As I'm writing this, I'm still celebrating our most recent Wednesday night service that saw a record 87 children and youth here, not counting all of the adults. But even better was what happened afterwards: I was able to share the plan of salvation with three young ladies and they all trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We're seeing that kind of thing happen more and more often here at EFBC; and that, my friends, is what it's all about.
I recently received an anonymous comment from a person who said that they'd just happened upon my blog while surfing the Internet. It was quite obvious that this person had some different beliefs than we do, but they seemed to genuinely be a follower of Christ. In the comment, several accusations were made. This person wrote that "you care more for numbers than for souls" and that I am only interested in "growing a larger congregation."
So here's the question: Do numbers matter to God? I believe the answer is unmistakably "YES!" Read the Gospels and take notice of how many times you see the writers saying something to the effect of, "large crowds were following Jesus." Did anybody accuse Christ of being "just about the numbers?" I don't think so.
Read Acts 2 where 3000 people were saved and baptized. Did you ever think about the fact that somebody had to count all of those people and God felt it was important enough to include that number in the Scriptures? Throughout the book of Acts, Luke is continually mentioning how the church was growing and the Lord was adding to their numbers.
After the first deacons were called in Acts 6, the Bible actually tells us that the number of disciples began to multiply. Funny how the Bible mentions adding and multiplying (two words that are inherently linked to numbers), yet some people still believe that God doesn't care about numbers.
To the people who would say, "You're more concerned with numbers than with souls," I would respond by saying, "God cares about numbers and I care about numbers because every number represents a soul." And the numbers I am most concerned about are the untold numbers in our community who don't know Jesus.
So if you were wondering if I'm going to apologize for celebrating the numbers we've been having, the answer to that would be a gigantic "NO!" I'll always rejoice as our numbers grow. And I'll especially rejoice every time another soul is saved. Jesus didn't give us the Great Commission for nothing. Numbers matter to God, and they should matter to us, as well.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Less Than 24 Hours...
In less than 24 hours, we'll be gathering together as the church, and I'm SOOO looking forward to it. Can't wait to finish the message I started last week (which was so rudely interupted by a power outage and bad storm). I've now had two weeks to let this message form, so everybody had better strap themselves in!
Sorry I didn't get a post done yesterday. Got hit with some unexpected things that took up much of my day.
One more reminder: Don't forget the 4th-6th grade Sunday School class is having a bake sale tomorrow immediately after the service. Hope you come with a sweet tooth!
Can hardly wait to get together with my church family and see what God is going to do at 1835 Gate 8 Road tomorrow. Till then, always remember that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Sorry I didn't get a post done yesterday. Got hit with some unexpected things that took up much of my day.
One more reminder: Don't forget the 4th-6th grade Sunday School class is having a bake sale tomorrow immediately after the service. Hope you come with a sweet tooth!
Can hardly wait to get together with my church family and see what God is going to do at 1835 Gate 8 Road tomorrow. Till then, always remember that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Can Hardly Wait!
Strep has left the building. It's great to be back in good health and I'm now so pumped up about this Sunday at EFBC that I can hardly wait! I really believe God's going to do some INCREDIBLE things this weekend, and I'm excited about what He has in store for us.
This week's message will be the third in our series Things Jesus Said. We're looking at some of the more unusual or interesting passages that came from our Lord. This week's message is taken from Luke 18:18-27 (in case you want to read ahead) and is entitled Who Then Can Be Saved. We'll be studying a portion of Scripture that I believe has been misrepresented by a lot of teachers and preachers, and I hope this Sunday we can set the record straight about what Jesus was saying here.
God's still up to something here at EFBC. We had another great Wednesday night, and I was once again blown away by the people God is sending our way. I read recently that we shouldn't worry about numbers, but rather about souls. And that is true, but I will NEVER stop rejoicing in the "numbers" God is bringing our way, because every single number represents a soul.
In fact, we'll celebrate another soul saved this Sunday morning with baptism. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I hope we wear that baptismal pool out. We may be trying to cut back on expenses, but the water bill is one expense I'd like to see go up! I hope our water bill goes so high that we have to start putting chlorine in the water and install a pump to circulate it. Seeing lives changed and people baptized are the two most exciting things that happen here, and those are two things that will never get old!
Come Sunday expecting God to do great things. Come Sunday with a worshipful heart. And come Sunday ready to celebrate Jesus, because He's alive and He's coming again! That's why I keep saying week after week after week that I know THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
This week's message will be the third in our series Things Jesus Said. We're looking at some of the more unusual or interesting passages that came from our Lord. This week's message is taken from Luke 18:18-27 (in case you want to read ahead) and is entitled Who Then Can Be Saved. We'll be studying a portion of Scripture that I believe has been misrepresented by a lot of teachers and preachers, and I hope this Sunday we can set the record straight about what Jesus was saying here.
