Last Sunday

I forgot to add in my last post that last Sunday was Mother's Day and Andy's Birthday, so I decided that would be a good day to finally pick a Sunday and say "We are Life Pointe Church" so that was our "Charter Sunday" if that is what we want to call it, so hopefully members will be added soon! We have been meeting for over a year now, but for the first time, we will truly have members, so look out....we may just start growing a whole lot now! Baptisms, church memberships, decisions, and who knows what else...! God is good! But it will also be good to get Andy and Ashley, who have been visiting Australia and New Zea-land, these past two weeks to get back in town. I really miss Andy when he's gone. He helps me so much with all the church media stuff, so it leaves a whole when he's gone, that's for sure. But again, God is good and is at work, so now in an hour or two we will have our Tuesday night Bible Study, so hopefully we will have a good time together!

New Stuff!

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted something! And I've tried to post a couple of times and either can't get on or have trouble with my password. Oh, well, I'm finally on now! God has been so good to us, especially lately, so I wanted to record those things before I forget. Even now it seems so long ago since we were down at Huff Lane sometimes having 8 or 10 people for our Sunday service. And then, through God's leading, we came to Round Hill and it is evident God has been blessing! Perhaps I should work in reverse and that way I may remember a lot that has happened here lately. For example, last Sunday we had 26 people at our Sunday Service; the week before we had 28, and the week before we had 28 people for Easter! So God has blessed! And for Easter, we took pictures of everyone as they came in; plus put up our new banners both inside and outside the school; and it seems that God is still helping people to make decisions for Him. I am always proud of my sister Melanie and her family. Benjamin continues to want to be baptized and Melanie is thinking about that too. Plus Brian wants to be baptized and maybe Annette too. And Sarah, who we met at Chic-fil-a one night and then started coming and hasn't missed a time since then, wants to be baptized. But more importantly, Sarah has once again gained the assurance to know that she is saved and is asking tons of questions but that' fine, I am just glad she is learning and seeking God and what He wants her to do. And Sarah's husband was able to come on Easter and Sarah's mom came this past Sunday so that is good; no that's great! And this came when Ginny and I went over to Chic-fil-a one night to visit someone else, and Sarah just happened to hear us talk and was interested in a church home and well.....the rest is history as they say. And Corene and John have been coming the past few weeks. Corene was invited to church by Brian who had talk to Corene's dad at work, and in a round about way, she was looking for a church in her neighborhood and lo and behold God led her to us too! So I am just excited that people at deciding to follow God's direction; God is bringing folks to us; and decisions are being made! Hallelujah for all the things God is doing! I just can't believe we have come this far since we first started out! And so in June or in a couple of weeks, we will celebrate our very first baptisms at Life Pointe Church! It is exciting and God truly is doing abundantly above all that we ask or think! To him be the glory! What coming next???? I don't know but God is on the horizon with things, so it is bound to be great!

One of Those Days!

Today seems like a Sgt. York kinds of a day. You know; just like in the movie when Sgt. York, played by Gary Cooper, went up on a hill out in the woods and just spend some time alone with God. He prayed, read his Bible, and just sought God's face. With the steady rain we are having today, that's what I would like to do. And I have several things on my heart that need praying for. So I've prayed and despite the fact I didn't go on top of a hill out in the country I do still have the assurance that God heard me and He knows what we need; who needs what; and His will is perfect. Thank you Jesus for all you are; for who you are; and for what you do because You love us.

Great Day!

Well it's 12:51 and Andy is not finished with his big paper for his Liberty U. class and we are about to go to bed. Tomorrow is a day of travel for Andy and Ashley as they head to Hong Kong and perhaps a visit with Cary Clifton. They are going to travel other places as well and I am glad they can vacation for awhile, they both deserve it! It started off raining today, reallly hard, and the road to the church I go preach at in Giles actually had water running across it like a creek in some places. But God was good and we had a good time. Then at Life Pointe today, we had a good Morals From Mayberry lesson at our 1:23 life group and then for our main service at 3:00 we talked about Joseph. And Benjamin surprised me by telling me he wanted to get baptized so that was great! Melanie and her family continue to encourage and amaze me at what God is doing in their lives! Praise the Lord! And then some good barbeque and we were headed home to hunt reference materials for Andy's paper and then a lot of typing and thinking and getting it done. But now....it is and so at the end of this Lord's Day God has again blessed us and helped us to experience Him. God is so good. Good night all for my eyes are started to get blurry. May this week be a restful one and a blessed one for all of us! Amen.

