There once was a man who was walking on a muddy path. He crossed a field  and as he did he tripped over a stone and fell in the mud. As he picked himself up he noticed that the stone was sparkling, so he began to dig. The stone seemed to be never ending as he unearthed it. After hours of digging he realized that he had found a rare jewel! He knew that he could never convince anyone it belonged to him so he came up with a plan. He quickly covered the jewel again with dirt so that none of it could be seen and marked his map. Over the next week he sold everything he owned and bought the field. Once he had purchased the property he dug up the jewel that finally belonged to him. It was the largest a most valuable jewel the world had ever seen!
This story parallels a similar one in God's word where Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven (Matt 13:44). It tells of a buried treasure that defines our church. We are not an organization, a business, or just another church on the corner. We are simply men and women who have found something of true value and have sold everything we have to make it our own. We were lost in poverty and as we tripped in the mud, we found the greatest riches that the world has ever known. We found Authentic Life, and we found it through Christ.
We hope you are excited to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Reliance Church this Sunday morning at 10:30 in the St. Pete High School auditorium with us. We have found buried treasure and want you to know that it doesn't just belong to us. It belongs to you too.

​Our vision at Reliance Church is Authentic Life thru Christ. For four years we have been discovering what that looks like, as well as what it doesn't. Our church family has ministered to thousands, literally, even as all of our possessions fit in to a 10x16' trailer. We are far from perfect and far from being finished. We have weathered tragedy, storms, and attacks, yet our doors remain open to even our enemies! We may not have the worlds riches, but we have something yearned for worldwide. We have true freedom in our Savior Jesus Christ.

At wedding receptions there is often a name card placed on the plate to reserve a spot for the bride and groom's honored guests. These names are printed on card stock, written in an elegant font, and include the full name of each person invited. The new testament makes no secret that the Church, including Reliance Church, is the bride and Jesus is the bridegroom. Our mission is to prepare the bride for the wedding, and we will continue to do that, but on October 29th we are just going to celebrate the union! As we prepare over the next two weeks, I hope you remember one thing: you are not a "guest" or a "plus one". You have a reserved spot signified by a name card containing your full name.