Pete Vecchi
22nd January 2006, 10:56 PM (22:56)
Yesterday our church's adult Sunday school class teacher called me from the doctor's office to say he wouldn't be able to be in Sunday School or church on Sunday, and asked if we could get the substitute teacher for that class to teach for today. I contacted her and she said she'd do it.
Today we got to the church in preparation for our 9:30 a.m. Sunday School. At about 9:25 a.m. the phone rang, and my son answered it. He came into the sanctuary and told us that the substitute Sunday School teacher had called and said that the person who was supposed to bring her to church (the substitute teacher can no longer drive due to deteriorating eyesight) hadn't gotten to her house yet. Since this meant she was at least 10-15 minutes from being at the church, I stepped in to pinch hit, looking at the Scripture in the denomination's Sunday School materials for the day, and "winging it" (after prayer). What followed was one of the best discussions we've had in Sunday School in quite some time, because the people in the class were very responsive and seemed interested in the discussion.
After Sunday School, several of us went to my office to pray for the upcoming service. In the middle of our prayer, we heard a loud bang and all the electricity went out. A transformer on the utility pole in front of the church had blown, and so we started the service with only the light being that which came through the stained-glass windows on a mostly cloudy day. And the Lord was with us. There were a number of testimonies, and quite a few more than normal prayer requests. After prayer, our song leader testified, and then we sang another song, and I didn't get into the pulpit until about 15 minutes later than I normally would have. As I walked to the pulpit and began to speak, the electricity came back on, lighting up the entire sanctuary.
The message was one based on numerous scriptures and talked about the right to life on this 33rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortion. In the service was a single mom with her 16-day old baby. I had asked this mom's permission to do this ahead of time (and she was all in favor of it), and I had the mom bring her 16-day old daughter to the front of the sanctuary. I then explained that according to current U.S, law, this baby could have been legally killed 17 days ago. It was a powerful illustration, with several people crying.
I ended the message with my firm belief that the best way for this nation to be brought back to respecting human life is to bring people to Jesus Christ, who will in turn change people from the inside. At least one person in the sanctuary who hadn't done so in one of our services before this indicated to me that he had just asked Jesus into his life (he told me after the service he'd done so years ago, but had gotten away from the Lord).
Today, at least 5 of our semi-regular attenders weren't in church due to various reasons. But even at that, our attendance was 35, equalling our high for the year, which is 5 higher than our average attendance for the past church year (4 higher than last month's average). Of the 35 people in the service today, nobody was there for the first time. In fact, three people were there for the second week in a row, which was their second time ever in our services.
Tonight, we had what was supposed to be a preaching service, but the sermon turned into a Bible Study when the people in the congregation started asking questions -- led by someone who hardly ever speaks up in the Bible studies. It ended up being another good time of question/answer, and the Lord was there.
I thank Jesus for how today went! It wasn't how I'd planned it, but I like it when Jesus interrupts my plans in order to do something better! Praise His Name!
Today we got to the church in preparation for our 9:30 a.m. Sunday School. At about 9:25 a.m. the phone rang, and my son answered it. He came into the sanctuary and told us that the substitute Sunday School teacher had called and said that the person who was supposed to bring her to church (the substitute teacher can no longer drive due to deteriorating eyesight) hadn't gotten to her house yet. Since this meant she was at least 10-15 minutes from being at the church, I stepped in to pinch hit, looking at the Scripture in the denomination's Sunday School materials for the day, and "winging it" (after prayer). What followed was one of the best discussions we've had in Sunday School in quite some time, because the people in the class were very responsive and seemed interested in the discussion.
After Sunday School, several of us went to my office to pray for the upcoming service. In the middle of our prayer, we heard a loud bang and all the electricity went out. A transformer on the utility pole in front of the church had blown, and so we started the service with only the light being that which came through the stained-glass windows on a mostly cloudy day. And the Lord was with us. There were a number of testimonies, and quite a few more than normal prayer requests. After prayer, our song leader testified, and then we sang another song, and I didn't get into the pulpit until about 15 minutes later than I normally would have. As I walked to the pulpit and began to speak, the electricity came back on, lighting up the entire sanctuary.
The message was one based on numerous scriptures and talked about the right to life on this 33rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortion. In the service was a single mom with her 16-day old baby. I had asked this mom's permission to do this ahead of time (and she was all in favor of it), and I had the mom bring her 16-day old daughter to the front of the sanctuary. I then explained that according to current U.S, law, this baby could have been legally killed 17 days ago. It was a powerful illustration, with several people crying.
I ended the message with my firm belief that the best way for this nation to be brought back to respecting human life is to bring people to Jesus Christ, who will in turn change people from the inside. At least one person in the sanctuary who hadn't done so in one of our services before this indicated to me that he had just asked Jesus into his life (he told me after the service he'd done so years ago, but had gotten away from the Lord).
Today, at least 5 of our semi-regular attenders weren't in church due to various reasons. But even at that, our attendance was 35, equalling our high for the year, which is 5 higher than our average attendance for the past church year (4 higher than last month's average). Of the 35 people in the service today, nobody was there for the first time. In fact, three people were there for the second week in a row, which was their second time ever in our services.
Tonight, we had what was supposed to be a preaching service, but the sermon turned into a Bible Study when the people in the congregation started asking questions -- led by someone who hardly ever speaks up in the Bible studies. It ended up being another good time of question/answer, and the Lord was there.
I thank Jesus for how today went! It wasn't how I'd planned it, but I like it when Jesus interrupts my plans in order to do something better! Praise His Name!