Soup and Sam (& other things I liked about Sunday)

Steve | February 8, 2010

Sundays keep getting better at Team Church!

Sam Kennington preached the last message of the InterFEARence series, and did a great job.  The Old Testament story of Elisha opening the eyes of his servant was a tremendous way to complete the series.  Not only has this series taught us to view our fears differently, but also this last message shows us how to turn the interference around…instead of things interfering with you…God interferes with the things that scare you!

Think about it.  If God were to pull back the spiritual veil that shrouds angels and demons, I imagine that we would faint from what we would see.  But the point is not that there are scarier things that we don’t even know to be scared of…the point is that God will win in the end!  Elisha’s prayer teaches us how to preemptively “run interference on FEAR.”

Another great moment about Sunday was the Souper Bowl of Caring...read what Scott reports:

Sunday, February 7th our local help agency K.A.R.E., Kershaw Area Resource Exchange, called for area churches to raise money and canned goods for the Souper Bowl of Caring, an annual event which raises resources to feed folks who are in need.  Team Church set a goal of $350 and 75 food goods (that’s about 10% of what they received last year).  We are so excited to report that we exceeded both goals!  Thanks to you we delivered to K.A.R.E. $383 and 130 food goods.  Way to go Team Church!

I also want you to know what an awesome time the band had yesterday evening.  Hyde Park Baptist Church’s youth pastor invited the Team Church band to play at their pre-game gathering.  Man! We had a blast.

Thanks to everyone at Team Church…you guys give us life to share!

What happens in the dark, stays in the dark?

Steve | October 6, 2009

I mentioned David Letterman’s admission on Sunday. Last weekend he admitted to being the target of an extortion plot, and then he confessed to (at least some of) the things the blackmailer had against him. Even if the suspect goes to prison, we all know that the info will eventually come out. Letterman knew that too, and went ahead and uncovered the secrets before someone else could.

Luke 12:2-3 NIV says…

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

We face temptation all the time to do things in secret, and then we believe the lie that they will stay hidden.

Our perspective is that what happens in the dark, stays in the dark.

To be more specific…

  • what happens behind a closed door, stays behind closed doors…
  • what happens at the office, stays at work…
  • what happens at school stays at school…
  • what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom…and so on

But God’s perspective is very different from ours. He knows all that we do and think. He even knows the motivations behind what we do and think. And yet, with all that dark data, He still loves us and pulls for us to pass the tests that come our way through temptation.

Giving in to temptation has serious, serious consequences!  And even Letterman faces that.  Not only did he have to face up to this extortioner, he also had to testify about all he had done in front of a grand jury.  And on top of that just last night he made another announcement on the subject.  This time it was an apology to his wife about the affairs.  He said that she had been horribly hurt, and that he had his work cut out for him to attempt to make it up.

What were we thinking the last time we gave in to temptation?  I’m sure we were not thinking of all the consequences we would face when the things we did in the dark finally come to light.