Monday Nite Update

So God is doing great things! This past monday we saw the biggest crowd to date come out to our small little apartment for food, fellowship and fun! We had thirteen, count em, thirteen people not including the house! How awesome is that!? However, one girl had to leave early for some job training, but she still wanted to come see everyone for what little time she could.
We had a great mix of familiar faces, some friends that had yet to make it out, and new people we had only met a week before. There is a natural pull that is created when God's kids get together and hang out. People down here are starting to feel it, and are really wanting to spend time at the apartment.
Please continue in prayer for the three of us. J.R. has been in clearwater all week long visiting Beth and Emily, Emilio is right up on his midterms, and Speedy can never seem to shake his sickness. Pray that our motivation remains. That despite the hardships we'll never shy away from our goal here. God is awesome, and we are beyond humbled to be doing anything for Him.
We love you guys-

-Aletheia Tampa

small update

Hello everybody! Much apologies for the lack of updates. To our credit, we've been semi busy.. you know, starting a church and all... :)
The best report to make right now is that God is good! He has been so faithful to us as we've been pouring our hearts into any and everyone we have come across. Sharing on campus has been so encouraging; people are really responding to God's awesome message. Last week we prayed with another person to accept the Lord! There is momentum, and the three of us are definitely feeling it. We have been blessed to have some of our friends here not only accept Aletheia's model for evangelism, but to actually step out and receive training! How exciting!
Small group has been successful as well. Last monday we had new people once again. God continues to bring in new people every week. Speedy rocked his chicken enchiladas and did a little worship while Emilio and J.R. laid down some serious teaching. Of course, once study ended we busted out the rock band for several hours...
Please continue in prayer for us. We're definitely feeling God's presence. His grace is powerful. He is pushing us to go beyond our own limits. Pray for encouragement, strength and perseverance.
We miss our friends and family very much! You guys are the best.
Philemon 4-7

-Aletheia Tampa

for your viewing pleasure...

Just a reminder!!

This is just a reminder for all of those who received a card without any info on how to get here or how to get in. Were at 3604 data Dr. apt 101 at lakeview oaks apartment buildings. To get in just go up to the dial pad and type in #680 and we will let you in. Any questions you can just call us at 757.652.6951. Sweet, cant wait to see you all!!!!

First Study!

Well, we've officially held the first small group study for Aletheia Tampa! Last night we had six friends over at our humble abode for a meal, some worship, and a time of learning. It was really encouraging to see this church plant finally get started!
Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support. You guys mean so much to us.
Speedy grabbed a couple of photos for everyone to get a feel for the study. Enjoy!

Small Group (re?)Launch

After one week and one meeting we decided to shift from Wednesday night meetings to Monday nights. We actually decided earlier last week that Monday's would work better. Monday seems to work better for a lot of the students we had the opportunity to talk to over the past couple weeks so we're expecting a better turnout. We did have a meeting this past Wednesday since we had initially advertised/told people that was going to be the night. Our boy Ryan Hamm was the only one to take advantage of Speedy's Sweet Sketi (aka Spaghetti) this week but we'll be cooking for more this Monday. We had a good time hanging out and getting to know Ryan, worshiping a little, and then sharing a little about what Aletheia is all about and where we're coming from. So years from now when Aletheia is back to cranking out the sweet tune-age and teaching up hundreds of college students and Floridians on Sunday morning, Hamm can look back and say he was there for the very start. And while the first meeting has come and gone we want to encourage anyone else reading this blog to jump on as soon as possible.

We know God is going to bless what we're doing because we're doing it for Him. We'll be training and equipping people with the knowledge and experience they need so that they're ready to get sent out into the world. So Monday Night at 6:30 PM we hope to see some more people come out and enjoy a free home-cooked meal (we're a legit home, we have a coffee table), some sweet music, and find out what we're all about at Aletheia Church.

Your friends,
Aletheia Tampa

So what are we doing here?

I’ve been here in Tampa, Florida for almost two weeks now and we have met a vast array of different people with all kinds of personalities and backgrounds. One thing that remains the same though is that they are all very intelligent. In fact, most of the people we talk through the Aletheia ministry are smart young adults. Anyone who can study and understand subjects like chemistry, civil engineering, psychology, biology, and any other numerous studies ending in “–ology” is way smarter than me. What we want to do at Aletheia is get people to apply that aptitude towards finding out who God is and what He has to say for Himself in the Bible. The trend for so many churches today, especially ones trying to appeal to our generation, has been to serve watered-down teaching, full of loose theology and dumbed-down messages. Somehow along the lines we were led to believe that we couldn’t possibly know and understand the truths of the Bible and God’s promises and plans for us. The Bible was written is three languages: Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic which are all still spoken today. We have the capability to go back to the original languages and text of the Scriptures and study out exactly what is meant by what we read. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” We are not left in the dark as to God’s desires and promises for our life. Instead He has, “granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” He attaches that divine power to all that He has given us. The word used for power has the origin of our word “dynamite” it’s from the Greek word dunamis. This is some explosive power that God has attached to everything that He has given us. When Jesus gives His last command in the Great Commission, He told us we were to be out amongst all nations and people “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” He wouldn’t make that command unless He was providing us the power and understanding of the matter as well as the instruction on what we are to be teaching. Likewise, a university wouldn’t hire me to teach organic chemistry and just send me in to instruct a class unless I had the ability to understand the material and had received instruction on the material myself. Let’s stop making excuses and concessions to understanding God’s Truth. God has granted us a pretty amazing opportunity to not just believe but to study why we believe what we believe. God has given us everything we need to know to get connected with Him and a pretty solid Handbook. On top of that, thanks to technology we have easy access to study tools that were only available to Bible scholars with extensive libraries. It’s all right at our fingertips.

If anyone has questions, they are free to come out to our small group and ask. We might not be able to answer right off-hand but we know where to look to get that guidance and will definitely make the effort to find the answers to those questions. I’m really excited to help lead this first small group in getting beyond the surface of the “dumbed-down” messages we hear today and finding the true depth of the Scriptures.

Till next time,
J.R. - Aletheia Tampa