This is the second of two successful “sting operations” that Billy and I pulled off recently to bless some incredible moms in our church. 

And again, rather than try and say something profound, I think I’ll just let this video speak for itself.

Well, despite the hurricane force winds Saturday night, we had two great Mother’s Day services.  We thought we’d be down considerably, but surprisingly we had a remarkable turnout and amazing services on Sunday. 

One thing that stood out on Sunday though happened right before the pastor’s message. 

Earlier in the week, Billy and I went out on a few “sting operations” to bless some incredible moms in our church. 

And in the process, we made sure to capture their responses on video as they discovered a $1,000 check from the church. 

Rather than try to say anything else, I’ll let the videos speak for themselves. 

Here’s the first one, and I’ll post the second one in a my next post.

Yesterday, I talked about how great Sunday was for us as a church. 

What I didn’t tell you was that Sunday was a special day for me personally as well.  It was special to me because my son, Micah, got baptized during one of our Easter services.

And being the proud father that I am, I thought I would post a couple of pictures today. 

But before I do, I thought I’d give you a little context. 

On Easter Sunday, the water in the baptistery was freezing cold.  And by freezing, I mean “white water rapids” cold.  It was unbelievable.  We had some sort of malfunction during the week and as a result, the water was nowhere near its usual, warm temperature. 

And not only that, somehow during the second service, the water was accidentally drained from the baptistery and we had to fill it up again at the last minute, which made it even colder.

So, all week I’d been telling him that the water would be warm and I would take care of him, only to find out that very morning that the water would actually be freezing cold.

We actually told Micah that the water was cold and that if he wanted to wait another week, then that would be fine with us, but he was ready to do it, and we obviously had no objections.

So Easter Sunday, my eight year old boy go baptized and all of Heaven and Southside celebrated. 

“Dad, the water is freezing!”

My buddy and me

“Mom, quit taking pictures!   I need a towel!”

If for some reason, you missed Easter at Southside, you need to know that you missed one of the most incredible days in the history of our church.

I’m not exaggerating…it was a great day! 

Here’s why yesterday was such a great day:

• Our volunteers went above and beyond the call of duty.  We have the most amazing servants on the planet!  I am so proud of all of you who made Easter such a huge success yesterday.  (And by the way, our guests were absolutely blown away!) 
• Our music was first class.  I can’t imagine worshipping anywhere else. 
• Our pastor was on his game.  Take a listen here.
• Our crowds were enormous.  We had over 3,500 people on our campus in our three services.  We’ve never had more people on our campus for any Sunday in the history of our church.  Wow!

So I would just like to say, “Thank you!”  Thank you for showing up early ready to help.  Thank you for inviting your friends.  Thank you for celebrating the baptisms with thunderous applause.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Every once in a while, I get an e-mail that is so encouraging and inspiring that I have to share it with others.  Today I want to share one of those e-mails.  But before I share it with you, I need to set it up with a brief explanation. 

Jump Start is a creative, 30-minute presentation for parents and kids where we talk about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is an opportunity for us to both talk to kids about what it means to give their lives to Jesus, as well as to help parents understand how to lead their child to Christ.    

I am convinced that just as most parents want to be there when their child takes their first steps physically, they also would like to be there when their child takes their first steps in following Jesus.  Unfortunately, most parents just don’t have the confidence to do so.  Jump Start is a place where they can discover that it’s not that complicated and any parent can do it.

Just so you know, we make sure that every parent knows that if they do need help in leading their child to Christ, we will be there to help them.  And after a parent leads their child to Christ, I still personally meet with every child that claims Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior just to make sure that they understand what it means. 

Ok, now for the e-mail.  Check this out.  I love it!  (And in case you’re wondering, yes, I have permission to share this!) 

Hi Matt!

I just wanted to take a minute to share with you…Luke just couldn’t wait – he got saved tonight. I am so happy that I was able to be courageous ( I think I was more nervous than he was!) and watch him take those first steps of his spiritual journey, as you mentioned last night.

I have to share his bedtime prayer last night – after Jumpstart…he said “ Dear God, I had a really good time at church tonight, I liked going to Mr Matt’s office and I hope I get to be a part of your family real soon. Amen.”

So, when we got home from school today, I saw him on the couch reading the brochure you gave us last night. I sat down with him and he answered every question on the handout perfectly. When I got home from Ladies Bible Study, I was putting the kids to bed and we got ready for prayers and he started to pray and stopped and said “ mom, where’s that Jumpstart paper? I want to pray that prayer on the back and get saved”

We talked about the fact that praying the prayer didn’t save you, and he said I know – you have to believe and receive! I felt very strongly he was ready and so we prayed the suggested prayer by his bed. I wish you could have seen the smile on his face when he opened his eyes. He called his dad and grandparents, - so excited. I was trying to get him to calm down and go to sleep at almost 10:00, and he was laying there saying “ I’m going to tell my teacher and Tyler, and my AWANA teacher and my basketball coach, and…”

I am so excited for him, and I just wanted to say a special thank you to you for making the children’s ministry here at Southside so fun and powerful for the kids. I know what an instrumental part you and the Fusion and AWANA ministry has played in his recent interest in becoming a Christian. I so appreciate that yall don’t hoard kids off in groups to repeat words they may not even understand. I have been in churches before where I was actually scared for my kids to go to children’s church for that very reason.

Luke comes home every Sunday talking about the “virtue” and it is so great to have a church family reinforcing what we are teaching at home. We still plan to come and talk to you tomorrow at the scheduled time, so you can talk with him and review.

Thanks again!

Laura 

Isn’t that like the best e-mail you’ve ever read?  I just had to share it!  And in case you’re wondering, the next Jump Start is Monday night, March10th, from 6:30-7:00 p.m., in the Fusion Building.