Dear Church Family,

On Sunday I asked what causes you to stand in awe. It could be something as simple as a sunrise or sunset, or the first blooms of spring. These things do cause me to stand in awe, but as I have been thinking about this past weekend, what makes me stand in awe is YOU!

In my message on Sunday, we looked at the church experiencing a sense of awe. They were seeing signs and wonders taking place, they were sharing life together and they had a good reputation.

This weekend twenty-one of us traveled to Island City Baptist Church for the OCC speaker’s tour and learned about one man’s testimony of how a simple shoebox changed his life, we fellowshipped together with two other churches who had gathered for this purpose, then we returned and packed 116 more boxes to possibly change 116 more children’s lives. Sunday morning, we gathered for the teaching of God’s word, a wonderful time of worship and a time of having God’s word presented to us. On Sunday night many of us returned for a time of fellowship, singing praises to God, and sharing testimonies of how God is moving in our lives. Joy, Dorinda, and I had come early to prepare the pizzas and salad for the fellowship, as others came, they stuck their heads into the kitchen and said, “How can I help?” Some helped with the cooking, some took down the walls and set up tables, all pitched in together to accomplish the work.

After dinner, we all went into the sanctuary for praise in song and many shared testimonies of God working in their lives. It was a wonderful time of sharing.

After this everyone pitched in for the clean up and putting everything back in place.

As I look back, I see you as the church demonstrating the message that I gave on Sunday morning. Thank you for being the church. Thank you for the sweet spirit you are expressing in the life of our church. You bless me every day.

Yours in Christ, 

Pastor Hal