Weekend Reflection

Thank God for whom all blessings flow!  This was a wonderful weekend as we were able once again to experience the rich blessings from God.  Friday was an unique day in the history of New River Worship Center.  New River is the church plant of which I am serving as lead Pastor.  We were privileged to sign the closing paperwork on a building and piece of property which will serve as our new Worship and Outreach Center.  This building provides much needed room for us to be able to expand the ministry call that God placed upon our hearts many months ago.  It is a dream come true for this infant congregation but we truly believe that God is leading us in this direction.  The building will require remodeling so that it can become the center that we need to reach the community that surrounds us.  God has blessed the local church body in many ways over the past year and half.  We have outgrown the present building and we are in great need of room to expand the ministry outreach.  Many of you may feel led to send us an offering to assist the process of construction or you may feel led to volunteer your time and abilities to the project once we begin.  Feel free to contact me via my email address if you need further information concerning either of these opportunities of assistance.  I will remind you that we are recognized as a 501C3 corporation by the Internal Revenue Service.

The presence of the Lord was awesome in the service on Sunday morning as the Church Board reported to the congregation concerning the closing on the property.  We had been in this process for over 5 months as we worked with the bank and sought God for direction.  We identified the miraculous as the bank was willing to lend this infant church an adequate amount of money to purchase the property.  Financial institutions just do not make those type of decisions but God provided the favor and appraisal that we needed to see the project come to fruition.  The song declares; "You (God) deserves the highest praise..."  Yes, our God deserves our highest praise each and every day that we are on this earth.  I desire to offer to God more than just my words, I desire to offer my life to God in the form of a living sacrifice.  I desire to serve God to the best of my ability.

But the greatest blessing of Sunday was not the information about the building.  The greatest blessing was the presence of the Holy Spirit as we worshipped God with passion, fervor, and strong desire.  We lifted our voices and hearts to the Lord God Almighty and allowed Him to speak direction to our local body.  We need to be walking correctly in this time in which we live.  We must be committed to the "Father's Business".  These were the words that Jesus used to teach us that He came to "seek and save the lost."  The Spirit led us into a strong presence of conviction and humbling ourselves at the conclusion of the sermon. The presence of the Lord was still in the building even after we dismissed the congregation.  A lady came forward and gave her life to Christ.  Here is the interesting part of that story; we have seen the mother give her life to Christ, we have seen the daughter give her life to Christ, and we have seen the granddaughter give her life to Christ in Youth Ministry.  Three generations out of the same family have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ.  It may take a building to house people but it will take the heart of God to reach people with this message of salvation.  Take a moment today and ask God to reveal His heart to you for fallen mankind.  And then ask Him, "What would you have ME to do to reach someone with your life changing love?"