I was gone away again to a youth retreat down at Pilgrim Pines in Swanzey, NH, doing a youth retreat for Grace Community Church's youth group. It actually was a great weekend as Seth and I got to spend a great weekend together - it was long overdue. But I was at The Journey in spirit again, as Seth and I specifically stopped and prayed for God to work here while I was gone.
Rod preached, continuing the sermon series "You Gotta Have Faith," and he spoke on "Finishing Faith," correlating it with the end of the Olympics. He said it went well, and the couple, Kyle and Amber, that had been visiting are going to join here! That is so exciting! Praise God!
From what I understand, attendance was good (48), the sermon was good, and God blessed.
Tonight, I preached down at Kendon Mulanax's church in Swanzey - Cornerstone Baptist - and it was great. I used the sermon "Unfogging Faith," and the people were so into, asking questions and just participating!
Overall, the weekend was fantastic...
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Sunday, August 22, 2004
It was so good to be back at The Journey - it is right where I belong! God is blessing us, and having moved to Sundays has been a tremendous thing. We are averaging in the 50's, with today's attendance being 56 - it is so awesome to see God's hand move in our midst. We have another new couple who are very interesting and just wonderful name Ed & Brenda. They are so insightful and full of a passion for God.
Today I preached on "Unfogging Faith," a sermon that I constructed but borrowed many thoughts from John Piper out of Hebrews 11. I thought it went great, and I think people really understood that faith is not always easy, or does it always bring positive results in this world. I think our people really needed to hear it.
Today I preached on "Unfogging Faith," a sermon that I constructed but borrowed many thoughts from John Piper out of Hebrews 11. I thought it went great, and I think people really understood that faith is not always easy, or does it always bring positive results in this world. I think our people really needed to hear it.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Today I was not at The Journey - I was in Phoenix, AZ at my in-law's house - I have just performed my brother in law Lance's wedding. He married a cute and wonderful girl named Lucina - she is sweet and her family is wonderful. She is a new Christian, and she could use our prayers as her and Lance need to grow in the Lord.
Anyway, I was away - 3 hours behind East Coast time, but I was here in spirit, praying and wishing I were at the Journey. Rod preached on the difference faith makes in our lives, and we had a couple visit, Kyle and Amber Weststrate, who really enjoyed the service. I am looking forward to seeing if they will join us - they recently moved here from Florida and decided to check us out.
The overall attendance was 44, and Rod said everything went well. I am so grateful that I have someone like Rod and his wife Elizabeth who can take care of things in my absence. It is a huge blessing!
Anyway, I was away - 3 hours behind East Coast time, but I was here in spirit, praying and wishing I were at the Journey. Rod preached on the difference faith makes in our lives, and we had a couple visit, Kyle and Amber Weststrate, who really enjoyed the service. I am looking forward to seeing if they will join us - they recently moved here from Florida and decided to check us out.
The overall attendance was 44, and Rod said everything went well. I am so grateful that I have someone like Rod and his wife Elizabeth who can take care of things in my absence. It is a huge blessing!
Sunday, August 08, 2004
August 8, 2004
Today...what a day it was. I had my nephews with me overnight (Davey and Sammy), and so I was a little apprehensive this morning with Krista out of town that things would go smoothly. But the boys were fine, and I met Rod at 7:30 for prayer.
AT 7:35, a man drove into our lot, stayed a second, and then drove back out - turns out, later on he and his wife and sons would attend our church. At 7:40, another car drove up, and a lady about 60 got out and came in - her name is Harriet. She is a former member of Beacon, and she wanted to check us out. And so she did - from 7:45 on - she was such a nice woman, although we were hoping for more time in prayer - but who said that things had to go according to our plan, right?
Today, because Krista and Greg and Gail were out of town, we did a different kind of praise team, with me, Rod, and Audrey making up a vocal trio as we sang with CD's. It went well, and I used our new cordless headset mic. But the fun didn't happen until we were just getting ready to start. At 9:55, we realized that the projector wasn't working right - ok, wasn't working eventually at all - and so we wouldn't have a projector. Then, right before service, I had to use the bathroom (bad) and so I went - and the handle broke off the toilet and wouldn't flush! OK - at that point, I had to laugh. "God, what do you want to do today that the devil is trying to dampen our meeting?" I thought.
