This Sunday, the churches will hear Pastor Tim Smith preach Luke part 88, The Parable of the Fig Tree, as well as an update on Mars Hill Portland, for which he is the lead pastor. About twelve years ago, a skinny, red-haired kid with a ZZ Top-like beard approached Pastor Mark at a conference in New Mexico and asked him if Mars Hill had any needs. Pastor Mark told him the church was small, broke, homeless, made up of "a few hundred indie rockers committed to poverty and anarchy," had every need and couldn't offer him anything but a lot of hard work. Tim accepted and he and his wife, Beth, moved across the country to Seattle. In the last decade, Pastor Tim has become, as Pastor Mark said, "one of the best leaders we've had in the church." The second longest-serving elder after Mark, Tim served for several years the worship pastor at Ballard and more recently at Bellevue. This summer, he, Beth, and their three daughters moved to Oregon to plant Mars Hill Portland. Here's how you can pray and partner with their mission.

1. Pray for Pastor Tim and his family

Portland may be where Pastor Tim and Beth came from, but Seattle is where they became parents, Tim became a pastor, and where their deepest relationships are, and it's hard to leave all that.

2. Pray for leaders

By God's grace, a number of people who'd led Community Groups in Seattle had in recent years relocated to Portland, and the church got off to a great start. There currently are eight groups meeting throughout the city, a number that will probably increase to 12 by the end of the month, and they're praying for 20 groups by the time the church launches officially in January. For that to happen, all those groups need Community Group leaders, so you can be in prayer that good godly men and women would be called and come to lead those groups.

3. Pray for the pastors, especially a biblical living pastor

God has already raised up Ryan Mount to serve as an elder and executive pastor alongside Tim as they lead and build the mission. Tim and Ryan are also looking and praying for a biblical living pastor to join the Portland mission. This pastor will be part of the core team, leading Community and Redemption Groups, and overseeing counseling.

4. Pray for the mission

Pray that disciples will be made and churches planted. Our vision is not simply for a church in Portland, but churches in Portland that would spread and reach people who need the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the state of Oregon.

5. Give at the special offering for Portland

When he initially started out looking for a meeting place for the Portland church, Pastor Tim was praying for a cool, old church building tucked away in a neighborhood that would seat 400 to 600 people. When he told realtors this, they laughed: those places don't really exist in Portland and if they do, they seat about 100. Then the Castle came along. Built in 1906, it's located in Southeast Portland, seats about 800 people, in great condition, and even has a working bell in the bell tower there on the left. Initially, the intention was to lease, but the owners wanted to sell—at a exceptionally reasonable price, one that would have one of the lowest operating costs per head of all the Mars Hill churches—and so the team is going ahead and pursuing that purchase. Give today to support Pastors Tim and Ryan and the Mars Hill Portland church online, or at the special offering at the Mars Hill churches this Sunday. When giving online, first select "General" under Fund, and then the Portland church.

Below, a look at the vision for Mars Hill Portland from our This Is Mars Hill series last fall: