Creative Scribble

Regardless of what your junk mail folder tells you, size doesn't always matter.

In July of 2004 I preached my first ever sermon to a Sunday morning crowd. There were 19 people there that day at Friendship Church, including me and three people in the nursery. That’s right, 15 people heard me preach and three of those were first time visitors. Talk about scary. In about 17 short minutes I sped through a sermon that would have made an auctioneer proud. But that day changed the course of the rest of my life as I began feeling called away from worship leading and toward pastoring.

Less than two years later this church was booming. Gone were the days of 19 people as 214 crammed the little worship center for Easter in 2006. It wasn’t a one-hit wonder either as that spring’s attendance averaged 181. It was unbelievable to see what God was doing during that time and to see all the changed lives in the process. I was hooked. As the church continued to grow, Pastor Tim and I began dreaming about doing it again in another part of our city and seeing even more people reached for Christ.

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Now that dream is becoming a reality. Yesterday morning Friendship Church commissioned the launch team of OneLife Church and Pastor Tim knocked it out of the park. He cast a huge vision for trusting God in uncertain times and thinking beyond the scope of just one church in carrying out the Great Commission.

Of the sponsoring churches getting OneLife started, Friendship is by far the smallest in size. But that’s not stopping them from stepping up in a huge way to think beyond themselves. I haven’t been on staff there for about 18 months but was quickly reminded of all that God did for and through me there. It pumped me up to think about what may be in store next as more of His miracles happen through OneLife Church.