What a wonderful weekend we have shared as a Church family over these last three days! Friday was a happy and blessed time of reflection, remembrance, and fellowship. We enjoyed each other, a great meal, and an encouraging message from Don Lusk.
Saturday was exactly as advertised, "A Party!" Well over one hundred people come together to play and eat and to share our thanks to God by giving gifts to the people of our Community.
Today, was as expected, "the icing on the cake." We shared a wonderful day of music and singing, three baptisms, a great passage of Scripture, and, we tossed our copies of the original mortgage into a burn barrel and thanked the Lord for enabling us to pay off our building debt more than four years early!
On each of these special days, we had great fellowship among our faithful members and we enjoyed the presence of several visitors!
This afternoon I have been thinking about the lessons from this weekend, and one stands out more clearly to me than any other: OUR BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS ARE NOT OUR CHURCH... WE ARE!
Yes, we went into the Sanctuary to sing and give thanks to God on Friday after watching a video of it's construction; but, I realized that we had not been watching the building of a Church, but we were watching the Church building a building!
We were in and out of the fellowship hall, kitchen, and foyer on Saturday as we set up outside for the Block Party; but, I realized that we were not going in and out of the Church, the Church was going in and out of the building!
We gathered together in the Sanctuary this morning for worship; but, I realized that we were not worshipping in the Church, the Church was worshipping in the building!
Thank God for our three beautiful, useful, and debt-free buildings; but, these buildings are not the Church - we are! How we thank God for each other, for being family, and for the profuse and public love that we have for one another.
People often comment about our facilities, "this is a beautiful church!" I instantly agree with them and quickly add, "and the buildings are not bad either."
We are a beautiful Church meeting in a beautiful place. I love you, I thank God for you, and I rejoice in the happy providence of being your Pastor.
Lesson learned. God bless you.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
It's Thursday, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are Coming!
What a weekend! We have been thinking about, praying for, and planning the events of this weekend for several weeks. So, what's up?
It's "THANKSGIVING IN SEPTEMBER!" No, we did not move the National Holiday two months ahead, we are having an, AREA-WIDE PARTY to personally and publicly give thanks to God for the gift of our beautiful and DEBT-FREE FACILITIES! Yea!
Friday at 6pm, we will have a catered banquet featuring great food, fellowship, and some fun! Don and Ruth Ann Lusk will be our special guests and Don will share a devotional message with us. We will have special music, a video of the building project, and - did I already mention - great food!
By God's grace and blessing, we have paid off our mortgage four years early! God has blessed us and our people have given sacrifically... now, it's time to PARTY!
The party continues on Saturday from 5 to 8pm with outdoor games, door prizes, food (yup, more food) and tours of the facilities. We have run ads in the local paper and invited everyone of whom we can think! It's is an AREA-WIDE PARTY, and we want YOU to be with us!
Sunday will begin with the baptism of the Poole family! We will have great music, prayer time, and a sermon from Acts 3:1-16.
At the end of the Morning Service, we will all be given a copy of the mortgage and we'll march outside and BURN THESE COPIES OF THE MORTGAGE on the backlot! Yahoo!
Because we will be so tired... estatically happy, but truly tired... we will not have services on Sunday afternoon or evening.
IT'S GOING TO BE A THREE DAY PARTY... FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY! I hope to see you there...
It's "THANKSGIVING IN SEPTEMBER!" No, we did not move the National Holiday two months ahead, we are having an, AREA-WIDE PARTY to personally and publicly give thanks to God for the gift of our beautiful and DEBT-FREE FACILITIES! Yea!
Friday at 6pm, we will have a catered banquet featuring great food, fellowship, and some fun! Don and Ruth Ann Lusk will be our special guests and Don will share a devotional message with us. We will have special music, a video of the building project, and - did I already mention - great food!
By God's grace and blessing, we have paid off our mortgage four years early! God has blessed us and our people have given sacrifically... now, it's time to PARTY!
The party continues on Saturday from 5 to 8pm with outdoor games, door prizes, food (yup, more food) and tours of the facilities. We have run ads in the local paper and invited everyone of whom we can think! It's is an AREA-WIDE PARTY, and we want YOU to be with us!
Sunday will begin with the baptism of the Poole family! We will have great music, prayer time, and a sermon from Acts 3:1-16.
At the end of the Morning Service, we will all be given a copy of the mortgage and we'll march outside and BURN THESE COPIES OF THE MORTGAGE on the backlot! Yahoo!
