Sunday is Game Day. As a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship. It's the day our staff plans for all week. It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode. It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:
- Grace Harborcreek worship launch in the commons - Today nearly 60 people gathered for worship in the Commons at Grace to do church. This is the team that will launch a campus in Harborcreek starting next month. They're using this month to continue to build community and camaraderie among the team, practice setting things up and working together, and discover the roles that they will fill in making church happen in Harborcreek. They had a great launch - the spirit in the room was great - and God is building His church.
- Stories - today I spoke on the text in Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm. You can catch up with the sermon and resources here (will be posted Monday 3/7 sometime due to my coughing fit at 9:15). I got to tell the story of my friend Kristin and her journey through the storm of losing her husband far too soon. As I preached today, I became aware of deep heart-work going on in the room. Despite the fact that I was really sick, coughing up a lung, and sounded like I had the voice of an ax-murderer - the Word of God did its thing with the help of the Holy Spirit. I found out after the service as people came forward that there are stories in the works through some of the people of Grace that are incredible. People spoke to me about getting clarity on storms that they are navigating, new levels of courage that they are achieving in walking with others through storms, new heights of faith in Christ, and one particular person who recently went through the unspeakable pain of a spouse who committed suicide - approached me to let me know that they are willing to tell their story to the church. So they might help others who are going through difficulties. God is at work in a big way in the lives of people at Grace. I was also moved by Heiden's introduction to the Lord's Supper today. This college student/athlete is going to have a huge kingdom impact.
- Mid-Course Correction - This may seem minor to some but I've been around Pastors enough who have dysfunctional teams to appreciate this little moment. In between services a few of our staff had about a 3 minute conversation about a video element that we did at the 9:15 service that seemed abrupt and disrupted the flow of the service. We instantly pulled it from 11:00 with no questions asked. No drama, no egos, no agendas, no bickering, just action. Tomorrow morning the decision will be reviewed to see if it was the right one, but for now I'm just loving the unity and single-mindedness of our team. That kind of stuff makes me very happy ... and grateful.
There was also an amazing thing that happened tonight at GraceYouth. I won't spill the beans here because there is a letter going out to the church tomorrow with all the details. Let's put it this way - the future of that ministry is a little clearer these days... stay tuned.
I will post a recap of the sermon and some other stuff later this week. If you were at Grace this weekend - what were some of your highlights?
2 comments:
I met with a friend for coffee the day before. We were talking about going through storms and how the only thing to do is hold onto Jesus. When frantic and anxious, stop everything, be still and spend time seeking Him- not for what He can do for you, but to have more of Him. As we listened to the sermon together, we both sat in awe of how everything you said matched our conversation the day before.
I was privileged to attend both services yesterday! Grace McKean was engaging as Pastor Derek brought a " Jesus at His Best " sermon that brought many of us to our hearts knees. Harborcreek's intimate worship was perfect for this budding team. We also saw God working in lives at the new venue. As for the video being pulled, I did see a smoother transition to alter time without it.
Lives are indeed being challenged to be Disciples of Jesus thanks to great leadership and team execution! Grateful for a place called Grace! Brother Bob B!
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