Bumping into God really hard.

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

There are just some things you can’t keep to yourselves. I haven’t posted anything yet about our July 4^th weekend service yet and I don’t know why. God was truly at work there. Our Executive Minister, Jim Burgen, went to Afghanistan with some others from our church and some from Southeast Christian in Louisville. They came back with some video footage and Jim talked about what it was like over there. Will your child take a drink of water which could kill them because of bacteria which can cause diarrhea, but because of living conditions can’t be cured. Land mines left over by the former Soviet Union shaped like children’s toys are still around.

After this, our Sr. Pastor, Jon Weece talked about giving to SOZO International which is the organization that Jim went with. He said on Saturday night that he wanted the church to give $25,000. Little did he or anyone know that God had other plans in store for the church.

A little boy came forward while Jon was speaking and laid a check on the stage. This started God’s plan as more people came forward to lay money down on the stage. Before things were done, a little over $27,000 was given. They made this a part of service for the rest of the weekend and when it was all said and done, over $142,000 was raised.

Now this in and of itself is amazing. Jim spoke the next week on the giving and said he hates when people say that God showed up today in church. He said that God is always there, we just happen to bump into Him pretty hard at times. But that is only the first part of God's work this week.

A lady my wife works with at church was called into their supervisor’s office Wednesday and she came out crying and carrying an envelope. Misty asked her what was wrong and she could only reply that she needed a hug. Now, our minds are thinking the same thing. She’s been fired. Misty then asked again and the lady replied that someone at the church had given her a card containing $1,000 knowing she could use it. They don’t know who it was other than God.

We are in the middle of a series on our core values which are based on Acts 2:42. The church back then as it was getting started, always helped each other out when needed. It’s great to see the church come forward and help others in need. When you see it, you just can’t help but let everyone know. After Misty told me this story about her co-worker, I had to tell someone. I told four people as soon as I could. It’s just something you can’t keep to yourself.