Because we will be so tired... estatically happy, but truly tired... we will not have services on Sunday afternoon or evening.
IT'S GOING TO BE A THREE DAY PARTY... FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY! I hope to see you there...
Thursday, September 9, 2010
It's Thursday, but Sunday's Coming!
We are praying for and expecting the Lord to bless us with a great Lord's Day on September 12th!
In the morning service, I will continue my series, "Understanding Acts - Body #2 Takes Over" with a sermon from 2:41-47 on the subject, "The Life Changing Power of the Gospel!" This passage is one of the clearest pictures in the New Testament of what happens in the lives of people who come to know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord.
3,000 brand new believers filled with the Holy Spirit and turned loose on the City of Jerusalem! WOW!
Sunday evening at 6pm, International Missionaries Ravshan and Lisa Uraimov will be with us to update us on their ministry and the heart-breaking events currently going on in his native Country. We have supported them monthly for over ten years and they have proven to be faithful and effective ministers of the gospel among multitudes of athletes around the world.
Please pray about bringing a very generous love offering to share with them at that service.
I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!
In the morning service, I will continue my series, "Understanding Acts - Body #2 Takes Over" with a sermon from 2:41-47 on the subject, "The Life Changing Power of the Gospel!" This passage is one of the clearest pictures in the New Testament of what happens in the lives of people who come to know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord.
3,000 brand new believers filled with the Holy Spirit and turned loose on the City of Jerusalem! WOW!
Sunday evening at 6pm, International Missionaries Ravshan and Lisa Uraimov will be with us to update us on their ministry and the heart-breaking events currently going on in his native Country. We have supported them monthly for over ten years and they have proven to be faithful and effective ministers of the gospel among multitudes of athletes around the world.
Please pray about bringing a very generous love offering to share with them at that service.
I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Ordinary Means
It was a joy today to preach Peter’s Pentecost Sermon from Acts 2:14-41. (If you are going to steal someone else’s sermon, for heaven’s sake steal it from an Apostle!) What an extraordinary servant, sermon, and number of salvations that day! Thank God for such divine intervention and blessings upon His people.
But, this has me thinking about how the Lord so often works through, “Ordinary Means” rather than “Extraordinary Means.” Reflecting on Peter’s sermon and the blessed and happy result, I am tempted (from time to time) to consider a day to be, “a down day” when we do not see immediate and quantifiable fruit from the efforts of our faithful people.
The truth appears to be that while the Lord continues to do extraordinary things in a few places, the vast majority of people who are saved and made disciples of Jesus are won and equipped one-by-one through the ordinary means of ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary churches.
I really don’t know quite what to make of this. I know that our job is to be faithful and let the Lord take care of the fruitfulness of our life and ministry, but I am always disappointed when we do not see more fruit from our labors.
I want all of us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well. I want all of us to be extraordinarily faithful. I want the Lord to use all of us to accomplish extraordinary things through the life and ministry of our beloved church.
We have just experienced a great series of revival meetings. A great concert brought a great crowd of people to our church. We have just heard an update on our 2020 Vision for ministry in the future. I have just had the joy of being called as your Pastor-Teacher full time.
I want us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well, and I join you in prayer that the Lord will choose to use us to do extraordinary things through us and for us for the everlasting Glory of His Son, Jesus.
But, this has me thinking about how the Lord so often works through, “Ordinary Means” rather than “Extraordinary Means.” Reflecting on Peter’s sermon and the blessed and happy result, I am tempted (from time to time) to consider a day to be, “a down day” when we do not see immediate and quantifiable fruit from the efforts of our faithful people.
The truth appears to be that while the Lord continues to do extraordinary things in a few places, the vast majority of people who are saved and made disciples of Jesus are won and equipped one-by-one through the ordinary means of ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary churches.
I really don’t know quite what to make of this. I know that our job is to be faithful and let the Lord take care of the fruitfulness of our life and ministry, but I am always disappointed when we do not see more fruit from our labors.
I want all of us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well. I want all of us to be extraordinarily faithful. I want the Lord to use all of us to accomplish extraordinary things through the life and ministry of our beloved church.
We have just experienced a great series of revival meetings. A great concert brought a great crowd of people to our church. We have just heard an update on our 2020 Vision for ministry in the future. I have just had the joy of being called as your Pastor-Teacher full time.
I want us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well, and I join you in prayer that the Lord will choose to use us to do extraordinary things through us and for us for the everlasting Glory of His Son, Jesus.
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