It was like the perfect storm. Over the last couple of months, several events were added to my calendar forming a whirlwind week. Every day I opened my Outlook calendar, this week loomed over me with dark shadows of what looked like the perfect storm brewing.
Out of town all day Thursday...
Celebrating Carrie's and my anniversary all day Saturday...
COAHC Sunday service in the morning...
COAHC TriBE Membership Class on Sunday afternoon...
Preaching at the Culpeper Lenten Service on Sunday evening...
Leading up to this weekend, I covered the weekend in prayer. I really focus on the importance of doing what I do with excellence. I simply don't like missing an opportunity to glorify God by giving less than 100%. And, man, did God show up in a big way!
It was a long time since Carrie and I had an opportunity to spend an entire day together uninterrupted by kids or ministry. From 9 am to 9 pm, we spent twelve hours in married bliss. It was so wonderful re-engaging one another in conversation beyond the quick "How was your day? How can I pray for you?" that normally takes place. God has blessed me with such an incredible wife who is everything and more than I could ever ask for.
My sermon was completely finished as of Friday night, so I didn't need to spend anytime on Saturday tweaking or revising as I normally do. Instead, God took me in a different direction for Lenten service sermon. It only took me a few hours Saturday night and early Sunday morning to get down on paper, so I still got five hours of sleep.
Sunday was amazing! God moved powerfully in our COAHC service. The message was difficult to preach, but the Holy Spirit used it to bring people into a new relationship with Him. That never gets old for me.
We had our first membership class and our Charter members on the books. We call it TriBE Membership. We're a Church family with characteristics of a tribe, and we focus on BElieving, BElonging and BEcoming. It's so great to have this aspect of our Church finally get underway.
Sunday evening was the climax to an inspiring day. Preaching at a community service with several other area Church leaders (ie, pastors and reverends) in attendance is always a daunting task. Preaching to folks who come from such diverse Church backgrounds is even more daunting. My preaching style doesn't exactly smack of tradition. Yet, the Lord moved powerfully in His Word and struck at the hearts of several who responded with a commitment to God at the end.
Praise be to God for a busy week... an inspiring week... a week when He took over, gave me the strength and energy to accomplish His work for His glory.
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