a good weekend by all standards

Mother's Day, family time, preaching and worship with people I love, and a ton of rain...and a good time was had by all.

Kim and I took the kids (and Kim D) to Bedford for the weekend. Kim's dad invited me to preach at their campground/church for Mother's Day, and Kim D went with us to help lead worship. I could listen to that lady sing all day long. Such a sweet/powerful voice, such a sweet spirit...

It was Pentecost Sunday, and I spoke about the effect of the the descent of the Holy Spirit on the ragtag group of Jesus' followers. We took a whirlwind tour of the early church through the first 8 chapters of the Book of Acts. It's amazing to see how the church grew, and there are some remarkable truths that I think we're on the verge of capturing for our local expression of the body of Christ.

I believe that the thing that I want to grasp--the low-hanging fruit--is that Good Deeds open the door for Good News. When we are aggressively engaged in meeting the needs of the people around us, we earn the opportunity to share the life-changing, life-giving message of Jesus. People are drawn to love in action, and that's one of the primary messages of Jesus. That's part of what it means to live on mission with Jesus in our community.

On top of all that, we had a great Mother's Day with Kim's family.