What a phenomenal time we had this past weekend with Perry Stone and the Voice of Evangelism Team. We had great crowds during each service, and everyone had a wonderful time of worship in prayer, singing, and hearing the Word of God. I am sure that you, like me, were challenged and inspired with a sense of God’s control over the challenges facing us as Americans and members of the global community. I was especially encouraged as I considered the role of the church in these days in which we live. How important it is for us to be living in covenant with God and in obedience to His word! This is not a time for “casual Christianity.” We are soldiers on a “seek and save” mission. We are living under God’s protection and provision and have no reason to be afraid. And what a great time to be alive and involved in the mission of spreading the message of the Kingdom of God around the world!
On a more personal and close-to-home note, I am so encouraged by what I saw from the people at River of Life Church. Every service when I would walk in the building I was surrounded by smiling ROL faces with usher badges taking care of business! I personally had many of our guests comment about the hospitality of our church. What a great witness of God’s limitless love! We had volunteers greeting people in the lobby, ushering in the sanctuary, playing music on the stage, running lights and media, operating cameras, running sound, parking cars, doing childcare, handling security, and preparing meals for our guests. I am not exaggerating when I say I was BLOWN AWAY!
Now here is my challenge to you – let’s do this all the time. I know that we probably won’t have 900 people here next weekend – but what if we did? Are we ready for it? You don’t wait until game-time to start practicing. You don’t build the nursery after the baby arrives. Growth and success requires commitment, perseverance, and preparation. We have to get ready for those that are going to come – and they ARE going to come. We are already seeing them coming! God is doing a powerful work at River of Life and He is doing it with a volunteer army of laborers. People that will do the work of caring for one another as well as providing hospitality for those that are new to our church. Simply put – what I saw this past weekend is the kind of effort it is going to take every week. We can do it. We MUST do it.
So thanks again for all that you did and are doing! I pray the Lord give you rest and refreshment from your busy weekend. Let’s do it again this Wednesday and Sunday. And if you are looking for a place to connect with the church – click here to sign up for a ministry team. We need you today!
Pastor Ben
Pastor Ben is so right. I can’t tell everyone how proud I was to see ROL caring and showing God’s love. That’s the attitude that we must carry on with.
It is amazing to see what a group of people working together can do. I applaud every person who gave their time and energy. There is noone in the world I would rather work with than all of you. No matter what your job was this weekend…every life that was changed…you are a part of that. There is no better tired than after a weekend like what we had. I had several people tell me they were going to come back to visit this summer and bring their grandkids to Magic Springs. They loved the church and they loved the people. A friend of mine who visited from another church in town told me today. I love my church, but I had no idea that we had something like ROL in Hot Springs. In the future she plans on being there when we have other special events.