14 Years of The Creek!
Author: Matt Oxley
March 21, 2024
I cannot believe it has been 14 years since The Creek launched! March 21, 2010 was our first official Sunday service, but so much happened before that.
In the summer of 2009, God confirmed a call for Heather and I to plant a new church. We were sure of the calling but also sure we needed a lot of help! We set out from that calling, pressing into God, knowing we needed Him to work in us to see this vision become a reality. We met with our pastor about what God was leading us into and he gave full support. In the fall of 2009, we announced to the church that we would be transitioning to church planting with a launch in 2010. The amazing and scary thing about that announcement was that we knew WHAT God was calling us to do but had no idea WHERE!
We began getting a lot of recommendations on where we should plant. We asked God to lead us with peace or hold us with restraint. We would go into a city and pray. Then wait for God’s peace. I remember one city in particular was a place I really wanted to be. As we prayed and discussed, God made it clear that we were not supposed to plant there! Instead of feeling peace, Heather and I began to argue about how to make it happen there. Of course, in that conversation, she was more in tune with God, and I simply want to live by the ocean!
In December of 2009, Heather and I drove to Azle, TX to pray and tour the city. It was yet another city that God was not giving peace about. I was beginning to get a little frustrated as we drove back home.. Along the way, I took a wrong turn, and we ended up in a neighborhood called Marine Creek Ranch. It was as if God Himself stopped the car, and we sat on the side of the road for a long time. In that time, God covered us with His peace and began to ignite a new level of excitement for what He was calling us to do. While sitting in our car on the side of the road, God gave us the name for the church and began to pour vision into both of us. Instead of seeing rooftops, we saw families in need of Jesus and a connection to spiritual family. The beauty of this trip is that now we realize God was saying “not yet” for Azle, and we’ve begun preview services at our new campus out there!
We returned home and spent days praying, listening, and writing. So much of what I was getting impatient for was taking shape. We now knew where! That was a major step forward, but now the real work began. We started having conversations with people, and in January 2010 we held a vision dinner where we presented the plan for Marine Creek Community Church. Of the 44 people that we cast vision to, 29 said YES!
We started meeting together in homes to share more of the vision and strategy for this new work. We began meeting in Creek families’ game rooms, living rooms and dens. As our Core Team’s excitement grew, they began to invite people. And they came!
Through the providence of God, we were able to lease a daycare center just outside of the neighborhood God brought us to. We began ordering equipment and planning on how to best launch this work.
Then on March 21, 2010, we had our first public service. I remember on March 20, we had a little snow. Just a trace amount and remember asking God if I got the date wrong because no one was going to come! God showed up and so did people! It was amazing to see God move in ways we could not have imagined. He began to grow this little work and people’s lives were being changed. We saw the family grow and grow and grow.
As we were praying and looking for our next step, God again in His providence opened the way for us to move to our current location. It was a facility that another church started and was unable to finish. God worked through many conversations, and they gave us the property. We began construction in March of 2014 and moved in November 2014. From that time, we have continued to see God lead with peace and show us what He is capable of when we will submit to Him and be obedient with what He wants to do.
Thinking back on launching the Creek brings so many wonderful memories to mind. Incredibly difficult times and incredibly wonderful times, but God has been amazing through all of them! Church is about people following Jesus. Through the last 14 years, I have been so blessed by the incredible relationships with people God has brought to The Creek.
This is a time to reflect on the goodness of God and look forward to what He has planned for us. It has been an incredible journey and I believe the best is yet to come!
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