If you missed our meetings on Sunday, June 4th — you missed two great lessons … and need an update on some fantastic progress!
On Sunday morning, Britt Smith led the Joe Davis Bible Class in a study of Jesus’s on-going interactions with the Pharisees. These passionate followers of the law — who added hundreds of precepts to the laws God handed down — loved to weigh others down with spiritual burdens … but wouldn’t lift a finger to help their victims bear those burdens.
Meanwhile, Jesus tried again to help them see the value of a more perfect law: one rooted in love, grace, and mercy. For its time — in fact, for our time — this business of summarizing all of God’s law in two directives (Love God, and love each other) was mind-blowing.
Sunday night, our largest crowd yet met assembled for Sunday night worship. Dan’s sermon centered on an obscure passage where the whiny Children of Israel — having been sent miraculous manna from heaven — were complaining that they didn’t have any meat. Oh, to be back in slavery, where the meat pots were full of delicious stew!
This irritated both Moses and God, so God sent the camp so much quail it piled up on the ground three feet deep. Dan helped us imagine the work (and the stench) involved in processing that much dead quail (enough to feed several hundred thousand people). Immediately after a great anointing of the elders of the people with a spirit of prophesy, the camp received a literally sickening amount of meat.
Sometimes, an “anointing” goes beyond pouring sweet oil on one’s head … and might be an experience that saves us, but makes us sick at the time! If you’re going through a difficult time … keep in mind God might be anointing you for something better down the road.
Our business meeting this week pinpointed a possible meeting place to pursue, set up a process for finalizing our church name, and began the process of selecting a few leaders to make initial business decisions on the part of the church (regarding finances, facilities, and communication). We also looked over a plan for the structure of our Sunday morning worship services, which will likely start the first Sunday in July!
Great things are happening. Isn’t it wonderful to be a part of bringing a new and vibrant church into our community?
