When you hear those words it usually means you heard something that was out of the ordinary…something that was hard to believe. Let me list for you part of what God is doing every Sunday here at the church campus. I will probably forget something, so please forgive me.
Every week we have two worship services, one at 8:30 and the other at 11:00. They are basically the same service with an extra song or two at 11:00. Every week we have a full house of preschool, children, youth, and adults studying God’s Word. By the way, I love our Bible Study lessons and believe they are rock solid! While we meet, we have a Hispanic mission, Luz Y Verdad, meeting in the café. They are running 40 adults plus their children. Their leadership team recently met with me about their need for more space. That is a good problem to have. During that time we also have the Chinese worship service taking place in the Fellowship Hall. They are running around 70 adults and have started their own youth worship service that meets in the Youth Worship area. While we are in the main worship center, Brent and his team are leading children’s worship in the All Star Children’s room. A full preschool is being operated downstairs in the preschool area by our faithful volunteer team. Now that is just what happens on Sunday mornings.
Sunday afternoon will find the Chinese Church family enjoying a meal and fellowship. They are joined by the Greater Charleston Chinese Community as they gather to teach Chinese to their children. Every room in our main building is used for the Chinese school.
Around 4:00, Brent and the Youth Worship team will gather to start preparing for the evening Youth Worship time. He and the Youth Intern, Parker Bush, will prep up for a high energy, Spirit filled time with our youth and youth from the community.
Down stairs in the Library/Conference room you will find a small but very faithful prayer team. They welcome anyone and everyone to join them as they pray together each Sunday afternoon. They would welcome your participation and even gladly welcome your prayer concerns.
At 5:00, the Celebrate Recovery Team starts setting up for the 6-8 pm Celebrate Recovery meeting. We have a meal each week, followed by worship, reading the steps, giving out the chips, a lesson, and then small group. We usually clear the building by 8:45 on most Sunday nights.
Now, throw in the every other month Class 101, a Red Cross Blood Drive, and a team meeting of some sort, and you have a usual Sunday at James Island Baptist. It can be enough to cause the casual observer to say “You did what?”
Bottom line, we are in the business of making disciples…not staying busy. We are after changed lives, not full calendars. We are driven by the purposes of God as revealed in the Bible, not by a denominational calendar or tradition. I am in love with a church family that is in love with a great God and our Lord Jesus. Thank you for having the courage to change!
Pastor Tom
