Before The Face of God

We are certainly experiencing a wonderful and exciting time in the life of our brand new church.  There is this almost constant sense of excitement, joy, and light heartedness on Sundays, which is precious.  It is amazing to me to see people hanging out long after our corporate worship gathering has completed.  It is as if no one wants to go home.  Despite going over last week and knowing many of us still had the Coram Deo 101 class to get through later that afternoon, people still lingered after worship.  I think it is safe to say that most of us just do not want our gathering to end.  Jesus is drawing people, saving people and healing people right in front of us!  And it is tangible and so real!

God is there and we do not want to walk back down the mountain.  God is doing something very cool and we do not want to go back to the real world of our lives.

Of course, God is everywhere present at all times and in all places.  However, He is not working in the same way at all times and in all places.  There are seasons and places where His Spirit pours fourth in unique ways and it is clear, we believe this is one of those seasons and one of those places.

As your pastor allow me to write a brief word of encouragement and perspective.  Loved ones cherish these days.  Do not take them for granted.  Be intentional to observe, look, feel, smell, and hear.  Take this in and store these memories inside of you.  Many of you are new to being part of a church family and while perhaps you have attended a church before, you have never been connected like this.  Others of you are new to the faith altogether and so everything is new for you!  Cherish these things, loved ones.  Cherish them because what God is doing here at this time is not typical, sadly.  This is not because God loves us more than other congregations of His people.  The reason something unique is happening here is a rather simple one.  There is a childlike joy within you, something I pray will never cease.  For if this childlike freedom and joy ceases in our hearts (no matter how we act on the outside) this season will too quickly pass.

I also encourage you to cherish these days because you must understand that hardships will come.  Not every season is like this season, not for our church and not for our personal lives.  We are at war with a vicious and ruthless enemy who is outraged at what he is seeing here.  This enemy is Satan and he is no cartoon character.  He is the accuser, the father of lies and is like a roaring lion seeking those who he can devour.  He will lead attacks here and hardships will come to us.  Understand, the Lord brings us through such times as these, such sweet and harmonious times as these to encourage us now and to create a reservoir from which to draw during times of hardships.  We must remember these days when days of hardship arrive.  The Lord will never forsake us during dark days and He will bring these joyous times to our memories to encourage us when times are hard.

And they will arrive.  The great danger we face as a church is for us to assume the days we live in now will remain forever, just as they are now.  Often times when the seasons of life change God’s own people will become discouraged and wonder if their faith is in vain.  Do not allow yourself to be taken by surprise when this season changes in the life of the church or in your own life at home.

Read Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 and 1 Peter 5:8-10

Of course seasons of hardship do not last forever either.  Throughout our life there will always be twists and turns.  There will be highs and lows.  Every valley we walk through will end with a narrow path which leads up to another peek.

Cherish these days for the sake of those days.  Loved ones, I am not trying to throw a wet towel on what is going on right now, not at all.  I do not see these refreshing days ending anytime soon and  I do not believe the Lord is done with this season at Coram Deo.  He continues to bless, draw, save, restore and heal in fantastic ways.  The energy is raw and full of life!  I, like most of you, can hardly wait for Sunday!  What would we do without Lifegroup?  The Lifegroups are developing into awesome little fixes till next Sunday!  And beyond that so many of you are connecting on Facebook and in person (remember the days where people actually hung out with each other, in person???)  This is so cool and to God be all the Glory!  Cherish these days.

Next time I will write about how we can cherish these days and how we can take the excitement and allow it to develop a deep root system in Christ.  This faith is far more than just about excitement, it is deep and profound.  We will begin to explore how you can become more deeply rooted in our Lord next time.