Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Amazing Weekend!!

Praise God for everything that happened this weekend! Wow was it a crazy busy few days. Many of us took off Friday from work to get a lot of work done. We bought a set of lights, built a stage, and got the gym set up for the service on Saturday night. The band got together around 5:00 Friday evening and practiced until about 12:30 AM before calling it quits... man was the music awesome Saturday night. Steven got in from Ohio around 9:30 Friday night and it was awesome preparing for what God was gonna do on Saturday night.

We started early on Saturday morning, meeting at the Snack Shop for breakfast, followed by a great game of golf over at Pine Grove. I know Steven mentioned it in the service on Saturday but I'll say it again... me and Steve beat J Walk and Casey in Captain's Choice... an event that has never happened before. Casey ended up throwing a 3Wood into the pond, haha...it was great. Anyways we got back over at Aldersgate around 4 o'clock and began getting the final preparations done for the service.

As it got close to 7PM many of us were getting nervous because of the great responsibility that comes along with a Gospel Presentation. We were expecting many new people attending for the first time as well as many to respond to the invitation...and it all happened. We had our largest crowd of any service to date, with around half of the people in attendance being first time visitors. Josh Childers, all the way home from Guam, shared a powerful testimony and the band led us in a time of worship unlike any other service. As Steven came up to speak, I knew it was going to be an amazing service. His message was all about the cross and the forgiveness that comes through what happened on that cross. It was a message all about Jesus and what he did for each one of us. It was a powerful message that hit home with so many of us. At the close of the message, the band played "Carry My Cross" by Third Day and as the song was played, different video clips from "The Passion of Christ" was displayed on the screen. As the song ended, Steven came back up for a time of invitation. God was at work in a powerful way! We saw an overwhelming response to God as there were over 40 people who came up and "laid their rock down" at the foot of the cross. We also know that there were people who made first time decisions to accept Christ as Lord or their life during the first invitation. How awesome!!!

It is unreal to think about what God has done so far in The Foundation ministry... and to think that God's using a bunch of inexperienced, undependable college kids makes it an even bigger "God thing." God is being glorified and I can't wait to see what He's gonna do next!!

1 comment:

Walk said...

Easy now, Me and Casey just felt like we should let Steven win so he wouldn't be all down and depressed before he gave the message, lol. Nah we seriously just stunk it up.

But then again it might have worked, because Steven did an awesome job. God used him to present the gospel in a powerful way and I just felt blessed that God allowed me to be apart of it.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it was a "God thing", because God took all of the hard work, talents, and faith that a bunch of inexperienced nobodies offered Him, and transformed it into something we could have never produced on our own, and used it to change lives and glorify himself.

I think that this is what happens when a group of belivers come together expecting God to show up. He does! He wants to show himself and draw others to himself.

Instead of coming together and expecting God not to show up, and then when He does show up, it is an inconvenience because we are trying to beat the line at FATZ.

Anyway, I am still excited about what God has done so far, and I am stoked about the next service.