Seeing what God is up to
You know how as a Parent, there are moments when you know your Kid(s) are up to something? Maybe they are particularly quiet in their room or giggle at every little thing. Whatever the cue is, you know it because you know your children and their actions and responses.
We've had a difficult year in the Church. Through some unfortunate circumstances that I won't go into, we have lost 3 families. While that may not seem like much to those that attend the mega-churches, it can be quite devastating to a Congregation that has struggled to maintain an average of 45 to 50 people. Couple that with the fact that all three families held leadership positions and you begin to see what we have been up against. After nearly 8 years of ministry here, I find myself at a place of starting over and I haven't been real fond of it. We are without music and minus a large percentage of our Sunday School Teachers. To be honest, I, myself, had begun to ask God for the permission to exit "stage left" but I could not find that release and when He would speak, all I would hear was, "you are not done here," and "trust Me!" (not exactly what you want to hear in moments such as these, lol)
I'm still not sure what God is up to but let me tell you some things that are happening.
It has literally been years since I have led Praise and Worship and I simply do not have the time to learn the different accompaniment Soundtracks that are out there so, we have begun to sing along with some of my favorite Praise and Worship CD's. (yes, we have our copyright and Video licenses up to date) At first, it was "different" but the people have really warmed up to it and there is a genuine excitement in our worship that is totally cool.
People are beginning to step up into leadership positions. There is a spirit of volunteerism that is being made evident and it has been an awesome thing to witness. Yes, I have had and continue to have strict standards regarding faithfulness in Leadership and have even had to turn a person or two down because of it but people are definitely stepping up and I am praising God for it.
Lastly, our attendance has begun to increase again. In fact, yesterday was a cold and wintery day but by the end of service we had 48 people in attendance and in recent weeks we have seen several more than that.
I don't know what God is up to but I always know it is good!
We've had a difficult year in the Church. Through some unfortunate circumstances that I won't go into, we have lost 3 families. While that may not seem like much to those that attend the mega-churches, it can be quite devastating to a Congregation that has struggled to maintain an average of 45 to 50 people. Couple that with the fact that all three families held leadership positions and you begin to see what we have been up against. After nearly 8 years of ministry here, I find myself at a place of starting over and I haven't been real fond of it. We are without music and minus a large percentage of our Sunday School Teachers. To be honest, I, myself, had begun to ask God for the permission to exit "stage left" but I could not find that release and when He would speak, all I would hear was, "you are not done here," and "trust Me!" (not exactly what you want to hear in moments such as these, lol)
I'm still not sure what God is up to but let me tell you some things that are happening.
It has literally been years since I have led Praise and Worship and I simply do not have the time to learn the different accompaniment Soundtracks that are out there so, we have begun to sing along with some of my favorite Praise and Worship CD's. (yes, we have our copyright and Video licenses up to date) At first, it was "different" but the people have really warmed up to it and there is a genuine excitement in our worship that is totally cool.
People are beginning to step up into leadership positions. There is a spirit of volunteerism that is being made evident and it has been an awesome thing to witness. Yes, I have had and continue to have strict standards regarding faithfulness in Leadership and have even had to turn a person or two down because of it but people are definitely stepping up and I am praising God for it.
Lastly, our attendance has begun to increase again. In fact, yesterday was a cold and wintery day but by the end of service we had 48 people in attendance and in recent weeks we have seen several more than that.
I don't know what God is up to but I always know it is good!
posted by Ken at
Monday, December 08, 2008
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