Celebration!

Today is our One Year Anniversary for Life Pointe Church! Since we started on Valentine's Day one year ago, of course we celebrated yesterday for our Sunday afternoon service, and what a service it was. It wasn't that we included a whole lot more or a lot of things different but I asked Brian Nicely, one of my former students and ballplayers from RVCS days and my sister Melanie to share what God has been doing in their lives. God has been so good and I, along with everyone else who attended yesterday, enjoyed very much what they heard Brian and Melanie talk about. So while we sany some good music, and looked a a few pictures, and enjoyed some great fried chicken afterwards, it was the highlight of my day to hear my sister talk about coming back to God in her life. I of course liked Brian's testimony too, especially since he has been through some very rough times, but to know my sister is where she needs to be with the Lord is just a blessing everytime I think about it and so it was so good to have her tell people, (for the very first time!) what God has done and is doing in her life. God is at work at Life Pointe and it is very evident and very real, so I am thankful, joyful, and very humble to know we are worshipping with God in our midst and watching Him work in lives every week as we get together and every day when we are going through our daily lives. God is good! It is a shame Andy and Ashley had to miss yesterday but with more pictures to show, Andy is the one to do that for me anyway. Thanks be to the Lord and Praise to Him for all He has done and how He blessed me with two great services yesterday; one in Giles County and one at our very own Life Pointe Church here in Roanoke!

February 6, 2010

Well today we continued with our Life Pointe 101 series and are now about to finish it with just one more message next week. I must admit, today seemed a little "dry" for me. I guess I am eager to get back to "messages" from God's word, not that we don't need these messages nor would I say that God has not worked with the sermons of the past few weeks. He has, that's for sure. Just last week, Brian asked me if I wouldn't mind baptizing him when the weather got a little warmer. I told him it would be my pleasure and that I am looking forward to it! And today was our very first Sunday afternoon life group and we started with a showing of the first half of FACING THE GIANTS, a great movie about being inspired to keep going even in the face of "giants" being all around us. With the movie about a coach of a Christian school, who coached football and the nic-name of the team being the Eagles, I felt like I was not only watching the movie but could easily star in it. I pray next week, as we watch the second half, that God will bless us with not only a good turnout but a working of His Holy Spirit to show us all that He wants to lead us past or through the giants that are in front of us right now. So while I felt like I was just teaching some more "facts" about the founding of the church and how we need to be solid in our faith, I will be glad to start with more Bible stories soon. So I pray God uses the words I offer and the activities we plan, and may all work to bring Him glory. We continue to see God work and wait for Him to show Himself mighty!

Good Things Are Happening!

Again, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post on my blog! God has been doing so many good things and so much for us that it is really amazing! For instance when we were at Huff Lane, I really didn't want to move to Round Hill, but then we did. And I was sort of just waiting on Roanoke City to tell us to leave Huff Lane, so I wanted to wait on them......but then my friend Bill Grindstaff pointed out....why wait on them to tell you when to move? Just move! So I was reluctant but agreed he was right....I needed, as Nike would say...to "just do it!" So we moved to Round Hill Elementary School. Since then, we have had 19 as our lowest number of those who attended, and all the rest of the Sundays, have been above 20 with today's number even being 26!! Think God wanted us to move???? Again, I know numbers don't mean everything, but I will have to admit, that it is sure encouraging to me to see 20 to 25 people each week, with their smiling faces all eager to worship and learn more about God. I am excited to see what God is doing right in our midst! I keep feeling like we've "turned the corner" and are on the verge of seeing God do some great and mighty things at Life Pointe! I sure am going to pray to that extent! God is good, indeed!