We had a chance to go and work at the Wesley House in Durham today. We had a small crowd that ended up showing up----but we honestly jammed on some work. We got a wall ready to be laid and also cleared some property in the back. We were flat out hot and sweaty. We look tough.
On Sunday I will be preaching from 2 Corinthians 8.1-15. Hear verses 1 & 2: "We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." Macedonia seems to have something going right. I wonder what that is? If you continue reading that same chapter you will see that they even begged Paul to let them bless him ----- even though it sounds like they had very little. Have you all ever noticed that the people that have the very least are the most generous?
For the last two weeks I kind of cleared my schedule of a lot of things so that I could spend time with the new addition to the family. Nathan is doing very well and he now is 10 days old!!! Thank you to all of you for your cards and your support. It has truly been a blessing to me and my family. But now I am back to work and I am really excited about what God is doing at Warren's Grove. So keep up with the blog and you will start to see some of those wonderful things. Please be in prayer that we will still seek to be in the center of God's will in all that we do.
On Saturday, June 13th at 8.19am we had a baby boy born to us. His name is Nathan James Chryst. He weighed in at 9lbs and 4ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Please celebrate with us God's blessing in the birth of Nathan James and pray for us as we transition into this part of our journey.
The other day Ryan Quanstrom (Student Associate Minister) and myself were discussing the passage that I will be preaching from this Sunday [Isaiah 6.1-8]. He pointed out to me that this live coal came from the altar (chapter 6 verse 6). Now think of that----that live coal is burning and it comes from the place of sacrifice. The place where the priests are constantly offering up live sacrifices to God. There could be caked on blood----or you might not even know what that coal used to be. And then this huge Seraph comes to Isaiah and places that on his lips. What an amazing word picture that is. Imagine what was going through Isaiah's mind.
This Sunday I will be preaching from Isaiah 6.1-8. This is sometimes called Isaiah's call from God ----- while at the same time Isaiah is invited to the throne room, where the 6 winged angels cry "Holy, Holy, Holy!!!" Honestly, the most intriguing part of this passage to me is the first verse, where it says: "In the year that King Uzziah died....." Notice how important it is to mark this passage with a reference to the death of a King. I have heard preachers say that we have to have our King Uzziah's die in order to see "the Lord high and lifted up." What do you all think?
So, just in case all of you don't know this in the blogger world ---- my wife and I are expecting our fourth child in 9 days. That is what all the talk has been at our house ----- when is the baby coming? What are we going to do if the baby comes in the middle of the night? So on and so forth. Our children are really getting excited and DeAnne and I are as well. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful folks that have blessed us with their presence and presents. I will keep you updated on how things go. It should be any day now.
