sunday recap

Thanks for your prayers and support via my last post! We kicked off our new series "Sexual Revolution" today through our two services and it went so well. I have to confess I was a bit nervous as to how many might show up for our first service (since there isn't kid's ministry currently offered during that slot), but around ten minutes before things got rolling the people started strolling in. We started a minute or two late, but ended on time... so far, so good.


Then second service kicked in and the energy of the people and the sincerity of those serving really made space for the Holy Spirit to work. It's fun to see how each service represents a different personality of the congregation... second service was a bit tamer during the message but more into the songs (compared to first service folks).

We did really kick things off well with our new series. I've always been leery of using gimmicks to get people in the door and (even though our current series is on sex) I don't believe we've crossed that line here. For the past year or so I've been praying through the way we would start 2008 as a church and God has burdened my heart for us to cover this topic in a very honest, sober, and biblical way. There's so much in the Scriptures about God's heart regarding the gift of sex and the healthiest context for it to thrive in... to share that today to a multi-age group was exciting!

I definitely learned a few things we need to tweak... this is a new routine and a few things slipped through the cracks today because of it. The coffee pot got turned on late (which can oddly freak out more than a few people), some of the normal prep work didn't happen until the late minute, and we're in need of a few more greeters to be sure everyone is welcomed.


On the upside, though, there were plenty of new faces that our regulars had the chance to get to know. I touched base with one family who want to send their son on an upcoming Teen Connection trip, and then my wife and I had lunch with another couple after service. It looked like the other visitors got tagged by others in the congregation so hopefully we can keep growing together in all the ways God dreams.


Thanks again for your encouragement and prayers... and thanks for asking. :)

By the way - last week we collectivelt celebrated the sacrament of baptism together and one of those baptized was my mom... and I had the blessing of guiding her in that. Very cool.