WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!This post will be longer than usual but Sunday was such a full day in every way that I have to at least try and do it justice!
This was week two of our Life on Mission series and it is already my favorite. That says a lot because I love them all and I've had some favorites I never thought we would top. But this one is so rich in scripture and so practical that I'm loving it already!
Our church mission statement is we exist to glorify God and make disciples who live life on mission. Week one we looked at glorifying God so this week we looked at making disciples and we found ourselves in Matthew 28 at the great commission. I won't break down the entire message since I'd rather beg you to watch it online if you missed it, but the heart of the message for me was the two calls God issues to us: the first is the call to salvation and the second is the call to GO! Maybe or maybe not to go across the sea, but most definitely to all believers, the call to go across the street. It was an "as you go" message and we have no excuse.
Extras for this Monday...
Cross Talk, who leads us in worship every week, was missing some band members Sunday so we called on our student band from Alive to lead. Let me just say, Fairview we are so blessed. We didn't miss a beat, no pun intended. Those kids stepped right up! My heart was pounding! Now yes, they lead weekly for our student service and they are fantastic and we have a large crowd every week! But, it's a whole new ballgame to get up on Sunday morning in front of a large crowd, most of whom are older than you, and not cave to intimidation. To say they did an amazing job is an understatement.
Now shoutout to two people just because. I love that my pastor/husband is a leader that not only allows our young ones to take such a part but loves it and encourages it. Just in case you don't realize the big deal, it's a huge deal. There's a lot of prayer and energy and thought that goes into a Sunday morning not for perfection sake but you just always want nothing but your best given for the Lord. Those of us in ministry not only know with our head but we experience the full blown spiritual warfare that goes on in a worship service. So to put our young students in that atmosphere and believe in them that they can handle it just makes me so thankful for Eddie. It's always been our heartbeat to raise up the younger generation and watch them lead.
Now to their fearless leader Michael Hux! He believes in them and has poured so much into them, that's true discipleship. He has stuck with them and raised them up for such a time as this. They were ready to not only lead music, they were solidly grounded to handle such an enormous task (remember I mentioned spiritual warfare). Proof that they aren't the run of the mill, just get up and sing teenagers. They are strong believers ready to take their place not willing to "let anyone look down on them because of their youthfulness"! They have been raised well at home and church, perfect combination. I love them and am so proud of them...
We went from there to a luncheon to love on the Andrews family. They are headed to Cayce SC. Chet will be the pastor at State Street and those people are in for a treat. Chet and Hope are two of the finest people we have ever served with. They love Jesus and people from their heart of gold and they have truly lived a life on mission for the almost 3 years we have known them. As Eddie always says, you will get the kind of staff that you have been, so these two should have loving, loyal, hard working, godly staff surround them. We will miss them terribly but we know how special it is to go "home" and how special preaching God's Word is to Chet and he does it so well. We love you guys and your family. 
Ok just one more thing...
We kicked off our 6:00 service, more modern in style, and had 71 which blew us away for the first night. We had no idea what to expect we just knew God told Eddie to do it and so we did it. We would both tell you that one blessing of coming to Fairview was no night service haha and here we are. BUT, this was definitely different from what we've ever had at night and I told Eddie "yea I can do this :)!" That's a night service worth having, it was pure gold! We were both so energized and pumped afterwards. It was incredible. Shoutout to Keifer Mendoza and his band!! WOW!! Gifted, anointed, powerful doesn't even begin to describe these college students. They have the Spirit all in them, over them, surrounding them. I could feel it even when they were warming up. Thankful that our son John agreed to close the service with a Life on Mission moment as he shared the story of Mellow, a homeless man and his family he met in Atlanta last summer. I'm so thankful to Eddie Fisher our A+ sound guy and Daneil Joines for coming 2 hours early to serve and Nathan Brannon who just does anything you ask of him! Scott Joines got the coffee flowing in The Basement. He probably had no idea when he had the coffee idea that we would work him so hard, but so grateful he sees that as a ministry! Also thankful to our kids who jumped on board with us! We can always count on you! John and Chrissie took over the Tshirt area, creating and making it happen. Jessica, Justin and Chrissie manned the Gray room and Justin led our volunteers and band to pray before. Sometimes in ministry you can wear your kids out asking them to do things but they're no worse for the wear. I know we can be harder and tougher on you all to get things done at times because you're just right there, but you have the freedom to remind us (and we probably need reminding) to be more graceful and merciful and to say NO! Not knowing what would happen and if anyone would show up but us, left us not knowing how many or what kind of volunteers we needed, but if you want to help please let us know. Our kids will be very grateful!! Haha!!! You can never have too many to smile and welcome people! Media/sound people are always needed! One of the things we've talked about is creating depth for two reasons: one, because everyone can't be there every time. And two, raising people up to lead is part of discipleship and as mentioned before, part of our heartbeat. So thankful that some volunteered last night on their own and we welcome more! Please come join us for any of our services 8:30,11:00,6:00.
Ok, sorry for all if that BUT I did warn you ; )! Here's a few pics from last night...
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