Over the past three weeks, work has been completed for the foundation walls and footings around the sanctuary, and the underground fire tank has been installed. Backfilling around building has been done and the steel sequences for the commons area structure of the new building have been completed. This week there will be work done under the building site as well as on the top of it! This includes Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing (MEP) rough-ins under the slab for the commons area as well as pouring the concrete slab on grade for this area. Up above, the crew will be working on roof truss installation on top of the commons area.
Please take care as you drive around the site. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer throughout this process. And as always, thank you for your patience and understanding as the work on our new building continues.  It's been a busy three weeks, both on the construction site and here at Resurrection, as we have journeyed together through Holy Week to Easter Sunday and the celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  Work has continued on the site as we have enjoyed lots of sunshine and little rain over the past few weeks. The cistern, fire tank, and deep foundations have been set and the excavation has been backfilled. Progress on footings and foundation walls continue around the north side of the sanctuary. Construction is underway on the elevator in the building, and the elevator shaft is going up! Once construction on the shaft is completed, the elevator pit will be waterproofed and backfilled. The first delivery of structural steel is arriving this week and will coincide with installation of the crane that will be used to hoist and move the steel beams around the site. Some of this material will be stored along the parking spots in the front of the new sanctuary. Congregants are encouraged to park in the back of the church for the next 5-6 weeks while steel erection is ongoing. We are starting to get vertical!  |
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