Aftermath

I’m contemplating the last several months of busy and focused activity at our church.  Many people came together to do something that no individual could do on our own.  We served on various teams and made lots of contacts and pulled off a time of commitments together.  Last Sunday, it was all capped off with a combined Sunday Celebration where every family came together in one place at one time for one purpose.

After the service I was a mess.  I just kept on reflecting on how we actually got where we are in such a relatively short time.  The reality of the changed lives and the enormity of the impact we have had hit home in a major way for me.  Part of it was because of the grand scale of the service; finally seeing everyone together instead of in two different services on Sunday.  That was amazing because it reaffirmed the very reason we are moving ahead with a facility expansion.  So many of you said, we should do this more often because there was something significant about that “all together” gathering.  The worship was intense, the atmosphere was Spirit-filled and the fellowship was truly deep.  I agree!

The days leading up to last Sunday were also filled with an incredible amount of prayer and intercession.  We came together for seven straight nights to hear from God and for God to hear us.  And we all did.  What began as a time to focus on the Greater Impact campaign became an opening to the deeper importance of prayer for our church as a whole.  I was reminded of our “all night prayer meetings” and weeks of prayer and fasting from the years gone by.  I was encouraged by our commitment to praying on Friday nights, Sunday mornings and early on Wednesday as we walk the streets of the city of Concord.  In the aftermath of our focused prayer, I think we are re-committed to all of that and more.

This weekend our elders are on a spiritual journey to hear from God for the upcoming days.  What will the Lord say to us?  Where are we being led?  What is the direction for GCC for 2009?  Are there particular messages from His Word that he wants us to focus on?  Are we doing things that have come to the end of their season?  Elders are spiritual leaders that intercede and walk ahead of others, not to be recognized but to uplift and encourage the ones they serve.  Please pray for us as we seek and knock.

Here we are in the aftermath of a great move of God.  Unlike a hurricane or a tornado that leaves destruction and ruin, the aftermath we are experiencing is bringing hope and vision for the future.  It’s as though God is rewarding hard spiritual work and finding us faithful enough to take on a greater impact.

I am grateful for everyone on the journey.  I am praying for those who may still be on the sidelines to get in the game.  I am looking ahead to those yet to come.  This is the aftermath.

-Peter