Sunday morning we went to church as a family. I always dread 'campaign' sermons, where I fear that the focus will be on asking for money. While I know that the church needs money, I still tend to detest entire sermons on giving if that isn't where the Holy Spirit is prompting the teaching. That said, I was pleasantly surprised at the service. Going in with low expectations, I came out with a renewed sense of urgency for sharing the gospel with the unsaved. They showed a very interesting video on firefighting (and I'm a visual learner, so I loved it!). The pastor explained that these firefighters risk their very lives, let alone lay aside what they're doing at the time, when a fire occurs. They go into burning buildings and seek out those who are there. I got teary as the firefighter said often kids will hide in closets and under beds, thinking that they're safest there. So, these men go in and do a full sweep of a house to rescue anyone and everyone from the fire.
The pastor went onto explain that hell is a very real place. So many folks talk of heaven and hell, yet they have no basis for their understanding or knowledge. He went through the descriptions that describe heaven, and the only way to get there through the blood of Jesus Christ. Then he went through a few passages that describe the agony and torment in hell. Then, we talked about Jude 1:23, which says "Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives." The sermon continued as he said we ought to be rescuing others from the flames of judgment so often that we smell like smoke.
They then handed out to each person two small pieces of fabric that smelled like smoke. The whole room began to smell. On the fabric, we wrote names of those who we wanted to see become saved. I thought of many folks, and we pinned one piece to the altar and took one home with us to continue to pray for those people. They also gave out little bracelets that have a 23 on them, reminding us of the fire truck (which was #23) and the verse Jude 1:23. They ended the sermon with saying that the reason the church wants to build more buildings is to change more lives for Christ. I've thought about the message all week. I've prayed for people. I've asked God how to help me share the good news with others. And I'm hoping to see some folks saved from the flames!
When we picked up the boys, they showed us their artwork. Caleb's (pictured above) was SO cute! I loved the little glued-on yarn hair for him on the picture that says "God Made Everything." And we smiled at Joshua's - it says "God Provides for Our Needs" and from how he decorated it, the picture reminded me of the beach.
Later that evening, we went to our first life group meeting with our new life group. It's interesting to get to know folks from the city campus. We had a fun time. Grandpa Georgia watched the boys for us for this first meeting, and he taught them all sorts of crazy things. Joshua told me that he's going to give Grandpa a million dollars for Christmas. Silly Grandpa! I'm glad they had fun. It was a nice day.
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