Sunday Night Reflections September 13, 2009

To say that I am in awe of what Jesus did today at NewSpring Church would be an understatement.  I am sitting here on my couch trying to wrap my mind around all that took place…wow…here are some thoughts…

• We saw 276 people stand up today and pray to receive Christ…THAT NEVER GETS OLD!
• We challenged people to be baptized, explained it and then told people we were baptizing right after the service.
• We had towels, shorts, T-shirts, underwear and sports bras!!!  Seriously–we took away everyone’s excuse…AND…
• WE SAW 906 PEOPLE GO PUBLIC FOR JESUS TODAY…that is the largest baptism in the history of our church…in the nearly 10 years of being a part of NewSpring I’ve NEVER seen a day like today–EVER!
• A dude watched our service on the web this evening, knew he needed to be baptized…so he got in his car, drove 30 minutes to NewSpring and was baptized!  That’s AWESOME!
• We also set another attendance record today…had the most people we’ve EVER had attend a NewSpring service.
• Our Columbia campus had a vision event this morning and over 130 people were there…we launch that campus two weeks from today…can’t wait!
• I LITERALLY CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT JESUS IS DOING IN OUR CHURCH RIGHT NOW…and NO ONE is more amazed than me, I can’t believe HE ALLOWS ME to be a part of this!
• Today we talked about recognition and submission…if we fail to recognize who Jesus is we will never submit to His Lordship!
• The reason so many Christians never experience a significant breakthrough in their lives is because we refuse to obey God in the small things.
• How can He trust us with what is next if we aren’t being faithful with what He’s showing us now?
• The question we need to answer is, “Did I pray a prayer to get me out of hell…or did I confess Jesus Christ as Lord and tell Him that I would submit to His leadership and follow Him?”
• When we see who Jesus is we won’t have a problem doing what He says.
• Is there any area of your life in which you are unwilling to submit to Jesus?  If so…He’s not going to give up and move on to something else…the best thing to do when He’s dealing with you is allow yourself to be dealt with!
• The first step He commands new believers to take is baptism (Matthew 28:18-20)  And so…like I said…we challenged people to take that step!
• Pastors/church leaders…the people you serve will rise to the level in which you challenge them…if you challenge them to do nothing then you can’t get angry with them because they are doing nothing!!!
• Next week we are completing this series by talking about the lie, “It’s Just Sex!”
• AND then the next week we begin our series on the End Times!  (On Sunday, October 11 I am going preach through the entire book of Revelation in one message!!!)
• I believe Jesus is going to save LOTS of people in this series…seriously…I can’t say this enough, if you KNOW SOMEONE who does not know Christ then GET THEM TO CHURCH during this series!!!  The Gospel will be shared EVERY WEEK!
• We are seeing Ephesians 3:20 continually come to life before our eyes!
• On a personal note…I would REALLY appreciate your prayers for Lucretia, my amazing wife.  She’s really sick with a pretty intense head cold…she didn’t sleep well last night, which means I didn’t either!  :-)
• BUT…she got some Nyqol for tonight!!!  :-)

NewSpringers…let me close out by saying it is an honor to serve as your pastor.  What God is doing among us is NOT NORMAL!  I believe we are seeing THE CHURCH become more and more about what God wants it to become.  We are BY NO MEANS perfect…but more and more I believe we are seeing Acts 2:42-47 begin to take place!

I love what I do…can’t believe that Jesus lets me do it…and am already looking forward to next Sunday!!!