What a fantastic Sunday! Yes, I say that often but I believe it most often as well. Before we get to what all happened on Sunday I would like to congratulate the Marks family. Nathan Marks was baptized last Thursday during our service. Nathan is such a sweet and respectful young man. We are very excited he went public with his faith through baptism.
On Sunday morning we continued our series in Matthew. We came to the end of Matthew 5 and learned about what it really means to be a neighbor. I was shocked when I played an audio clip of the opening song to Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and only about 25% of the congregation recognized it. Jesus taught during the sermon on the mount that we should love our neighbors AND our enemies. We often place people in a third category that is neither of those. Jesus would tell us to see all people as our neighbor and love them by wanting their best.
Sunday night was off the hook awesome! We had the blessing service for the Canfield Family. Everyone of us left blessed. God demonstrated His love to this wonderful family and allowed us to be His vessels to carry it to them! We were all reminded of how blessed we are to have one another. Robert and Kelli are selfless servants and would serve even without a “thank you”.
A commemorative sword with the words “his hand clave unto the sword” was presented to Robert. It represents Robert’s dedication to the Word as Eleazar was committed to his sword in 1 Samuel 23:10. Kelli was presented with a “Blessing Box”. We had all written letters and placed it in the box in advance. Our hopes are that on the dark days of life they will be encouraged by reading the letters. We had videos sent in from missionaries representing nearly 20 different countries! The testimonies given were some of the most incredible testimonies I have ever heard.
In addition to all these things we had a big surprise gift for them at the end of the service! In about 72 hours, mostly through a private group on Facebook, the Elzey family collected roughly $3500. We are sending the Canfields on a Disney Cruise this fall! This family is so vital and special to our church. Kelli overcomes many challenges to help with the administrative oversight of Vision Baptist Missions. You should read her blog at http://www.hisstrengthmyweakness.com. Robert’s dedication to the Lord is expressed in a dozen different ways throughout the week as he serves as our pastor’s personal, our Children’s Pastor, director of the Our Generation Training Center, and a friend always on call to help everyone in the church. He is a fantastic father, a Bible driven preacher, and one of the best friends I have ever had! Sunday night was just simply awesome!!