Sunday, July 29, 2007

Blown Away

I love my church! I was blown absolutely away today at Hope. God has so blessed us with some great teaching pastors: Mike, Dave, Joe, Steve, and Donnie. They are all different (which I love) and they teach the Word of God in creative and inspired ways.

Pastor Steve Ellis, our Outreach Pastor, taught today in our continuing series, "Road Trip With Jesus". The title of his message was "E-Roading...When Life Disappoints" and he used Luke 24:13-35...the road to Emmaus. It was one of the most powerful teachings on ANY subject I have ever heard. If you do not attend Hope, check out our website (you can find a direct link on the right side of this page). Check on the site later in the week and you should be able to get a podcast of Steve's message . You can also get CD copies at Hope beginning next Sunday.

If I attempted in any way to summarize it for you, I would diminish this awesome word from God. Trust me...find a way to get a copy of this teaching!

I serve with our First Impressions Ministry, and if you know me; you have heard me talk about it. (probably more than you ever wanted to hear, but I appreciate you humoring me!) We huddle before week-end services as a team to verify positions, share information, and pray. I love the community God has established, and how He just keeps developing and transforming us. A great part of huddle is a devotion....just a time to share in a personal way what God is doing. Now normally, Mary Ann or I do the devotionals, and we do love it. We both LOVE to talk and we joke about "always having something to say!" (It really is not a joke...we DO have a lot to say)

However, one of our Team Leaders led Huddle this week-end and she did a remarkable job. Kudos to Jenny Carpenter! You straight rock, Jenny! God put something amazing on her heart to share, and it was a huge part of my worship experience at Hope today.

See...I love hearing our Senior Pastor, Mike, teach and preach. I love when Mary Ann shares her heart and her life in Huddle. I love sharing in Huddle. It's not about who is preaching or who is leading volunteer huddle. It really is about God. He uses us all. In different ways. In wonderful ways. It is sad when we will only open our hearts to a certain preacher, teacher, or huddle leader. God annointed Steve and Jenny today and used them to speak to His sheep. I, for one, am glad I didn't miss out.

I am in awe.

1 comment:

Mary Ann said...

All I can add to that is AMEN Bro!

What a generous God we have!