NOT A BAD WAY TO REDEEM AUGUST

I really do understand why a pastor or a church would be tempted to just write the month of August off. It would be easier to coast through the month and wait for the momentum of “Back To School” to kick in. It really would be easier. We believe God is in business to “reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken world”. The reality of being lost and broken does not take a month off…even a slow month like August. My thought was to do everything possible to redeem a month that could easily be considered a church calendar throw away month. So far, so good. I wanted to say so far, so great! But it did not sound right. Lol.

We started the month of August with the most people gathered to study God’s word and the most people gathered to worship than any Sunday this summer. We baptized 5 on Sunday morning and 2 at Celebrate Recovery. A pretty good way to welcome our new staff member and his wife, Scott and Lori. The Word of God taught, seeds of His Word planted, fellowship enjoyed and encouragement given. Now, let the Holy Spirit do that amazing work.

Last Sunday was just as amazing in many ways. We had a good attendance, celebrated the Lord’s Supper, heard a message on “Praying Big Prayers” from Ephesians. Then the Mac-N-Cheese Bake Off Competition was great. Ten outstanding offerings and a great hour of fellowship. Pastor’s mistake #765: I announced the winner before all the votes were counted. Here was the dilemma: I had already crowned James Hines as the winner with the most votes based on the cards I was given. Barry Waldrop was actually the top vote getter. But there was no way in heaven I was going to take the Top Chef Hat off my Father-in-Law, the Patriarch of my family. Sorry Barry! All kidding aside it was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship. It was a wonderful way to have a drop in reception for Scott and Lori. Thank you all for participating.

This week we Celebrate Jesus with “Stuff a Book Bag-Bless a Kid”. We will probably end up filling about 50 book bags. We will also have a time of commissioning for all of our teachers and administrators during the Mission-Ministry Offering time. You will want to be here for this celebration. By the way, we are giving each of them a $10 Starbucks gift card for the first week break they will need! Thank you all for the generous way you give in your tithes and offerings.

Then the last week of August will be JIBC giving the largest one time food offering every in our church history. You can bring school supplies and food items any day and/or any Sunday. Our commitment is that no one on James Island goes to bed hungry unless we don’t know about it. This offering will go a long way in helping the under-served.

See you this Sunday, expressing gratitude to our teachers.

Pastor Tom