Six Things I Loved About This Past Sunday at North Park

I love my church. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But I love to be in a place where I can see God at work. There are times we can come to church and go home and take for granted the blessing that we have to be able to come and worship freely. Sometimes we forget all that God has done, is doing, and is going to do in the future. So I want to take a few seconds and reflect on this past Sunday.

I loved pulling onto the church property and seeing all the work completed on the grounds. Friday night and Saturday morning we had teams of people working at the church. God has allowed us to have a very large piece of property and to whom much is given much is required. In other words, we need to make sure we are taking care of our property well. I enjoy the 5-6 hours I spend usually on Fridays on the John Deere mowing the property. It is a time I can catch up on various podcasts that I like to listen to as well as be out in the sun. I also enjoy the time working alongside men of the church doing “manly things” with chainsaws, tractors, pressure washers, weed whackers and whatever other power tools we can find.

I loved hearing the testimonies of those that just returned from the mission trip to Africa. Generally speaking, individuals go on a short-term mission trip to be a blessing and to serve others. What usually happens is the individual comes back more changed than anyone they went to serve. This was evident hearing everyone share their experience and what God challenged them with while on the trip. I loved hearing about Waverly being able to meet the young girl in person that she has been financially, relationally, and spiritually sponsoring the past two years. I loved hearing about Michael sensing God calling him into full-time ministry. I could go on and on. I encourage you to watch the video on the church’s YouTube channel and hear the testimonies all over again. You can watch this part of the service by clicking here. You can click here to watch the highlight video.

I loved hearing Pastor Caleb preach his first sermon at North Park. Broken. When was the last time you were broken? I felt that Pastor Caleb did a great job of connecting with Scripture and connecting with the people. For many people it was the first time to truly hear from Pastor Caleb and see his heart and love for Jesus. How many of us can truly say, as Isaiah said, “Here am I Lord, send me.” If you missed the sermon you can watch it by clicking here.

I loved that even though it was pouring down rain outside there were no leaks found anywhere. Yes, this may seem simple, but I do not want to take it for granted. I could not believe the amount of water flooding over the road and in the parking lot as I pulled into church Sunday morning. One of my first thoughts was, “Where are we going to have to clean up and place buckets?” But fortunately we didn’t have to do that anywhere. It is very difficult to sign off on spending thousands of dollars on roof repair (over $20,000 the past three years), but knowing that even during torrential downpours we can stay dry is worth it.

I loved that I could feel safe while worshipping. It is a sad time we are living in where one can’t even feel safe in a house of worship. With what happened recently in Charleston, it made me thankful that we have a trained security team in place. I have had multiple men tell me they would take a bullet for me as well as every attender at church.

I loved that we were able to stick around after church to enjoy lunch together. There is something special about breaking bread with a brother/sister in Christ. That is also true for breaking a spud open. I loved being in the Fellowship Hall and hearing all the conversations going on. It is one thing to sit together in the auditorium and something else to sit around a table and connect relationally. Not only was it a time to eat together but we were also able to help fund students going to pre-teen camp. It was a win-win.