WOW!

We wrap up our prayer series this Wednesday night with our final Night of Prayer, 6:30 in the Worship Center. And I'm getting excited for it because it will be an overflow - we pray - from this past Sunday's focus, the WOW! part of prayer.
Paul (Austin) did a great job of pointing us to the incredible opportunity that is there for us when we enter into God's presence in our prayer life. The fact that we CAN is in itself a WOW! We don't need a priest or someone to approach God on our behalf. We can have open, honest and direct communication with the Creator Himself and experience His great love, compassion, discipline and grace first hand! I don't know about you, but if I didn't have that, I would not be here today. I know that I need to have that access in order to connect and communicate with Him.
And I have to say I really appreciate Paul's honesty and transparency. It's not easy to get up in front of people and 'confess' your struggles with God and with the stuff in your life. But Paul did it, and I believe he was being sincere and honest. That is an encouragement for many, me included.

Here's a couple of quick observations from Sunday:
* There was a definite desire to want to sing worship to God. And it showed in the participation and excitement in many of you!
* It was the first time we have heard applause after the video announcements! Not sure what
that was all about, but it got the energy going in the room. Thanks Terry for doing those.
* We introduced a new song, Take Time To Pray by Rick Muchow, that seemed to settle well
with both crowds. A great reminder as we wrap up the series to DO what we've been talking
about for almost a month!
* Again, Paul really drove the point home and folks got it. I know of one conversation that took
place after second service where Paul was approached by someone who doesn't really agree
with or like 'church'. Yet he took time to tell Paul that he liked what he had to say and it was making him think a little differently about God and his life. Praise God!
* The 'after service party' is cracking me up! What I mean by this is the amount of people that
stick around and visit in the Worship Center. Week after week this crowd is growing in number and staying longer. To me, that's a sign of a welcoming, comfortable church.

God is up to something around here. Would you do me a favor? Would you continue to pray for me in this time of excitement and opportunity? I don't have any idea what God is up to, as I don't think anyone really does. But for me, it's a tough time because I'm phasing myself out of the out-front-lead guy (over the next 3-4 years) and not sure what the next phase looks like. I AM NOT LEAVING THE CHURCH OR QUITTING! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not getting any younger. In order for us to connect better with a culture that is younger, I think we need someone who is closer to that age demographic to lead. I have to figure out what that looks like and who that needs to be. I am just trying to plan ahead. (In case you didn't know it, this has been in the works for the past two years.) What I'm doing is looking for that next WOW moment in ministry that God has already planned for me. I believe I need to do this work now so that I can be ready for the next chapter, whatever that may be. I appreciate and count on your prayers.

Let's pray together for the next WOW! moment for First Baptist and for the Creative Arts and Worship Ministry.

See ya in church...