God's still up to something here at EFBC. We had another great Wednesday night, and I was once again blown away by the people God is sending our way. I read recently that we shouldn't worry about numbers, but rather about souls. And that is true, but I will NEVER stop rejoicing in the "numbers" God is bringing our way, because every single number represents a soul.
In fact, we'll celebrate another soul saved this Sunday morning with baptism. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I hope we wear that baptismal pool out. We may be trying to cut back on expenses, but the water bill is one expense I'd like to see go up! I hope our water bill goes so high that we have to start putting chlorine in the water and install a pump to circulate it. Seeing lives changed and people baptized are the two most exciting things that happen here, and those are two things that will never get old!
Come Sunday expecting God to do great things. Come Sunday with a worshipful heart. And come Sunday ready to celebrate Jesus, because He's alive and He's coming again! That's why I keep saying week after week after week that I know THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Looking Forward To Sunday
Good morning everyone! Today's update will be short, as I'm continuing to recover from this week's bout with strep and I'm still not feeling very well.
A little sickness, however, can't keep me from being excited about this Sunday at EFBC. We'll continue the sermon series we began last week Things Jesus Said. This week's message is Peace On Earth; Just Not Yet and will be taken from Luke 12:49-59. I hope you'll be with us this Sunday as we continue to look at some of the more unusual and interesting things Jesus said. I'm expecting God to show up in a BIG WAY!!!
And speaking of God showing up in big ways, I was told that our youth and children attendance Wednesday night was 81! And that number doesn't even include all of the adult workers and helpers, not to mention my Wednesday night adult class. Isn't it amazing what God will do if we'll just let Him use us? Let's give Him all the praise and glory, and let's remember that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!
A little sickness, however, can't keep me from being excited about this Sunday at EFBC. We'll continue the sermon series we began last week Things Jesus Said. This week's message is Peace On Earth; Just Not Yet and will be taken from Luke 12:49-59. I hope you'll be with us this Sunday as we continue to look at some of the more unusual and interesting things Jesus said. I'm expecting God to show up in a BIG WAY!!!
And speaking of God showing up in big ways, I was told that our youth and children attendance Wednesday night was 81! And that number doesn't even include all of the adult workers and helpers, not to mention my Wednesday night adult class. Isn't it amazing what God will do if we'll just let Him use us? Let's give Him all the praise and glory, and let's remember that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!
Thursday, January 07, 2010
New Series Starts This Sunday
Good morning, everyone! As I write this, we've already had a couple of rounds of snow flurries here at 1835 Gate 8 Road. Everyone be careful today and tonight. Things could get messy, and dangerous, later on.
Right now it looks like Sunday will be fine other than EXTREMELY cold temperatures. Regardless of how cold it may be outside, I'm expecting a great day and God to do AMAZING things! I hope you'll plan on being with us this week.
Sunday morning I'll be beginning a new series of messages entitled Things Jesus Said. We're going to look at some of the more unusual and/or interesting passages that were spoken by Jesus. This Sunday's message is entitled Am I Doing That?, and it comes from Luke 9:57-62 (in case you want to read ahead).
This week we'll be asking ourselves three important questions based on three things Jesus told three different "would-be" disciples. Another thing I hope to do with this message Sunday is dispel some of the myths people have believed about what Jesus was saying here. Really looking forward to beginning this new sermon series!
One other thing about Sunday: I want to encourage all of our church members to stick around Sunday morning after church for our business meeting. We're going to try to keep the meeting short, because afterwards we're going to have a sort of "town-hall meeting" to try to get some feedback from our members concerning a very important situation. We need as many of our members to be there as possible, so I hope you can stay after the morning worship.
Insanely excited about getting back together with the rest of the church this Sunday at Eulaton! Expecting God to show up and lives to be changed! And looking forward to the future because I know that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Right now it looks like Sunday will be fine other than EXTREMELY cold temperatures. Regardless of how cold it may be outside, I'm expecting a great day and God to do AMAZING things! I hope you'll plan on being with us this week.
Sunday morning I'll be beginning a new series of messages entitled Things Jesus Said. We're going to look at some of the more unusual and/or interesting passages that were spoken by Jesus. This Sunday's message is entitled Am I Doing That?, and it comes from Luke 9:57-62 (in case you want to read ahead).
This week we'll be asking ourselves three important questions based on three things Jesus told three different "would-be" disciples. Another thing I hope to do with this message Sunday is dispel some of the myths people have believed about what Jesus was saying here. Really looking forward to beginning this new sermon series!
One other thing about Sunday: I want to encourage all of our church members to stick around Sunday morning after church for our business meeting. We're going to try to keep the meeting short, because afterwards we're going to have a sort of "town-hall meeting" to try to get some feedback from our members concerning a very important situation. We need as many of our members to be there as possible, so I hope you can stay after the morning worship.
Insanely excited about getting back together with the rest of the church this Sunday at Eulaton! Expecting God to show up and lives to be changed! And looking forward to the future because I know that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
