There was a certain anticipation all week leading up to yesterday's service. It wasn't necessarily about the fact that it would be one of our largest services in our short two-year history of a church, although we were all excited about that. It wasn't necessarily about making sure our T's were crossed and I's dotted, although our staff, leaders and volunteers had done an incredible job making sure those things were done. It was about how many people would make life-changing and Kingdom-changing decisions - not if, but how many.
The message the Lord gave me wasn't exactly the message I was wanting to deliver. After all, it's Easter - a time when you ordinarily share a message of triumph and hope to people in light of the resurrected Jesus. No, instead, the Lord gave me a message that didn't exactly shout "good vibes." The message I shared was a no-holds-barred, pull-out-all-the-stops, "If you don't know Jesus, you're going to hell" message.
Really? Really, Lord? You really want me to share this message on Easter?
I submitted, and there it was. God did His thing in spite of me and now there are more names in the Book of Life. God really does know what He's doing!
The Lord spoke to me yesterday in a reassuring voice, "If you're not preaching to save souls or transform lives, why are you preaching?" It was a gentle reminder that God not only understands my struggles as a pastor, but He has sent me to do His will, not mine. I'm not in this for me. It's all about Jesus and bringing people to Him!
So, our Easter service was our best so far. Our attendance was just a few shy of 100 people - a record for us. Our offering was at record-level with a significant portion going towards expenses for two young men who are local missionaries from our Church family. We had 10 people make decisions for the Lord, and we are set up to baptize about a dozen people on April 18.
To some, this may seem like a drop in the bucket. To City on a Hill Church, this is who we are and this is where we're going. We will continue to be bold in following Christ at all costs in order for His Kingdom to be built in Culpeper one person at a time, one soul at a time.
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