Taste & See Coffee House
is just around the corner. We have closed on a building at 111 West Broadway in Stafford, Kansas and are making plans for renovations. It is an exciting time as we have waited on God since August of 2009 to show us His place, His plan.
Like many others you may be asking,
"When will you be open?"
Well, the best answer we can give is,
"Whenever God says it is time".
We learned through our 16 month waiting period on the building that you don't tell God what, where, when or how when it comes to HIS VISION. He tells you. And one of His favorite phrases to His people, even from the scriptures is
"Wait on Me."
(Psalm 27:14, Isaiah 40:31, Acts 1:4, James 5:7 to name a few.)
So, just as we waited on Him for the building we now wait on Him in the planning process. Yes, at times we will become weary and perhaps even frustrated when it moves too slowly for our liking but God will be faithful. He will remind us what He has already done and that He has not finished doing great things. And it is here in the waiting that we will watch with expectation for the next thing He will do. And it is in the waiting that we learn to trust that His timing, His plan is best. It is here that He reminds us that His timing will give us opportunities to
'tell stories on Him.'
The other question you might be asking is why name it
"Taste & See Coffee House?"
Why not something like Good Beans or Higher Grounds or even Java Jungle? For one thing those were already taken but the truth is that God didn't give us those names. He gave us Taste & See. If you go back to the Vine Press page of lovelybranchesministries.org and hit the Archives link you can go to the August message where it talks about being a lovely branch of righteousness. There you will find the foundation of the name of our coffee house which is also our basis for the Lovely Branches ministry in Stafford County, Kansas and beyond.
The ministries' mission statement (which can be found at the website's home page under "Our Mission" is:
So, just as we waited on Him for the building we now wait on Him in the planning process. Yes, at times we will become weary and perhaps even frustrated when it moves too slowly for our liking but God will be faithful. He will remind us what He has already done and that He has not finished doing great things. And it is here in the waiting that we will watch with expectation for the next thing He will do. And it is in the waiting that we learn to trust that His timing, His plan is best. It is here that He reminds us that His timing will give us opportunities to
'tell stories on Him.'
The other question you might be asking is why name it
"Taste & See Coffee House?"
Why not something like Good Beans or Higher Grounds or even Java Jungle? For one thing those were already taken but the truth is that God didn't give us those names. He gave us Taste & See. If you go back to the Vine Press page of lovelybranchesministries.org and hit the Archives link you can go to the August message where it talks about being a lovely branch of righteousness. There you will find the foundation of the name of our coffee house which is also our basis for the Lovely Branches ministry in Stafford County, Kansas and beyond.
The ministries' mission statement (which can be found at the website's home page under "Our Mission" is:
Daily Abiding In Christ
Abounding In His Love
Offering Hope
All To The Glory Of God
These four simple statements are packed with magnificent truth when lived out
Abounding In His Love
Offering Hope
All To The Glory Of God
These four simple statements are packed with magnificent truth when lived out
in your daily life. Christ is
The Branch of the Lord (Isaiah 4 & 11) as well as
The Vine (John 15).
When we seek to daily abide in Him as The Branch of Righteousness, we supernaturally abound in His love, offer hope to others and bring glory to God. In doing this we are day by day growing to be more like Christ and producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Our hopes are that many will see Christ in us. (Yes, this is a tall order but it is one directly given to us by our Lord. So even though we will fail more times than we care to admit it is really just a matter of obedience for each and every follower of Christ.). Essentially, the goal is that others will taste of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and see how really good Christ is. It is there that we hope they do more than just make the Taste & See Coffee House a local refuge. We hope and pray they will make Christ their eternal refuge as a result of what they "taste and see" at this place of grace.
Our hopes are that many will see Christ in us. (Yes, this is a tall order but it is one directly given to us by our Lord. So even though we will fail more times than we care to admit it is really just a matter of obedience for each and every follower of Christ.). Essentially, the goal is that others will taste of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and see how really good Christ is. It is there that we hope they do more than just make the Taste & See Coffee House a local refuge. We hope and pray they will make Christ their eternal refuge as a result of what they "taste and see" at this place of grace.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the [one] who takes refuge in Him.
Psalm 34:8
[photo taken by Adrienne Minnis, Lovely Branches Ministries resident photographer.]
