God showed up in very visible and powerful ways yesterday. Yesterday was a very encouraging day with a

mix of challenge included. As for the musings …

-The spirit of the Lord was powerful in our worship time right from the opening welcome. It was awesome! People

seemed to come with great anticipation and expectation. Preaching is a lot easier when this takes place.

-Many people responded to the message to stop “trying” to do what they already know they should be doing, and

instead to actually do it. To stop using “I’m trying” as an excuse and to do what they know to do in all areas of

their life.

-We had people choosing to make changes and commitments in many areas and they signed a statement

saying what they were now starting to do.

-Our sound issues were minimal yesterday. We also gave a down payment toward having our whole sound system

redone. I doubt that it will be finished before we get to our special Christmas programs, but the fact that it is

going to be done is very encouraging and exciting.

-Our attendance was down slightly.

-I had a first since I have been here, I put out a plea for a couple of people to help me with a project and no one

responded. That has never happened in the nearly 2 years that I have been here. I didn’t communicate the need

very well, but it still had never happened. The good news is that the project got done in good time and I was

reminded that I need to communicate needs much more clearly.

-I had a couple of very exciting conversations with people who are asking great questions about getting more

involved in the church and learning more about our mission and vision.

-Last night was an outstanding time of prayer in the community. It was the culmination of weeks of planning and

praying. We gathered at the local high school auditorium for prayer. We had a great guy come who writes, speaks

and leads prayer movements. We had done 3 community prayer events in churches of pastors who have been

participating in our pastors prayer network. Those 3 times of prayer were great and the number grew at each

event. We prayed and invited and 250 or more people showed up to pray for our city! We had at least 10 different

denominations represented and even more churches. We prayed together for 2 hours! The energy and spirit in

the place was tremendous. Even better was the conversations taking place after the event as people gathered and

talked about how they can continue to pray together.

-I spent 4 days at a Dynamic Church Planting International training event last week. It was exhausting and very

encouraging. I came back with a renewed vision and a plan for our next church plant. Part of our vision for the

next 5 years is to begin a new ministry in 2 other towns. Now I have a more defined plan as to how we can, and

will accomplish this vision. I shared just a little bit of it with the whole congregation yesterday.

Here’s a quote that I hope will encourage you this week. “Don’t let what is wrong with you keep you from

worshiping what’s right with God.” (Mark Batterson)

Dennis