No sermon today! But there was a great message! Led by the Spirit, the people of God shared their stories of God’s love and miraculous provision. Cathy F. talked about the house fire that took everything from her family. But then one of the firemen brought her the one item that was salvaged. It was a little singed on the cover but the rest of her grandfather’s Bible was intact! Precious gift!
Dave talked about his days in Viet Nam serving our country. His buddy took a mortar shell, right next to him, and died. Dave said the last thing he remembered about that horrific scene was the pages of the Bible his friend had carried, fluttering down around him. Dave said he often wondered why his buddy was taken. Dave was single at the time. He thought nobody would have missed him. But his lost buddy left a wife and three kids.
Well, about seven years after Dave got back to Michigan, he decided to visit his buddy’s widow, also in Michigan, just to say how much he admired and respected the man. Dave was in for a great surprise. His buddy’s wife opened the door and said, “Are you Dave? The Lord told me you were coming.” Then as she watched Dave react she also said, “You don’t know the Lord do you?” And she led him to faith in Jesus! At that moment, because it is Memorial day weekend, we also gave thanks for the other veterans among us.
Lori talked about coming to faith in the Lord at the tender age of twelve, and how after that she used to talk about Jesus with the other children and some of them followed her into the faith!
Kay gave thanks for faith that sustains us and upholds us in difficult times and provides blessings we didn’t know we need. Her whole family was gathered for graduation ceremonies and had a great time. The next day a granddaughter was in a pretty bad car accident, and the family was gathered together again, all around the injured young lady, to pray. The grand daughter is in serious condition, but on the mend, thank God!
All the songs we sang were by request from the previous week. Gary shared with us that he was the one who picked, “There’s Power in the Blood.” This was because his father, a lay minister, used to tell him, “Son, always remember, there’s power in the blood.” Well as a boy that didn’t mean much, but he had become a Christian later in life and later still, when Gary’s wife suffered a very serious stroke, the Drs. were saying that she wouldn’t make it and he should prepare to let her go. But he remembered, there’s power in the blood and entered into a time of scripture bathed prayer. She revived and was healed! Similarly, Gary himself survived a pretty serious heart attack last year with no residual damage.
John shared a meaningful song that he had written, called “Find You Waiting.” The song is about Jesus’ pervasive presence, so much so that when we do start looking for him, we find that he has been waiting for us already.
So the “sermon” text turned out to be John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life.” We heard many stories of that kind of love looking out for us and blessing us and protecting us through faith in Jesus.
We ended the service with prayers for the lost and that God would use our stories as opportunities to share the gospel with anyone who will listen. Well done Father God! Thank you Jesus! And thank you Holy Spirit for putting it all together today!
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