Well, we had a great conclusion to our Gospel Meeting Last Lord’s Day. We had great attendance, great fellowship with our luncheon and some really great lessons presented by brother Dalton Key. Here is one of the incredible things about our meeting this year: In every single session except one, we exceeded our normal Sunday morning attendance. And, that one session was our closing session Sunday afternoon when we had several that had to leave right after the luncheon. Brethren, think about that, not just Wednesday evening but Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening we exceeded our average Sunday morning attendance numbers. Does the Lord answer prayers and effort by His people? Absolutely! All this happened because of all your prayers and your willingness to work and put out effort to make this a success. In addition to all of this, we were able to build fellowship with some of our brothers and sisters from congregations in the area. I heard a lot of really good comments from those visiting with us from other places concerning our meeting, our speaker and our congregation. And, as I said in our final service Sunday afternoon, that service was not the end, it was the beginning! All that occurred here during our meeting should move us, encourage us to all step up and really go to work for the Lord in every way possible. It should be the beginning of more involvement, working harder, doing more to reach out to others and insuring that I am more faithful and dedicated myself to my Lord and my God than ever before. It can be and should be the beginning of greater and greater things for this congregation of the Lord’s church.
Brethren, we are commanded to “grow” as Christians. Now, this is not referring to the “number” that attend our services. We cannot force people to come worship with us, we cannot force brethren to worship with us instead of going somewhere else. But, we are to “grow”! We are to “grow up into Christ (Ephesians 4:15); we are to grow in respect to our salvation (1 Peter 2:2); we are to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). These we do have control over, these we can insure that we are doing everything within our power to grow both individually and collectively as a congregation in everyone of these areas. As a result of our growing in all of these areas we will begin to influence those around us. We will strengthen and encourage each other and, as a result, our congregation will grow stronger which will enable us to reach out more effectively to those around us. As a result of this, over time, our congregation will grow, mature and bring others in. This is a process that takes time, effort and patience. And, with God’s help, great things can be accomplished IF we will just listen to and follow God’s plan.
Until next week, I love you all,
Dan
Brethren, we are commanded to “grow” as Christians. Now, this is not referring to the “number” that attend our services. We cannot force people to come worship with us, we cannot force brethren to worship with us instead of going somewhere else. But, we are to “grow”! We are to “grow up into Christ (Ephesians 4:15); we are to grow in respect to our salvation (1 Peter 2:2); we are to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). These we do have control over, these we can insure that we are doing everything within our power to grow both individually and collectively as a congregation in everyone of these areas. As a result of our growing in all of these areas we will begin to influence those around us. We will strengthen and encourage each other and, as a result, our congregation will grow stronger which will enable us to reach out more effectively to those around us. As a result of this, over time, our congregation will grow, mature and bring others in. This is a process that takes time, effort and patience. And, with God’s help, great things can be accomplished IF we will just listen to and follow God’s plan.
Until next week, I love you all,
Dan
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