What a weekend

Wow, I am still trying to catch up with reality after being so amazed by God all weekend. God is just so good and the way He does things are just so amazing! This weekend I met a couple and a gentleman who found our church through the internet. How cool is that. Then, as usual, we tried something completely new with the sermon. I had Josh help me with the message as we took turns presenting different perspectives of the same points. It went great. I mean, if someone didn't know better, they might actually think we had spent a lot of time working on it (o.k. we actually did get together several times that week to make sure it was communicated correctly). I love it! Every person I spoke to said that it was a real blessing to them and that they really loved it. Praise God! Well, then came Sunday...
Sunday morning I shared my testimony with Lifesource on the final Sunday before they made the decision as to whether or not they would be coming to join Freedom Life Church. After the message all of the Freedom Life people there with me left the room and went to a classroom in the children's area to wait. After what seemed like an eternity (actually about 45 minutes) we were summoned to come into the sanctuary. As we entered we were greeted by applause as everyone stood up excitedly to announce that the decision had been made to come join us! Wow, what a morning. I later found out that it had been unanimously decided by all of those who were covenanted partners of Lifesource.
So in four months we have grown from a church of 26 adults and kids to a church of around 110-120 people. In addition to that, we have been blessed with a completely debt free building, sound system, chairs, computer lab, video projectors, 6 acres piece of land, etc, etc, etc... God is so faithful.
As arrogant as this might sound, I truly believe that God has said to me that this is only the first of many blessings that God has in store for Freedom Life Church. Once when I was praying about it as I was overwhelmed with gratitude about such a huge blessing of people and resources, I felt God saying to me, "Freddy, this is just the baby blessings for a baby church. You are just getting started as a church, and I am just getting started blessing you." That made me both excited and nervous. You know how it goes, "to those who much is given, much is expected." So, I know that God is calling us to something huge...and recently I get the feeling that it is something even bigger than the huge things I have already imagined. Well God, as the Rock says, "just bring it." I am ready for the God- sized challenges and the God-sized blessings. I never want to be a church that settles for "safe and realistic" goals. We don't serve a "safe and realistic" God! We serve a God who chooses the very people society rejected to change the world. Jesus didn't go the "safe route"...he went to the cross! Moses followed God through an ocean being held apart by wind...(I bet he was praying for that wind to keep blowing), only to walk straight into a desert for 40 years. Daniel went into a lions den, after his three friends had been throne into a furnace! That is where they found the provision of God...in the desert, in the ocean, surrounded by lions, in the FURNACE! In the danger zone, in the middle of the risk, in the place where they had to completely depend on God. That is where the power of God was demonstrated greatest. So lets go! Put on your seat belt if your gonna ride this train, baby! Grab on tight, white-knuckle the role bar, and pray that you can hang on. We are storming the gates of the enemy running right into the heat of the battle! That means risk. That means opposition. That means intensity. That means sweet sweet victory! Remember, we are on the winning team!

On Sunday night it was decided that starting this week, Freedom Life Church will be setting aside 10% of every dollar we get to go towards advancing the Kingdom through Missions. We figured we should put our money where our mouth is! July 1st, our first foreign missionary, Lee Brookman will be leaving for a six-month mission trip to El Salvador to work with orphaned children. We will support him completely while he is there.

This isn't just a Riverdale thing, or a Hampton thing, or a Hampton Roads thing...this is a world thing...because that is how big our God is!