Christmas at Grace Results (Dec 14, 2009)
Christmas at Grace is in the books. What a wonderful weekend the Lord gave us. The things for which we prayed came to fruition. And dozens of people are now in the kingdom of God thanks to the preparation of our wonderful staff, the hard work of our wonderful people, and the sweet movement of God's Holy Spirit. Let me pause to thank God and update you on the great weekend that just concluded.
It began on Friday evening with our annual teen rally. We rented out Hollywood Connection, a local entertainment center here in Columbus in order that we might provide the teens in our city with unlimited roller skating, putt-putt golf, and arcade games. Evangelist Bryan Samms, who was scheduled to be with us, had to cancel because his grandmother died, and he had to preach the funeral. We immediately thought of Evangelist Adrian Burden who fortunately had the day open. He traveled over from the eastern shore of North Carolina to be with us, and God certainly had His hand on this fine evangelist. 564 people were registered for this rally, and by the time the night was over 43 of these young people had prayed to receive Christ as personal Savior! Amen! Evangelist Burden said it was the highest number of salvation decisions he was able to have in any one single meeting. Praise the Lord! God used this man in a mighty way in our midst.
The rain that started on Friday night came with a vengeance on Saturday. Our valiant bus workers boarded their buses nonetheless and brought in another 207 children for our elementary school rally. Attendance was somewhat affected by the precipitation, but Uncle Charlie was undaunted. This great man of God brought his "A" game. At the conclusion of his message, 13 children went to the counseling center and were led to the Lord by our trained altar workers. Amen!
The rain continued into Sunday, and I was not quite sure what the day would hold. I jokingly told someone that we must be in the millennium - this is the thousand year rain! The Daybreak Quartet never sounded better Sunday morning. Their wonderful music help set the table for the preaching of God's Word. Over 60 residents from the Valley Rescue Mission were in attendance and numerous visitors were in the crowd as well. The auditorium was filled, and I was ready to preach! The Lord blessed and nine people walked the aisle to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
One of those who prayed to receive Christ was Maria Ramirez. Maria is the mother of Roscio Perez, one of our church members who had a new baby this week. Maria was in town to see her new grandchild, and fell under conviction as the sermon was delivered. What a privilege to plunge her beneath baptismal waters yesterday as she publicly identified with Christ. She came to witness the physical birth of her grandchild on Friday, and we were able to witness her spiritual birth on Sunday. Praise the Lord!
The Lord sent the rain away just before the morning service concluded, and we were able to feed our Sunday morning crowd with a wonderful ham dinner in an efficient manner. What a joy to see how all the hands of Grace pitched in and reached out. I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful church!
And then there is the military ministry! Bob Ingram, on what should have been a down week, was able to minister to over 200 soldiers with 15 of them standing to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen again! This year our military outreach has ministered to 6775 soldiers with 1036 of them professing faith in Christ. Can you believe the way God has used the Freedom House to reach our servicemen? What a great privilege to watch this marvelous ministry in action week after week!
All totaled, this year's Christmas at Grace was attended by 1,440 people and 80 professions of faith were registered. Obviously, this makes the money, the effort, and the time all worth it. We praise God for another great year of blessings.
On top of all this, God allowed us to take on our 159th missionary on Wednesday night. Touch Keo was brought to Atlanta from Cambodia during the war as a nine-year-old child. Through a variety of circumstances, Touch found the Lord in Atlanta and made his way to California were he was discipled and trained for missionary service. He is now on his way back to Cambodia to present the Gospel of Jesus to his own people. We were privileged to add Touch, his lovely wife Debra, and their three well-behaved kids to our missionary family. What a blessing they were to our congregation!
Also this week, we celebrated the homegoing of Brother Bernard Chesire, who had been a member of our church board for over 55 years. Brother Chesire was saved from a life of alcohol back in mid fifties, and God changed his life completely. There were not many dry eyes as Brother Chesire was laid to rest Wednesday afternoon. But we are glad to report that one precious soul prayed to receive Christ during his memorial service. Praise the Lord!
Don't forget that the Sanctuary Choir of Grace Baptist Church will present their annual Christmas cantata this Sunday night. You won't want to miss it!
And on a personal note, please continue to pray for my dear mother as she recovers from major back surgery. The doctor said that if mom had waited much longer for the surgery, she would have been confined to a wheel chair. I am thankful that my wife Karen was able to travel to Ohio in order to help mom as she comes home from the hospital today.
I believe that your prayers have continued to make a life-changing impact on this ministry and this preacher. Please keep them up.