God Shows Up!

That title is theologically wrong, so please don't take that in a literal sense; I meant it in the figurative sense. I know that God is always here; it's just that some days it seems like He's shouting, and other days it can seem like He's silent. But today......He was not silent! I could hear Him in the enthusiastic worship of our church family, in the testimonies of the 30 people being baptized (yes, you read that right - 30!), in the cheers of all of us witnessing the baptisms, in the various conversations during our all-church outdoor BBQ, and in the remembrances of the Brazil Missions Team that met tonight to share a meal and to watch a DVD of their trip! Wow; what a day! I'm blown away by God's goodness and grace!

I must sincerely thank the huge group of servant-hearted people who showed up at 6:30 AM this morning to start cooking and setting up for our BBQs; they are just incredible! They had a full meal ready after both services, and it was so good: hamburgers, beans, chips, watermelon, and cantelope! So many people are willing to serve the Lord in large and small ways, and each one is vital to what God wants to do here.

Also, we had a small group connection time today with everyone encouraged to sign up to be a part of a small group. We have a lot of small groups that are just starting, so it's a great time to join a group that is just forming. Let me encourage you to take a risk and join a group; we will be going through a book that deeply affected Dave and me before we became pastors. In fact, when we read this book, we embraced it because we felt it put words to what our hearts had been dreaming the body of Christ could be. The book is called, "Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness," and there is a part of me that wishes I could be involved in each and every small group so that I could be a part of all of those discussions. I truly think God will light some fires through these small group discussion times.