Last week I shared a favorite quote. It was fun, so let's try again. My favorite quote this week is...
" I came to know Christ in 1978, I came to trust Christ in February."
Other highlights...
* Someone came to church for the first time after listening to our podcast for 2 years. - Wow
* Someone came to church for the first time after moving into a house with one of last Summer's Children@play.info signs in the front yard. - Cool
From time to time some people do fall asleep during my message on Sunday. Every pastor has to face the fact that it will happen and get over the distraction of totally boring some people, but there are some people who have my permission to sleep (and even snore if necessary) in church. They slip under the radar of most church attenders, but these are the ones who by their very presence preach to me, while I preach to them. For instance last Sunday Ed Gilliand and Chuck DeVane both told me, at separate times that they worked until 3 a.m. on Saturday. I told them both to feel free to take a nap in church, they had my permission. Also, a few weeks ago Polly Bee Amato was caught sneaking into church still in her scrubs from working a 12 hour shift in the Trauma ICU unit. I can't even imagine how tiring that must be, but these people speak volumes to me of what it means to be faithful. So (those of you who are too quick to judge) the next time that you see someone sleeping in church sit in awe of the faithfulness of these faithful few who serve past the point of exhaustion.
What a great day! I won't go into too much detail, but it has been our best June yet. All of the numbers were good, but that is such a poor judge of what God is doing. The first service was comfortably full, and the second service was full. The worship was great as always, and I actually was so caught up in the singing that I was late to come on stage to preach! Most important we had two men accept Christ as Savior yesterday. I am always amazed that God entrusts our church with people who need Him. I pray that we will always remain focused and keep the MAIN thing the main thing. I also received this in an encouraging email from a new family that has been visiting. I will make it anonymous, as I don't have permission to say who wrote it:
Todays Super Star has to be Pastor Gabe. 1. He did a great job teaching the kids and leading them today. 2. He wore a tie. 3. He closed the service with a new song that he just wrote. 4. He wore a tie. 5. He just completed his first year as our worship pastor. and 6. Did I mention he wore a tie. Gabe you are awesome, thanks so much for what you do!
Some of my heroes went to MGM today. Just after the second service Seth and a team of 10 volunteers took the youth to MGM for the day. Seth and Robyn are doing a great job with our fledgling youth ministry and they are really beginning to create some forward MO. I can't wait to see if someone took some pictures that we can post here.
We had a great time this afternoon at the Osceola Ghost Riders game. It was faith and family night and they had pastor Gabe sing the national anthem. As expected, Gabe was fantastic! We had a good time even though the home team lost. They put on a great show and I really love their new mascot Colt. One of our members Jordan Bartels is the GM for the team and is doing a great job with the team. Thanks Dave and Sue for putting together such a great activity.
In spite of tornado warnings we had a great day at Cornerstone this past Sunday. Just as the second service crowd was coming in the sky fell out. Inside out umbrellas, yellow wet floor signs, cold, wet, but happy. It was great to see some of our great UK members return after months apart, as well as the return of several of our new Easter guests. The worship was awesome, bringing tears to my eyes as we sang in unison of our Holy God. If you missed because of the storm, I highly recommend that you catch up by listening to the message here.
Update: I got this from Chuck Stephens and thought I would pass it along...
"... I wanted to say what a wonderful day yesterday was! The worship, message and small group time were all exciting and uplifting. I’m very anxious to see how God continues to work in our midst at Cornerstone." - Chuck Stephens
What an amazing day. After subtracting doubles we had 226 in attendance today in three services. Let me be the first to say that everything was awesome. It went so smooth that it was hard to believe. Each service was well full and there would have been no way if so many of you had not attended the 8:15 service. Thanks a bunch. I will say that our leadership was incredible. Sue, 900 eggs later, wow! Gabe, your team was outstanding today, and the special music what can I say. We have the best music! Bruce, you and the welcome team did a great job taking care of our guests. I am so proud to get to serve along side of all of you. Many of you brought cameras today and as I get pics I will post them here for you to see. Thanks again for making today a great start to our new Five Love Languages Series!
Today's services were great. I am still in preacher withdraw from not getting to speak today. But Michael brought it. We were all inspired, and I think we all want to go plant a church in Australia tomorrow. There were 156 in attendance between the two services, and our offerings were approximately $3,100.00. I am excited to see how many of our people jump on board and begin supporting missions. One thing that has hit me is that we could be doing so much more for missions and church planting around the world. Being a church plant, is no excuse for waiting until some vague point of growth to really give sacrificially. I have a few goals for our church. 1. raise the number of households who give regularly to 50. Right now we have between 35-40 giving households per week. And...2. That every one of those families gives above their tithe to support missions. I can't wait until we will be able to give birth to a new baby church of our own. I am praying now that God will raise up a couple, and enough missions giving for us to fully fund a new church within two years. Big goals... maybe... but Bigger God... definitely!
Wow what a day. The worship was awesome, Great job Gabe and Praise Team, both services had a great spirit of anticipation and the music was tremendous. We had a full room for both services, with a couple of people standing and two actually sitting on the floor in the second service. (It is amazing what Baptists will do to sit in the back.) The challenge was for us to see ourselves as missionaries, and to think about getting people at home in Christ. I will be posting your MY9 lists here. Even if you do not have 9 people on your prayer list, I hope that you will visit and let each other know that you will be praying for them as they Invest, Engage, and Invite for Easter.
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