Worship: All About Jesus

The teaching series during the month of September was focused on worship. It is one of the five purposes we elevate in value and have as a part of our mission. Our ultimate goal is to bring God glory, cause Him joy and give to Him the worship He is due and that He so wonderfully deserves. I am so grateful for the many people who work behind the scenes to make the worship experience such a positive one. The audio/visual team, the nursery volunteers, the children’s church team, the greeters, ushers, mission and ministry moment speakers, etc, etc. I thank you for your faithful service. Your service, in itself, is a beautiful act of worship. Blessings.

THE HARVEST
Jesus told them, “The Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2

This time of the year is a time of harvest. We particularly think of the fall fruits and vegetables like pumpkins, squash, apples and sweet potatoes. It is a wonderful time of the year. This is also a wonderful time of the year to pray for and expect a spiritual harvest. Think of the wonderful things God could bring into your life this time of the year. Jesus said the harvest is plentiful. The challenge is not the harvest, the challenge, according to Jesus is the workers. So he invited us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out…literally, to throw out…workers into his harvest. Let’s think about not being thrown out. Let’s see how we could pray and go out and work in the harvest. It is a beautiful time of the year to do so.

By the way, part of the beautiful harvest God gave includes the precious families that joined James Island Baptist this past Sunday. We had 17 attend Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC. Of those, 11 have already joined. Perhaps more will come at a later time. What an honor that these would choose JIBC as their church family. To God be the glory.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

WORSHIP CENTER-SANCTUARY DEDICATION

This past Sunday was the dedication of the newly renovated worship center-sanctuary. We talked about how this area is often referred to as the Sanctuary, the Worship Center or even Big Church for those who have little children. At any rate, we had a time of dedication for the gathering place. In Exodus 3:5 the ground Moses stood on was holy. It was holy because of the encounter with the Holy God, Yahweh. Others no doubt passed by the bush and thought of it as just a bush. Perhaps some will attend JIBC worship and think of it as just a building…a religious building, but just a building. I pray that for you and for all who enter the doors, it will be a holy place where we meet the Holy God, Yahweh.

We dedicated ourselves to the Lord. A holy place without a holy people would seem to cancel out each other. It seems like sin will push out holiness or holiness will push out sin. Either way, we are in need of dedicating ourselves to genuine worship, seeking God to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Third, I dedicated myself to the following: Christ-centered preaching; inspired worship; celebration of the symbols of our salvation (baptism and the Lord’s Supper); a place of unity of the faith; and to be a place welcoming the broken who seek His healing. When this happens, I suspect we will be glad when they say unto us let us go to the House of the Lord.

I close today with one of my favorite poems. It was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

“Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, 

but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

WOW, WOW, WOW,WOW!

I was thinking my entire article would be made up of a series of the word “Wow”! That was the word we heard most often Saturday night and Sunday morning. Wow. I know it is not a praise word…but it is so close. So let me say Amen and Hallelujah. To our entire team that led the renovation project we say “Well done”. The list is too long but our gratitude is extended to all who led and worked to make this project happen. I only wish everyone who labored on this project could have stood with me as our church family first walked in the doors to see the beautiful renovation. The faces, expressions and words were priceless. To God be the glory. 

The Big Reveal, as important as it was to us, was not more important than our purpose for gathering. So everything in the service pointed to our purpose. We began with powerful praise; celebrated with baptizing two precious souls; introducing and interceding for our Connection Group Leaders as they help connect us to God, to each other and to our community; then the central Christ event, the Lord’s Supper; followed up with the entire offering being given as a thank offering to missions. Ladies and gentlemen…you have just witnessed the heart and soul of JIBC. We value what we celebrate and celebrate what we value. I know of no clearer picture that Sunday’s service!

HOW CAN I SAY THANKS? The “BirthAversary” celebration was over the top. I could never have imagined my own children speaking so eloquently and fondly of their old man. And my four preacher buddies…well, that could have hurt a lot worse. They were kind. It could have been a roasting of epic proportions. (BTW, do not buy the book they gave me. It was a joke, not a recommended book!) Having the Chinese Church and Luz Y Verdad present moved me to tears.

We are honored to have played any part in blessing them. My gratitude to all who spoke and shared such kind thoughts and memories. The gift from our church family was so generous. Thank you so very much. I would have liked to have said thank you, but my eyes were leaking with joy!

NOT COMPLETE YET. All the crews worked so hard to be ready by Sunday. Saturday night we were still painting, installing, tweaking everything electronic, setting up chairs, etc. We were 90% ready…but it was a huge 90%! Our volunteers and paid workers did a great job. The punch list of little finishes will come at a much slower speed. And as Forrest Gump says “That’s all I have to say about that!”

