Through Send Network Oklahoma and in partnership with the North American Mission Board, Tyler Barnes planted and leads Oklahoma City, Thrive Community. He and his team work primarily with unchurched and de-churched young adults in the Oklahoma City metro, connecting them to Gospel communities and challenging them to grow spiritually.
At Thrive Community, people are encouraged to come as their real, authentic selves as they discover a real, authentic life-transforming relationship with Jesus. People at Thrive Community believe every life is important, every person is significant and that relationships don’t happen by accident.
Tyler gets excited every time a person with a past finds new life in Christ and watches as Jesus completely and radically changes that person’s life.
“A young man who was addicted to pain medication and had just gotten out of jail started attending our church,” Tyler said. “I took him to lunch and shared the Gospel. He accepted Christ and then got baptized. Watching his life completely transform during the past year is one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. He found his passion, purpose and a personal relationship with Jesus. It does not get any better than that.”
Because relationships are important at Thrive, they believe there are three critical spaces needed for every believer to grow and thrive: the Sunday morning gathering, a missional community and a D group. In missional communities, group members learn to live out the Gospel in everyday life as a parent, spouse, neighbor, coworker or friend within a community. D groups are groups of three to five people who meet to discover Gospel truths, to nurture those truths and to hold each other accountable. All these serve to bring people into an intimate relationship with Jesus and each other.
Tyler asks prayer that the people at Thrive Community would burn with passion for the mission of God. Pray this church would be able to reach the lost in their neighborhood, that people would realize there is a difference between being good and being godly and that the Lord would protect Tyler and his family from spiritual opposition outside the church.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together.
Tyler Barnes is featured in the 2023 Missionary Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information about the Cooperative Program, visit oklahomabaptists.org/cp.
