Our First Easter As A Church!!

 

I must admit that I was rather pumped about preaching my first ever Easter service this Sunday. As a youth leader I always preached to the youth on the Wednesdays before and after Easter, but never actually on Sunday morning. Not only did this excite me, but also how much momentum our church has experienced since we officially launched 5 weeks earlier. It seemed like everyone was looking forward to this Sunday with a sense of expectation.It seems that the one question people always want answered is how many people did we have at our service. In our sixth week of having Sunday morning corporate worship services we had a total of 103 people. That’s great, but the number that excited me is 25. That’s exactly how many children we had in our “Kid Zone” worship service!

During the service we took Communion together as a church body. Those 5-10 minutes were probably my favorite so far in ministry. To see dozens of families (most were complete families with dad, mom, and children) come up to the front and remember our Lord’s sacrifice with joyful adoration was extremely moving for me and many others.

Following the service we had a free cookout for the community at the “Whispering Pines Community Park”. Most of our people were there and helped serve around 180 hamburgers, 170 hot dogs, sides, and deserts to many new friends that came for the food. We are blessed to have so many people in our church that understand their role in growing this church and ultimately God’s Kingdom. I never get the feeling that I’m the hired gun who has to build all the relationships with visitors and new friends.  Each minister (remember at WPCC we have no members, only ministers) dove in and either worked relentlessly to cooking, serving, or relationship building. I think most did all three.

Most who know me well know that I’m kind of a weinie and can get a little nostalgic. At one point during the community cookout I stood and looked at a full pavalion and an overflowing park with kids running everwhere, eating and having a blast. I remembered standing near that same spot a year ago begging God to do this very thing. I had no idea how He would do it, but I believed in my heart that someday that prayer would be a reality. Sunday afternoon, under a clear sky, that prayer was playing out right in front of my eyes. That one day made the past three years and all it’s up and downs completely worth it.

Thank you Father for giving weinie’s like me big dreams. Thank you for making big dreams into even better realities.

Please pray a prayer of thanksgiving for us. Join us as we praise Him for blessing what He has called.

What A Beautful Day,

Billy