Monday!

We had a smaller group yesterday in the morning service - but a bigger number than usual in the evening. Quite a few people were away, and we had only a few children.

But things are happening. One young man from the neighbourhood came for a visit in the morning, came back in the evening, and is already interested in joining the church. Last week I distributed a trial run of 50 leaflets on a street by the church - and he is the first result.
One man found our website and contacted me, first to ask about some local history, and then to tell me that he is moving in the area, wants to visit the church, and would like to eventually be married in our church.
Last night, just after the service, a young lady came to have a look around. She is moving in the area, is getting married, has never had a church home and is looking for one. Very soon we were talking about her desire to learn more about faith, to be baptised, to become part of our church. We will have to start baptism classes after Easter - she is the third person asking about baptism.

It feels like events are just taking over, pushed by an invisible hand. The only time I experienced something like this was when planting the church in Barlad. It is as if the Lord had people already open and looking for a church, and He was just waiting for the church to get a grip. Morice Baptist, our partner church, is experiencing the same thing - after years of decline, suddenly new people are coming in, all by themselves. This is what I was hoping for, but not really what I was expecting.

Of course it does not mean we can stop reaching out; it is our duty as a church to go into the community and reach people for the Lord any way we can. But what I think is happening is that the Lord already had people whose heart was open, but the church was not ready for them. We are not there yet, there is a long way to go, but the feel of the church is definitely changing. The Lord is at work - we just need to try and catch up. I need to catch up - I'm still in a bit of a daze and haven't quite got a grip on things.

Last night I had troubles with the sound system, and one of the songs (Beautiful Lord) was more or less murdered. The sound guy wasn't there and I could not find the wire to connect my laptop to the amp. We survived it, but I have to learn where everything is and how everything works - we can't have this happen in a Sunday morning service. The evening sermon was a bit undercooked; I haven't quite managed to catch up with my message schedule. I'm getting there. I'm a visiting preacher somewhere else this coming Sunday, and then a bunch of meetings around Easter are coming. And then we kick start our Living with Christ small group series. I've got to get all of that ready soonest. And to plan the baptism and membership class, and to make my preaching plan for after Easter. Things are getting really interesting and exciting! I've still got a few things dragging me down - particularly the whole financial thing - but then, I've got to put in practice what I was preaching last night: step out in faith! The Lord is faithful - it's just a question of me, and us as a church, being faithful.