Love you all,

Pastor 30/60 Tom

WE ARE ON THE FINAL 2 LAPS

This week we are on the final 2 weeks of renovation. The list of things going on this week is long. There will be painting, second coats, carpet going in Saturday, lights went in this past Monday, counters in the front restrooms, paint goes on the walls this week. I mean it is a bee hive of activity. Please pray for all the workers that they will be safe and have a sense of how this job is different from any other. Our offices are still a mess but we can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

SO LET’S FOCUS ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT

Starting this Sunday, I will begin a new teaching series on Worship. With all the activity going on it is too easy to lose focus. At the end of the day, it is not about lights, paint, carpet and chairs. It is about Him…worshipping our Lord. For the next 4 weeks we will focus on worshipping His majesty. This coming Sunday we will learn about the Priority-Purpose-People and Place of worship. On Sunday, September 13, we will have the big reveal. We will re-focus the day by celebrating baptism, the Lord’s Supper and introducing our Adult Connection Group Leaders. We will have only the 11:00 worship service on Sunday, September 13. On Sunday, September 20 we will have a Dedication Service for the renovated Worship Center. And then on September 27 we will look at the John 4 story where Jesus teaches that we are to worship in Spirit and in Truth.

A special thank you to everyone that has been so patient and helpful during this time of transition. Two more weeks and we should be back into our routine…assuming we can find where we have put everything! Lol.

LEADERSHIP MEETING SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12 @6:00

We are having a brief prayer and worship time for the staff and ministry management team on Saturday, September 12 at 6:00. Our goal is to have you meet, pray and worship from 6:00 to 7:00. You will be out in plenty of time to get home early or go out to eat. I really encourage our leadership team to join us for this time of prayer and celebration.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

RENOVATION UPDATE NEXT

Progress is full steam ahead. If you attended Sunday, you saw that work in the Atrium and the main hallways started. They did all the prep work of sanding and caulking and will paint this week. Sunday, when you arrive, that should be a done deal! Whoohoo…I mean hallelujah! We have also started packing the offices up for renovation. We will be getting fresh paint, new carpet and some new furniture. So for a week or two, we will be out of our office environment. The major work in the Worship Center this week includes: completing the sheetrock and sanding of the ceiling; redoing and finishing the balcony walls; frame up the restrooms in the front of the worship center. We are enlarging the two restroom areas in the front of the church. This will provide more spacious rooms compared to the former small rooms. The balcony wall will increase in height while increasing the site line for those who sit in the balcony. This was a much needed correction. Our plans are still to have the Big Reveal on Sunday, September 13. On that Sunday we plan for one worship service and will celebrate with baptism and the Lord’s Supper. What a day that will be!

LET’S GROW DEEPER TOGETHER

Believing we will be finished with the renovations, we plan to start Wednesday night discipleship options on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. There will be 4 options for adults: serve with our Kitchen Krew; Praying Like Jesus led by Jeff Koch; First Place 4 Health led by Janie Brown; Recovery Bible Study based on the 12 Steps led by Pastor Tom. We will also provide preschool care, as well as Preschool/Children Awana ministry and Surge: Youth Worship. It is a great fall lineup. Our goal is to help you grow deeper in God’s Word.


CHAIR COUNTDOWN

It is wonderful that we already have financial gifts given to purchase 276 chairs. The “competition” between Connection Groups was designed to help everyone participate whether they gave a little, a lot or none at all. There really is a triple blessing potential here. First, everyone, every family, every connection group can participate in purchasing chairs that will be used in worship for years to come. It is not about the amount, it is about participation…being a part of a beautiful celebration. Second, we have an offer of matching funds. If we raise the funds for 200, 300 or for all 430 chairs, an equal amount has been pledged to the overall renovation project. We receive blessing on top of blessing. Third, whatever amount we give toward the purchase of chairs is the amount we can keep in savings for a rainy day…and those days surely come. We have over the past 2 years, replaced multiple roofs, and entire boiler system and cooling tower and have paid over $7,000 for plumbing issues. Old buildings require ongoing repairs. We are blessed to be able to pay for this project…however the Lord sees fit to provide. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

ONE WEEK DOWN, FOUR TO GO

We have successfully had our first week of worship in the Fellowship Hall. Interestingly enough, several who were present remembered when JIBC first had our worship services in the Fellowship Hall. The 8:30 service had around 85 in attendance. Wow! Great job. Thanks to all who made the shift to the early service. We could still use around 25 more to attend at 8:30. The 11:00 service had around 140 or so in attendance. That was full but not packed like sardines. We will add more chairs for this coming week and have a few more attending the 8:30 service. It’s all good. Our thanks to all who are going the extra mile to make this change possible. If I could make a request for some of our home folks it would be this: if you are able, please sit toward the front and toward the middle. We have quite a few guests who come in right at 11:00 or just after. While we are standing and singing, it is difficult to see available seats. Not everyone can sit forward and to the middle…we understand. No problem. We want you to sit where you are comfortable. If you can, it will be a big help.