Well, we laughed and explained the problems to the congregation (we had 58), and went ahead with service. I fed the lines to the music as I led, and Chuck went to Home Depot and fixed the toilet. I preached on "Gold Medal Faith: Keeping Your Eye on the Prize" - and had many come to the altar. I really am trying to continually challenge our people to decide to follow Christ on a weekly basis, and so far, it is working pretty well.
We had 7 visitors (Joanne's daughter, the Thompson's friend from PA, Harriet, and John, Tina, Justin and Nate from Maine - no last name). I am really glad we have switched to Sundays - I think we might be onto something here...I pray that God's power will be more and more evident each week.
AT 7:35, a man drove into our lot, stayed a second, and then drove back out - turns out, later on he and his wife and sons would attend our church. At 7:40, another car drove up, and a lady about 60 got out and came in - her name is Harriet. She is a former member of Beacon, and she wanted to check us out. And so she did - from 7:45 on - she was such a nice woman, although we were hoping for more time in prayer - but who said that things had to go according to our plan, right?
Today, because Krista and Greg and Gail were out of town, we did a different kind of praise team, with me, Rod, and Audrey making up a vocal trio as we sang with CD's. It went well, and I used our new cordless headset mic. But the fun didn't happen until we were just getting ready to start. At 9:55, we realized that the projector wasn't working right - ok, wasn't working eventually at all - and so we wouldn't have a projector. Then, right before service, I had to use the bathroom (bad) and so I went - and the handle broke off the toilet and wouldn't flush! OK - at that point, I had to laugh. "God, what do you want to do today that the devil is trying to dampen our meeting?" I thought.
Well, we laughed and explained the problems to the congregation (we had 58), and went ahead with service. I fed the lines to the music as I led, and Chuck went to Home Depot and fixed the toilet. I preached on "Gold Medal Faith: Keeping Your Eye on the Prize" - and had many come to the altar. I really am trying to continually challenge our people to decide to follow Christ on a weekly basis, and so far, it is working pretty well.
We had 7 visitors (Joanne's daughter, the Thompson's friend from PA, Harriet, and John, Tina, Justin and Nate from Maine - no last name). I am really glad we have switched to Sundays - I think we might be onto something here...I pray that God's power will be more and more evident each week.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
A few things worth noting...
On July 31st, Krista and I along with Norman (pray he becomes part of our church!) and Audrey Marquis joined forces and painted and decorated a section of dormitory down at Boston Baptist College. It took us from 7:30am to 7:30pm, but it was worth it. I enjoy giving back to a place that, although I was there for only a little while, gave so much to me. I hope to do similar things like that again.
Also, today Rod and I conversed with a guy named Jeremy, a seeker of sorts, who had visited our church two weeks ago, and he and his fiance walked out...which I thought would be the last time I saw him. But he called me this morning, requesting a meeting, to which I agreed, and Rod and I talked with him for almost two hours. He is seeking the Lord again in his life, although he has been involved in just about everything - there is not enough room in this blog to list all that he has been involved in. But I feel we touched him (we fed him too!), and answered some of his questions. Time will tell if he comes back, but I did let him borrow my book, A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. I pray that God uses us to bless him more.
Also, today Rod and I conversed with a guy named Jeremy, a seeker of sorts, who had visited our church two weeks ago, and he and his fiance walked out...which I thought would be the last time I saw him. But he called me this morning, requesting a meeting, to which I agreed, and Rod and I talked with him for almost two hours. He is seeking the Lord again in his life, although he has been involved in just about everything - there is not enough room in this blog to list all that he has been involved in. But I feel we touched him (we fed him too!), and answered some of his questions. Time will tell if he comes back, but I did let him borrow my book, A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. I pray that God uses us to bless him more.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Sunday, August 1, 2004
It was a good Sunday service. I say "good" in the sense that we had a good attendance as we had Lee and Joann with us (which I did not expect! Nice surprise), and Stevie and Paul were again with us, and Jenn and Lucinda were with us again. We were missing several of our regular people though, but still, we had 50, praise God, and I hope that continues to increase. The music was also good, and it was Maria's last Sunday with us - I really like Maria, and I hope she and Chad do well in Maryland. My preaching was fine, but two things: 1) I wasn't prayed up, and so I felt that my sermon, though good, lacked power, and 2) the people were "ho-hum" in their response. I preached on "Growing Faith: Four Steps to Trusting God" from Hebrews 11:7-12, adapting material from John Piper on the subject.
Again, I felt it was a good day overall, but praise the Lord it was nowhere near as good as it gets!
Again, I felt it was a good day overall, but praise the Lord it was nowhere near as good as it gets!
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