Learnings

Life and ministry have been full the last few weeks as we have journeyed in faith together – receptions for saying goodbye and hello, meeting new people, Centrifuge Camp, and Camp Agape, just to name a few. Over these few weeks, I have been learning a lot of about First Baptist Church. Let me share with you a few of my learnings:

1. We love to eat! After a week of eating breakfast, lunch and supper at Camp Agape, I’m convinced we have the best cooking crews around. Getting a chance to hang out in the kitchen or over the grill with so many has been a highlight of my summer (and Ben even allowed me to clean the stove one day!).

2. We love to serve! So many people – from the youngest to the oldest – are active making the ministries of this church possible. I have loved eating cake with the Tuesday crew before they start their work and then seeing the Camp Agape CIT’s (Counselors in Training) cleaning the tables and bathrooms. God uses all of us!

3. We love the community! It thrilled my spirit to watch our church love on the kids of Camp Agape last week. With abandon we lived up to the name of the camp and blessed these kids in the name of Jesus.

4. We love worship! Over the last several weeks God has been so present in our Sunday worship experiences. As we have added new elements in worship – faith stories, passing the peace fellowship, confessional time, rock alter – we have remained engaged, allowing the Spirit to move. I also witnessed our love for worship every night at Camp Agape as our adult leaders gathered to lead vesper services. The music we shared in worship was as powerful for us as it was for the campers.

5. We love beauty! Everything I have seen this church attempt to accomplish has been done with excellence, flair and beauty. From worship to camp agape’s decorations to our community reception last Sunday – our volunteers gave their best to God. Let us never take these offerings of beauty for granted.

6. We are excited about God’s future! God has started a new story at First Baptist Church. God needs each of us to begin preparing for where this journey may take us. Let us commit now to transform the joy and the excitement we feel now into spiritual preparations for the future. Together God will lead us forward into this new story. I look forward to our walk together. See you Sunday.