This year’s Passion Week Celebration was one of the best I can remember. While Janie and I were on vacation, we had the opportunity to have an evening meal with a prospective staff member. As we were leaving them he replied “It looks like you all (JIBC) will have a busy week this week.” I thought about my schedule and said “How so?” He had been looking at our Church App and saw the calendar of events for Passion Week. “Oh yes, some of our members and staff will be very busy.” We celebrated Palm Sunday, then we had the Resurrection Party for Children (they were able to “observe” the Passover Seder; then the Good Friday Service; the Saturday Community Easter Egg Hunt; and then Resurrection Sunday Celebration; concluding with Celebrate Recovery Sunday night. Wow, I think he was right, this was a very busy week. A big thanks to all the staff and their teams that made all that happen. Well done, good and faithful servants. It was really a wonderful week. He is risen, He is risen indeed.
By the way, it was a lot of fun having 400 people in worship Sunday. Anyone who was visiting surely went away feeling like they had been in the presence of our Lord. The praise team and our tech team did an outstanding job. Wow and wow again! Well done.
The Search Continues…I mentioned that Janie and I had the opportunity to meet a prospective staff member and his wife. Neale and I have had multiple conversations with people that we think are excellent prospects. We have had several come to visit us here at JIBC and we have a few more coming in the near future. We are feeling very encouraged by the quality of the people we are meeting and interviewing. We do not have anyone that we think is “the one”. We do, however, have several that we think our church family would love.
The process is very slow and deliberate. We are in what I call the dating stage. It may be a few more months before we get to the “engagement” where we bring someone in to meet the staff and leadership in a more formal way. There is an old saying that fits here: “Better to want it and not have it, than to have it and not want it.” Know what I mean? It is better to be slow and deliberate. The staff has given me good counsel to go slow and take our time. As the Word says “He makes all things beautiful in His time”. We feel sure he will do just that.
See you this Sunday, good Lord willing.
Pastor Tom
