It has been awhile since I used one of these Minister’s Minutes to talk specifically about our church, but I am so excited about it right now I cannot help myself! Do you have any idea how much this church has grown in less than 2 years? Our membership has grown by 156%! The number is staggering and it testifies to the Spirit’s work in this place. Our Wednesday Night Suppers and Bible Studies are now averaging over 70 people. Can you believe it?! I remember the first bible study I led and we had 7 people including me. This year alone we have added 33 new members, and we have another 4 months before the year ends. And that does not include all of the people who are family in this church, but have not joined!
But the numbers are only a part of the story. Children’s church now exists as a wonderful children’s ministry setting the foundations for our children’s faith. You will discover later in this newsletter that the Second Saturday Snack Sack has become the Saturday Samaritan Missions… in fact the life of one man has been forever changed by the work of God being done on Saturdays. He now has a job, transportation, and best of all hope and joy exemplified by the wonderful news that he has decided to join this church! We are volunteering weekly at the Salvation Army helping serve dinners and raise funds to buy food. We have members working weekly with Meals-on-Wheels. We went into the one of the “worst” places in Albany with school supplies and declared to those who would keep it bad we will fight evil with love. We have a family that has left us for a year to do mission work abroad – and I am told that we are forming a team that will go work with them for a week. We have another individual who is headed to Africa for several weeks to do God’s work. This is just a sample because new ministries are in the works. God’s work is being done outside the walls of this church to ensure that hope and joy is planted where we step foot. And in following and believing in that vision we are changing lives through the power of and for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ!
I have had people come up to me after services and say, “I cannot leave church without feeling like God is calling me to make my community better.” Someone else came up to me after a bible study and said, “For the first time in my life, I felt the love of God tonight.” Numerous people have told me that when they visited our church they felt accepted, invited, excited, and best of all welcomed as though they were family. A fellow minister stopped by the other day and walked with me around the church explaining, “I cannot believe what has happened here… God is good.” I responded the only way I could, “All of the time.”
The wave of the Holy Spirit has swept this place into frenzy of hope and joy and many are riding it! If you do not feel as if you are riding this wave yet, I invite to stand in the way of it. Finally make it to that bible study for which you claim there is no time, because that is nonsense we all need that time with God’s Word to mature in our faith. Join a ministry team or committee and use the gifts God has given you, and soon you will find more gifts you never knew you had. Begin a new ministry or mission because your heart tells you it must be done. Do not sit back and wait for the Spirit to take you, jump into the wave and let the God take you where you are suppose to be. If you do I know you will be filled with an excitement that will make God smile… well, and you smile too!
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
No comments:
Post a Comment