Going in to Sunday, I knew that I had a hard hitting sermon because I was going to talk about something near and dear to our hearts. At Eastview we looked at Acts 4 and the way the early church shared to meet each other's needs. I went in praying that God would move in the hearts and souls of our church to act on what was preached...you see, I knew that Pastor Shadrack and his wife Violet would be here meeting our congregation for the first time and that I was going to ask our church to begin our relationship by giving generously to the church in the slums of Nairobi Kenya with a special offering. I was praying for $40,000 to help them build a new church building and school. The total as of last night was $196,000! This is after we had taken our regular offering! Amazing!
the church in the first century generously gave to meet the needs in their church fellowship and so did Eastview last night - nothing's changed.
I pray for $40K and God completely exceeds my expectations by far....$196,000 - spur of the moment, last minute offering...c'mon...God is so awesome...just showing off...nothing's changed.
I believe that God works through his people by prayer and the preaching of the word...we prayed, I preached, the people gave...nothing's changed.
I believe that Satan tries to mess us up and discourage us (like when the Kenyan government bull-dozed the entire slum, including all the church, school, and orphanage in November) and God turns it into great blessing (like when Shadrack meets a church in Central Illinois and gets enough money to build beyond what they had)...God always does this with His church...nothing's changed.
I believe that when a church tries to do stuff for God (like some comments we got about building the well) people will not understand and may even criticize, but we will continue to move forward...nothing's changed.
The elders were led by the Spirit to see Eastview as a fearless church of Christ-followers whose ridiculous love and dangerous witness are irreisistible...and I think God wants to do this in us...nothing's changed.
Monday, January 30, 2012
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9 comments:
Truely amazing, we embrace and hug the world with are hearts.
Thank you for a great sermon and reminder that we are to help others in need with what we have been given.
Absolutely incredible! Praise God!
Makes me think of Psalm 3. God is a few (or so) steps ahead of the game. Also makes me think of Exodus 23:29-30.
Thanks for sharing the story.
Well said Pastor! I could not be there yesterday or last night, but when my son called - I did indeed celebrate with joy at the generosity of my brothers and sisters at ECC. But mostly I celebrated "God" and who He is! PTL
This just makes me weep for joy. Praise the Lord for God's Spitit at work in His church!
DONNAmacingi
I have to confess to the hundreds who read Mike's blog every week, I said several times yesterday, "We will blow the $40,000 out of the water." I know this is a giving church. I figured "we" would give $60,000, maybe $70,000. But I was too focused on "we" and not enough on "He"... "the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,..." (Eph. 3:20)
I am still at a loss for words to describe the moment we heard $196,000 last night. God turns tears of sorrow, as we watch a two minute video of the destruction of the Mitumba slum, into tears of joy as we share in the celebration of the greatness of the God we serve.
We started the evening in "The Well" and by the end of the evening saw first hand what can be drawn from "THE Well".
You're right, Mike, ... nothing's changed!
Last night's GO! evening was spectacular! What a thrill to be in the presence of God when He decides to bless beyond our imagination!
Joel and I were hoping so much that we would reach that $40,000 and even calculating how much each person would have to give. AMAZING that people gave so far beyond that. You're right - God is showing off, and it's awesome:)
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