A Great Day

Yesterday we planned a special day at Heritage Baptist Church. We made our plans. We invited people. We prayed. We prepared. We prayed some more.

The night before I could not sleep. I actually went to bed before 9:00 p.m. but tossed and and turned until after midnight. I did not feel prepared to teach Bible study class or to preach the sermon. I got up early to pray and look over the scriptures some more. Time seemed to fly as time neared for us to depart. We hurried to make the 40 minute drive to arrive at Heritage a little earlier than normal. About thirty minutes earlier.

When we drove up there were more cars in the parking lot than usual. Then the miracle started unfolding. More and more cars started pulling up. More and more people piled in the doors. We set an attendance goal three times more than our normal attendance has been. God shattered the goal. He exceeded our expectations. New faces walked through the doors and were greeted warmly. The class I teach had to meet in the sanctuary. We had eight children crammed into a copy room because we had nowhere else to put them yesterday. I am not sure another teenagers could have been framed in their room. Little bright eyed children came with their moms and dads. Some I remembered from Resurrection Day. Some I had never met.

I walked to the glass door once to see the parking lot more jammed full than I had ever seen it and then two more cars pulled into the drive way. I could not believe my eyes. I saw joy glowing on the faces of people. I felt an electric atmosphere.

God helped me teach His truth from Acts during Bible study.

Eric Adcock led us in worship. Anointed. Passionate. Celebratory. Reflective. Moving. I do not have the words to describe how God used that man to touch our souls with music. We sang from our hearts and not from rote memory. Eric sang from his heart. I didn't want it to end. He led in six or seven songs and it seemed like no time had elapsed. Each song built on the previous taking us higher and higher in praise and closer and closer to Jesus.

God helped me to preach. Sitting on the front row I discarded my notes and breathed a prayer for God to help me deliver His truth. I wanted to preach from my heart and not deliver a stale sermon. I could not preach that same message again. I was just a tool. A vessel. His instrument. God gripped hearts. I sensed the weighty presence of Yahweh in that meeting. It had nothing to do with me.

Afterward we enjoyed a fellowship meal. A bountiful feast. An agape meal of love. We followed this with fun activities for all ages. We capped the day off with anther worship time with Eric. Maybe even more moving and powerful than the one in the actual worship service. It ended too soon. One lady told me she could have sat in there worshipping all day long.

As we cleaned up before leaving I saw a common sight and heard a common theme. I saw smiles. Beautiful smiles of joyful people grateful for what they had just witnessed and experienced. I also kept hearing them say, "It was a great day." Really even now it is hard to put it all into words. You would have had to been

 there to see it and experience it for yourself.
Now here is the thing. It was truly was a great day. I am not satisfied though. What we experienced that day could happen every time we or any of God's people gather. We can bathe our gatherings in prayer. We can continue to invite folks to be our special guests. We can prepare for them to come. We may not share a fellowship meal on the campus but we certainly can do so in our homes or at restaurants. We can sing passionately and worship in awe in our gatherings.

I am looking for more great days. In fact I would go so far as to say I am expecting great days when we gather. Our great God has not changed. I trust He will continue to astound us with His work and His wonder.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV) 
²⁰  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹  to Him beglory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.