Sunday Recap

WOW! What a day! I was tired when I finally got home, and all for good reason!

• It was a hard message, because in my head it sounded like I was whining. "We don't have enough people helping....we can't do ministry unless YOU do ministry..." Unfortunately for the church - those are all true statements! God called the CHURCH BODY to be involved in serving God, the body and the un-churched. He didn't call pastors to do ALL the work. That's why we looked so long at the passages from Ephesians 4:1-16 yesterday!
• "As each part does its work..." was a good tie-in to the movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. If they each hadn't done what only they could do, Ellie would have been lost along with baby Peaches. (You may have to go see the movie to understand that one!)
• When this church family does 'the parts' that each one of us has to do, it's a beautiful thing! Just look at 4th of July parade, RecoveryFest, Friend Zone, and other events like it.
• We know we have to get better at communicating what we need, so that's what I did yesterday. Including asking people who have the gift of communicating in various forms to step up and get involved!
  
• So far, we have had 30+ people talk to various leaders yesterday to begin serving. COOL! That means that more people will have the opportunity to be blessed by God as they serve Him with their gifts, abilities and skills.
  
• Several people approached me with ideas that God has been calling them to pursue, but they didn't really know how or where. It's AWESOME that we get to help point people to places where they can process and pray about what it is that God has called them to do. Keep your eyes and ears open in the future...there may be some new opportunities coming!
• We had one couple hear God's message yesterday and they both signed up to get plugged in serving Him. Why is that significant? This is only their SECOND WEEK! They found something they were interested in and got connected.
• Someone brought up the question, "What if I serve outside the church during the week, and those people are coming to church? Does that count as service?" Yes, it does. I will challenge those folks to find some place IN THE CHURCH to serve, even if it's once a month for 15 minutes. Service is connected to membership (my words).
• SEVERAL of our Middle School and High School students stepped up to serve, especially in the children's area. COOL!

WHEW! I know that we have not heard from everyone yet that heard the call to step up and serve Him. Can't wait to hear more! I had one of our leaders tell me last week that she could really use 8 new people on her team, that it would give her the depth she needed. After second service, she had 8 CARDS! You can't script this stuff! God is faithful to His people!

Get ready for some incredible stuff this fall. Don't have a clue what it is...just that it is.

See ya in church...
Karl