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 7^th 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!

I am no meteorologist, but I have learned a few things about the weather over the course of my life.  We don’t get much snow in these parts.  We reside geographically behind a mountain range that “protects” us from most of the snow that seems to hit all around us.  So most of those cold fronts slap on the west side of the mountains and get mixed with the warmer sub-tropical air that moves up from the coast making it just warm enough so that usually the only precipitation we see is rain.  Rain, rain, and more rain.  It is raining as I type this now and the temperature is a balmy 39 degrees.  Just warm enough to make sure it is rain and not snow.  Just enough to tick me off.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Rain is of vital importance.  It provides us with much needed water.  It makes things grow.  It washes away decay and keeps the pollen at bay in the spring.  All of these are good things.  But rain is hard.  It makes me feel blue especially when it seems to rain on and on like it has these past couple of weeks.

So the trials of life are kind of like rain.  They are hard to cope with even when we know they are good for us.  Unfortunately rain is good.  And just as unfortunately, trials can be good.  Rain provides our need for water.  Trials provide our need for faith.  Rain provides growth.  Trials are the breeding ground for growth.  Rain cleanses the earth.  Trials can cleanse away the awful baggage some of us have been carrying for years because we are forced to face things we have been avoiding.

God sends rain and I believe God sends trials.  He wants the earth and everything in it (which includes you and me) to be fruitful and multiply.  Yes, rain and trials can both be hard to stomach especially when either of them seem to last forever.  But the rewards we see at the end of the “storm” make it all worthwhile.

On the Journey with You,

Scott

Just like every other church, I was concerned about how the weather would impact Sunday.  Strangely enough, the weather that kept many church doors closed opened up several opportunities for Team Church.

First of all, we took the chance to do an early setup.  On Saturday, many of our regular setup crew showed up and really showed out!  They even came up with a new way to arrange the worship area.  I doubt that we would have considered making such a drastic change on a Sunday morning.  But on Saturday, we felt more at ease to try something new, and it turned out great.  Nothing slows these guys down…you’re beasts!

Secondly, we still showed up at 8am on Sunday, and had lots more time to fellowship, and enjoy a little Bojangles together.  We can always use more time to hang out like that!  I also personally enjoyed getting chauffeured by the awesome Doug in his all-wheel drive.  You are the man even when you don’t have to be.

Finally, worship was incredible.  At first, you may think that only a handful of people would turn out…but we ended up with 66.  Also, several were visiting from other churches that had canceled services.  Man, that’s what it is all about!  What a reminder about the kingdom. We not only got the privilege of serving the folks who call Team Church home, but we got to give a little to the folks who are always busy serving others.  I’m glad to see that it wasn’t just about a day-off for them, but about getting themselves spiritually re-charged.

If you missed out on the service, trust me, it’s okay.  At Team Church, we simply leave it up to you about whether it’s safe for you to make the service or not.  That answer is different for everyone depending on their where they live, roads, kids, and other important factors.  So, even if you couldn’t be there, I hope that you’re proud to be a part of the special things that can happen when we team up.

If you would like to hear the second message in the InterFEARence series from Sunday morning, it’s available online at our website’s message archive section.  Click here to see the available messages.

It is hard for me to say anything good about harmony. Trying to achieve it is not a lot of fun. Think about harmony in a song. Any of you who have ever tried to sing know that it is much more difficult to sing harmony than melody. Plus melody gets all the glory. I mean that part is the lead! Harmony is just in the background making sure everything is knitted together to sound just right. Hmm, no glory, in the background, sounds strangely familiar…

Mark 10:43-44 says, “instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” So hang out in the background, don’t look for the spotlight, do whatever is asked of you in the service of God. Have I been living up to this? Is God the foundation of my actions? Do I sprinkle in my own self-interest from time to time? No, no and absolutely!

Living down in the servant’s quarters with a servant’s heart is hard, but apparently it is worth it. I think we should all commit to putting aside our own agendas each day whether it be at work, at home, at school or church and let God determine the agenda. I am pretty sure that if we just reach out to each other in love, the agenda will take care of itself. I look forward to that day.

On the Journey with You,
Scott