RENOVATION UPDATE

We are now well under way in the sanctuary renovation. This past week saw quite a bit of activity. First, the painting prep work of sanding and caulking is going full steam ahead. We are replacing the “popcorn” ceiling with sheetrock. As I am typing this, they are finishing that part of the project. They will begin taping, mudding and sanding this week. We are working to enlarge the two restrooms in the front of the church. That will be a much welcomed change from the formerly very small restrooms. Work has begun on the booth for our audio/visual team as well as new risers for the balcony to improve the sight line. So, right now it looks like what it is…a construction zone. All the construction and visual type people who have eyes to see what is not are positively moved by what they can “see”. Right now, I just remember this is what it looked like last time…and it turned out beautiful then too!

NOW, LET’S TALK ABOUT THOSE CHAIRS

On a $200,000 renovation project, we have around $150,000 already in hand for this project. We are so blessed by God to have the rest in savings and can pay for this project without going in debt. Several of our leaders felt like the church members and friends would like to give toward the project. The idea was to be a part of the project, to have heart and hand, in the renovation. It was a very doable idea to ask the church to give toward the purchase of the chairs. Here is the reality: whatever monies we do not use from our savings can then be used for other needs. So, if we give $20,000 toward the purchase of chairs, we actually keep that amount in savings to use for air conditioning repairs, emergency repairs, unseen opportunities, etc. Really…the goal was to give everyone an opportunity to participate. The idea got a little better when it was suggested that every Connection Group be challenged to have 100% participation. Simple: having every member of every Connection Group give toward the purchase of chairs. The focus was not on the amount given. It could be $5, $50, $500 or $5,000. Participation, not amount, was the goal. A good idea got even better when an offer was made to give matching funds. So, if the entire amount was given for chairs, that amount would be match ed andgiven toward the project. Don’t over think this or make it complicated. Rejoice, God is good all the time and all the time, God is good.


See you Sunday, good Lord willing,


Pastor Tom

HERE WE GO!

This past Sunday we began the renovation of the worship center.

Volunteers from our church family and friends joined volunteers from the church family in St. Stephens. We moved out all of the church pews and they were loaded onto the trucks…just seconds before the rains came down. Perfect timing of the Lord. The joy of the men that helped us move them was tremendous. A terrible storm had destroyed their church and the donation of pews will go a long way in helping them to rebuild. They were scheduled to get the lights on Tuesday, August 4. The pews were a donation from JIBC. Their church made a $3,000 donation for the lights. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Sorry, but that was fantastic compared to the price we were quoted for used church lights. Now, keep your ears open. We are trying to set a date when our two church families could join together in St. Stephens for a praise service. Oh, what a joy that will be! 

Today, we have the painters who are sanding and caulking. They are doing all the prep work to prepare for the last stage…painting. It is a busy bee hive in there. Lights have come down, the old stained and wrinkled carpet is up and wonderful progress is being made. Please pray for all of the workers that they will be safe and blessed in their work here at JIBC.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BUY A CHAIR? Here is the fabulous news about the chairs. Each chair cost around $50, not including shipping, handling, taxes, etc. We need about 420 chairs. We have had an offer of matching funds for the chairs. If the JIBC family gives the funds to buy 200 chairs, the donor will match that amount. If we raise funds for all 420 chairs, the donor will still match that amount in a gift to the renovation! God is good all the time and all the time God is good. Let’s see if we can match the blessing of this gift. We are asking each Connection Group to have 100% participation in buying chairs. The friendly competition is not about which Connection Group has the largest amount given, but rather who has the greatest participation. What an opportunity.

By the way, can you guess what the number one question is about the chairs? It is not what color. The number one question is how big are they? So, let me put it this way. They are the largest that the church industry makes. The only thing larger would be love seats! They are back supporting, bottom comforting, interlocking with a place for hymnals and other items. We believe they are the best in the church chair industry. I can preach for hours before you will get uncomfortable…ok, that was a little over the top.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom