Blessings From This Week (Sep 07, 2010)
As I was driving into the office this morning, I could not help but thank the Lord for the wonderful things that He accomplished in this ministry this week. In spite of the fact that it was Labor Day weekend, and a good number of our people were absent, walk-in attendance was up 20 from a week ago. In addition, buses were up about 20 from the previous week. Attendance at our chapels was up. And attendance at our military meetings was up as well. Let's highlight a few significant things.
We begin with walk-in attendance. We are always a little nervous about attendance when a major vacation holiday is upon us. We thus challenged our Sunday School teachers to be aggressive in attempting to reach their goals this week. Good numbers were reported throughout the entire Sunday School, and we were able to witness visitors in the worship services from Maryland, Florida, and right here in Columbus, Georgia. Pray for us as we follow up on these in-town guests.
Pastor Allison reported good numbers from our sattelite churches in Opelika and Lumpkin. The sattelite in Opelika had especially good numbers, and one new family joined this chapel yesterday. Amen! Be in much prayer as our new sattelite church in Fort Mitchell begins this upcoming weekend. Canvassing will take place this Saturday, and Pastor Chamberlin is very enthusiastic about this new church plant on the south side of Fort Benning.
Our military ministry had a great week as well. 279 soldiers attended this week's services. Brother Ingram reports that 31 soldiers stood to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen! These are the kind of numbers we can't wait to report at the Christian Servicemen's Center board meeting next week.
Buses too were up yesterday. I talked to one of our bus workers after church last night, and he told me how the bus teens were really captivated by the lesson on dating standards. The youth room was full of questions as these kids were confronted with Biblical standards, many of them for the very first time. We praise the Lord for the diligence of our bus workers who week after week attempt to keep our kids out of life-damaging decisions.
Our expansion program is moving ahead full throttle. We were able to purchase both 2925 and 2923 Howard Avenue this week. This gives us two-thirds of the city block adjacent to our current facility. We began negotiations last week for both 2905 Howard Avenue and 2904 14th Avenue. If both of these are secured we will have over 80% of this city block, a great location for our new gym and fellowship hall.
We also began discussion last week with a couple who owns property right next to our existing parking lot. If this couple sells, and it looks like they are aimable to it, we will be able to expand our current parking lot and take most of the Sunday morning congestion off the street. Amen! Paving estimates to accomplish this task should be in this week.
We also are continuing discussions with a construction company about expanding our current sanctuary lobby and improving the restrooms in our current facility. Pray that we will be in the will of God as we move forward.
Don't forget this week that Missionary Scott Borrman will be home from Uruguay reporting on his work. You won't want to miss his sermon on Wednesday night. On the 22nd of this month, Missionary Nathan Owens will be presenting the field of Antigua, and we will voting to add him to the missionary budget.
We are happy to report that after a year of negotiations, the Fundamental Broadcasting Network has agreed to start airing our weekly radio broadcast, A Touch of Grace. This will now give us national recognition. We are hoping this will be a stepping stone for even more markets to pick up the broadcast.
Our fall Sunday School campaign begins on September 19. Jimmy DeYoung will be with us on the 26th for a special prophecy Sunday. October 3 is homecoming, and October 10 begins our annual revival campaign with Evangelist William Jeffocat. A great fall is in store! I trust you will make these days a special matter of prayer.
Thanks again for your continued interest in this ministry. Your prayers and support mean much to us.