How it all started...
In the summer of 2021, Pastor Jeff & Tammy Lambert were comfortably living and ministering in Flint, Michigan with their family; daughter Tori, son Tommy, daughter Alli, Tori’s husband Cameron, and granddaughter Ryleigh. They had been faithfully serving and leading a great church there called Hill Creek Church for 11 years. However, God began to stir Pastor Jeff and his family with an odd question; “Are You Available?” With no clue as to where this may lead, the entire family began to diligently seek God and pray over a six-month period. The goal? To see God reveal His divine plan.
The short version of this lengthy story is, in November of 2021 God placed a door of opportunity in front of the Lambert/Thurston family and challenged them all to leave everything and everyone they knew, pack up everything they owned, and to relocate to a rural place called Powhatan Virginia, to a church & church owned daycare that was literally on the verge of closing their doors. In the natural, this move may not have seemed logical to anyone else, but God had already confirmed a plan in their hearts, and little did they know, this leap of faith was about to quickly become a “GIANT” of a FAITH-STRETCHING battle!
Expanding the vision...
1 Samuel 17:40 Then he (David) took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
WE BELIEVE the God that equipped and empowered David to defeat the looming giant of his day is the SAME GOD that still equips and empowers His church TODAY to defeat the modern-day giants of our day! Embracing that same fiery faith that David embodied, we at 5-Stone Church are committed to “Equipping People for Victorious Living.”
1 John 5:1-5 – 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Where we are headed...
We believe VICTORIOUS LIFE (John 10:10) is attained as we embrace and equip ourselves with Five Core Values (stones):
1. WORSHIP Deeper: We were all created to Love God.
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37)
2. GROW Higher: We were all created to Grow in God.
"Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15)
3. CONNECT Stronger: We were all created to be a part of the Body of Christ. Here at 5-STONE, we call it FAMILY 2.0, your “Adopted Family in Christ.” The local church is one of the first levels of commitment outside of our personal relationship with the Lord. "So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:5)
4. GIVE Greater: We were all created to serve God by Giving our Time, Talents, & Treasures. Ministry means putting those gifts to work. We need to be a part of what the church is doing not just spectators. "Serve the LORD with gladness…" (Psalm 100:2)
5. REACH Farther: We were all created to Share the Good News of the Gospel. Jesus said... “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) “As the Father has sent me, I am sending YOU” (John 20:21) "For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will." (John 6:38)
Our response should be to... “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, (Colossians 3:23) since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:24) "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:40)
