Wednesday, April 1, 2009

"MAKE Our Ministry, Before You GROW Our Ministry"

One of the treats I get to enjoy is hosting the program Atlanta Live on WATC TV 57 in the Atlanta area. Just this past Monday we had a special event called "Host's Night" where most of the hosts of the show got to be on the air together, getting to know one another and sharing about our lives and ministries. Pastor Leroy Doe of Concord Baptist Church made a comment that really touched me and encouraged me. He said he has always prayed, as a pastor, "God MAKE our church before you GROW our church." He said he realizes that God must form a firm foundation for that growth to take place, and so that when it does, the church can support the growth that takes place.

I LOVE this statement and this prayer, and just wanted to ask all of you to please be praying for wisdom for all of us who lead and serve Church 4 Chicks as God continues to enlarge our vision and our influence even in these early days of this ministry. Please pray that God will so fill us with His Spirit that our decisions would be the ones He would have us make. Please pray for protection over each of those who give of their times, talents, treasures, etc to make this ministry possible. I truly believe we are just beginning, and for this ministry to have longevity and eternal impact, it's going to take all of us taking God at His Word as we trust Him more and obey Him out of that growing level of trust. With that said, please pray that our faith would continue to increase as we continue to take those steps of trust and obedience.

I love serving you through this ministry and count it an incredible privilege to meet with each of you each week. Thank you for making God's Word, Worship, and Authentic Relationships a priority of your life and week.

Last night was AWESOME! I've heard such great feedback about the Vinings Lake Band and about Joan Smith who taught us how to Celebrate Our Differences! What an interesting topic, and Joan did such a great job communicating this info to us. So fun!!

On April 7th we'll have ERICA BRANCH (www.ericabranch.com) with us leading worship. Erica has traveled with me throughout the past few years singing and leading worship at different events where we've ministered together and she is really a blessing. You'll love her!

Additionally, having missed out on teaching last night, I'm DYING to get the word out that God has put on my heart for Tuesday's topic. We are working on a special treat for you as well, so make sure you don't let anything: weather, crazy traffic, etc. keep you from the blessing God wants to give you at Church 4 Chicks! You never know who might need YOUR encouragement as well, so we look forward to seeing you there!

Much Love,
Shelley

1 comment:

  1. GREAT STATEMENT! When I was building my house the first thing that we had to do was to dig down into the earth(way down)to get to the hard part of the earth.(Good of hard red Georgia Clay.) Then we had to set up metal forms so that we could form the walls. (Also,the tempature outside has to be a certain degree before you pour concret or you cannot pour it.) Next concret was poured into the forms. The concret had to harden before we could remove the forms. So you have to wait till the concret sets up.(Just like the Pastor explained.)Once this process takes place you pour the concrete floor (especially if you have a basement or terrace level) which my house does. Also the county inspector has to inspect the foundation before you can go any futher. If the foundation is not up to code then you have to take the necessary steps to get it up to code then he comes back out to inspect it again to see if you have taken the proper steps to satisfy the county laws. Our Heavenly Father does the same thing so to speak. He must form in us a firm foundation for the up building of His kingdom before he sends us out. His Spirit works on getting us up to the standards that God requires until we have that firm foundation needed to go forward in His calling He has for us. Debra Courtney

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