Fire!

Fire!

By Pastor Ellis White
Senior Pastor

“The fire alarm would have gone off on the Day of Pentecost, too!” was one of the many comments I heard after last Sunday. If you weren’t there, you probably heard about it, but just after I stepped up to preach, as I was beginning to read the scripture passage, the fire alarm went off. “What a day!” I exclaimed as we evacuated the building.

And it was an incredible day, to cap off an incredible week of celebrations. I was so pleased with the way we came together as a church to honor Pastor Mark and Cyndi and their legacy, with record breaking attendance, and a wonderful party on the Wednesday night. And then a service for the ages on Sunday as we transitioned from one Senior Pastor to the next, all while dealing with a fire alarm.

(In case you were wondering, no one pulled the alarm. It was actually due to an unexpected equipment malfunction, which occurred shortly after the routine annual fire alarm maintenance we conducted two days earlier. Rest assured, everything is now in working order, and we can look forward to uninterrupted, fire alarm-free services! A huge thank you to our team for handling the situation with such professionalism.)

This Sunday, we resume our series through the book of Acts. One of my hopes in this transition is that it would feel like we have lost no momentum moving from Pastor Mark to myself, and one of the ways we are going to do that is by continuing the sermon series the two of us started together back in April.

We left off the story of the early church at the end of Acts 7, with the martyr of Stephen. This kicked off the first wave of persecution of the church, with one of the ringleaders being a man we will get to know well: Saul, who later became Paul. But God used this persecution for his purposes—for the gospel to spread.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you need to be a professional to be used by God, tomorrow’s message will assure you that God wants to use everyone to spread the good news about Jesus everywhere. I’d love to see you in worship tomorrow, perhaps with a friend or neighbor that you’ve invited, as we begin this next season of life as a church, continuing to pursue our mission and vision together.

Pastor Ellis