Re:vive Church - Re:wind

Re:wind--The history of Re:vive

          In our first year together, God challenged us, humbled us, and filled us with joy as only He can do. Over the summer of 2007, people who did not know each other but had deep connections with Jim and Julee Jackson, began to request them to pray about starting a local congregation that would be a spiritual community based firmly on God’s Word. Many shared that they had traveled from church to church, some for several years, seeking like-minded believers intent on following Jesus. Simultaneously, God had planted the desire to grow an intimate, Jesus-based community in the hearts of several families.
          Not knowing what to expect, the Jacksons opened their hearts and their home to a Bible study on a warm Sunday morning in September 2007. From the start, there was a special excitement. Seventeen adults and children filled their family room. We prayed together, we sang together, we were taught God’s Word and we were filled with hope. Together, we recognized an increasing determination and conviction to continue the good work that God had started. The spiritual seed of Re:vive Church had been planted in a little house in Pomona.
          Needs were recognized and ministries were developed within the little house church. While Jim worked to meet our worship and teaching needs, Julee established a first-class ministry in the garage for the growing number of children attending as well as a Women’s Ministry. Neighbors dropped in to the Sunday morning get-together and word of mouth filled the Jackson house beyond capacity. One morning, a couch had to be lifted to the front lawn where people could sit and hear the message through the open living room windows.
          Within two months, over 40 people were joining our spiritual serendipity. So of course, the challenges started. A city inspector began leaving notes on the Jackson’s front door, warning that we were over-crowding the street with our cars. At the same time, Jim was laid off from his secular employment. What was God teaching us? Where was he leading us? God focused our prayers. Together, Jesus’ new little church needed to start the journey God had prepared.
          Bursting at the seams, we traveled together to the La Verne Community Center. Within one month, we found ourselves asking God again to lead us to our next destination because of the continued growth. Meanwhile, our children’s ministry with their own separate room blossomed; couples married, babies were born and person after person became believers and were baptized. New ministries were started: a women’s Bible study, a men’s Bible study, golf and a men’s gun club! And on special occasions, we celebrated together in the only place large enough to contain our numbers and enthusiasm—the Odle family’s beautiful back yard.
          Soon, God brought Jim and Pankaj Macwan together. Pankaj had been led by God to start a new congregation of believers, New Beginnings Church, in a facility at Pitzer College in Claremont. Jim and Pankaj met regularly, shared their own special community needs and prayed for one another. Soon, they became fast friends. One of our congregations’ greatest joys was when God led these two men to bring our two cultural communities together into one spiritual community—Re:vive grew deeper relationally and greater multi-culturally.
          By June 2008, our new multi-ethnic, multi-cultural community moved into Avery Auditorium at Pitzer College, and started worshipping, praying, studying God's word and breaking bread together as one congregation. Our two spiritual journeys became one journey. We became a new tribe of believers in Christ Jesus seeking our next destination--always a community on a journey, never a final location. What will God teach us next? Where will God lead us next? Only God knows, and that's how we like it!

                                                                                   By Russ Grelling

"I believe that God is raising up a new community of faith to reach this area and we are so excited to be ‘on board’ with God’s plan. I hope you feel the same way. If you do, I pray that you will join this adventure as we seek God’s will for our community and culture!"

Pastor Jim Jackson