Week one is "in the books"

This past weekend kicked off the first of a three part sermon series that I'm teaching here at Charter Oak Church. You may have read about it in some of my previous posts. The general thesis of this series is that we need to make the transition from "faith in the seated position" to "faith in action". That being said, here are some of my favorite moments from the weekend:

- hearing the Saturday night crowd burst into applause when they saw Amber's cardboard testimony which read, "partying, sex, self-loathing ATHEIST...forgiven, free, loved FUTURE PASTOR"

- seeing Ms. Ethel and her 12 boys in attendance at the 9:30 service. They all beamed with joy as I told her story.

- on Saturday afternoon we realized that we built the backdrop too tall for the projection screen to be used on that side of the stage...so a pair of students volunteered their time to paint new "flats" late Saturday night, and Tony Harding volunteered to meet me at 5am on Sunday morning to install them once the paint was dry. The flats got painted, and Tony and I got them installed before the sun even came up on Sunday morning. To Tony, Katie, and Mallory...you guys made my weekend! Thank you so much.

- there was a woman who was so moved by the 9:30 service that she begged to be a part of the cardboard testimony presentation at the 11 o'clock service. Cindy Jonczak pulled me aside after the 11 o'clock service had already begun and asked if that was possible. I said, "Of course it is." What was interesting, however, is that I didn't know who this lady was or if she was was even going to find her way to the right place at the right time. Well, behind the scenes, their was a collective effort of several people to get her where she needed to be, and everything went off without a hitch. She walked on stage as she was cued and shared her testimony while smiling radiantly. As she walked off the stage, our eyes met for the first time. We shared a "thumbs up" at one another. It was a moment of pure joy for both of us.

- seeing a young woman who had been molested as a child write her cardboard testimony. It read, "Silenced and controlled because I was molested...tears of pain turned to tears of joy thanks to the Lord." Whoever doesn't believe that Jesus is a healer needs to speak to that woman. Glory to God!

- hearing my wife sing at all four services

I'm excited about week 2! I hope to see you there.

Grace and Peace to you.