We were blessed to have my family visit the church this weekend and it was good to share with them the vision of Joyful Life and see them take part in what God is doing for us. They have been supporting the church since the beginning and I was glad to introduce them to some of the people whose lives are being changed by the ministries of JLM. During the service on Sunday, my dad testified and shared a quick recount of being in brush arbor revivals when he was a kid.
For those of you who haven't heard of these churches from days gone by, a brush arbor is basically a tent revival without the tent. Picture a giant lean-to made from trees and branches and you've got a good mental image. What really stood out in my father's testimony was his statement, "We never had anything this nice back then." He was referring to the building we rent for our church. It's a former office building, and not near as large as we'd like. The sanctuary is narrow and I can't move around too much when I'm preaching or I'll quickly run into a wall. Our "foyer" quadruples as a Sunday school classroom, fellowship room, baptism area, and youth game area!
We have a vision for a bigger building as we grow, but in spite of its limitations, our current building is a blessing. The flashback to church pioneers who persevered and sacrificed reminded us of how far God has brought us in such a short time. They fought bugs and snakes to be in church. We sit in padded chairs in an airconditioned room. It's important to look back occasionally to remember how God has brought us out and moved us forward by His grace and mercy.
God bless,
Pastor Rick McGee
P.S. Special thanks to http://www.brusharbor.net/about_brush_arbor.html for the image below. You can check out their site for more info on brush arbors and also sign up for their quarterly newsletter.
For those of you who haven't heard of these churches from days gone by, a brush arbor is basically a tent revival without the tent. Picture a giant lean-to made from trees and branches and you've got a good mental image. What really stood out in my father's testimony was his statement, "We never had anything this nice back then." He was referring to the building we rent for our church. It's a former office building, and not near as large as we'd like. The sanctuary is narrow and I can't move around too much when I'm preaching or I'll quickly run into a wall. Our "foyer" quadruples as a Sunday school classroom, fellowship room, baptism area, and youth game area!
We have a vision for a bigger building as we grow, but in spite of its limitations, our current building is a blessing. The flashback to church pioneers who persevered and sacrificed reminded us of how far God has brought us in such a short time. They fought bugs and snakes to be in church. We sit in padded chairs in an airconditioned room. It's important to look back occasionally to remember how God has brought us out and moved us forward by His grace and mercy.
God bless,
Pastor Rick McGee
P.S. Special thanks to http://www.brusharbor.net/about_brush_arbor.html for the image below. You can check out their site for more info on brush arbors and also sign up for their quarterly newsletter.
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