Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:46-27

In 2009 my husband went on a weekend trip to Frostproof, FL with a group of other men from our church. While there he would give voice to something that his mother said started in him when he was just a little boy of four. I remember her telling the story of a little Mark sitting at First Baptist Church of Merritt Island under the teaching of Reverend Len Turner. She said that one Sunday Mark declared that he wanted to “do what Pastor Turner does”, he wanted to preach the gospel too! So during the early part of the 2000’s when church planting started ramping up across our nation, he started to notice there might be a space for that desire to take place in his life. A little fun fact: First, Mark loves chocolate chip cookies more than most humans which has NOTHING to do with anything but it’s a fact! But sticking to the subject at hand, Mark’s parents named him after the influential pastor, Adrian Rogers who pastored them in their early marriage at FBCMI. *The photo attached to this post is from the early years of Mark’s church history here in Brevard County, and one we found amongst his mom’s keepsakes after she went to heaven.

Fast forward many years, and LOTS of life – our 4 children becoming teens and young adults, career changes, moving from state to state and back again, a diagnosis and passing of his mom (who would have been so excited to see Mark walking out this calling she always knew was in him), and many other of life’s ups and downs – we have seen Jesus move in ways over the last few months that have made all of the years of prayers and patience worth every minute. He doesn’t waste a thing.

After many years, many conversations, many prayers, many hopes & dreams, we are taking Braving Grace to in-person teaching through Sunday morning church services and Wednesday evening Bible studies. We were presented with the opportunity to begin this journey when our friend Scott, from Matthew’s Hope Ministry, offered us gathering space for our Sunday and Wednesday gatherings at their newest location in Cocoa, Florida. Only a few miles from the church where Mark first accepted Jesus as his Savior and the call of ministry on his life is where we call church home for the foreseeable future.

Our heart is to swing wide the doors of discipleship and biblically sound teaching to believers who have a desire to go deeper into the Word of God, and take the gospel message to their Monday through Saturday lives; teaching that equips them to take the gospel into work, school, and to their friends and family. The entire body will be on a mission to take the gospel to all the nations, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything He has commanded. We will focus heavily on expositional teaching on Sunday mornings, and on Wednesday evenings we will do the same with in a more relaxed environment open for conversation and discussion.

If you do not have a place you call home for being equipped and for being ministered to, we would love you to come visit us as we start from the foundation up – our foundation being Christ and His finished work – building His Kingdom for His glory! We want to walk in obedience to what God has for us and see you do the same! These last few months have been such a great surprise, sharing it with others is a joy!