Our Christmas Service

The balance of the past week was put primarily into prep for the Christmas service. Thanks to all of you who helped in prayer for this activity. We were blessed with a really tremendous evening. Our high attendance for a single service – probably high for a weekend, too – somewhere around 100 showed up. Couple professors, several long-absent friends, and a whole bunch of first-timers came along. The building was just about full – we were absolutely out of chairs (or anything resembling one) and house shoes. But the space still seemed quite comfortable, temperature didn’t get out of control or anything (helps when it’s well below freezing outside).

To tell the truth, our attendance was not what made me most nervous about trying to have the biggest activity we’d ever had – it was our programs. I just wasn’t sure if we would be able to have a bunch of our own special music, performances, or activities that would really be remarkable. I think that’s a big deal, too, because that’s kind of the whole point of a big activity, isn’t it? Promote like crazy, bring in a bunch of people, and leave them with a good impression of our church, and more importantly, the Gospel. Not too awfully realistic to hope for major life change in an hour-or-two-long service. But if they hear the Gospel and enjoy their connection with the church, you might see them again. So I was plenty afraid (and only time will really tell) that we would have an attendance number that would thrill us, but a program that would bore them to death when they got there.

O, me of little faith! The students did a fantastic job – far exceeded my expectations. A bunch of special music, one girl did a monologue, and the guys led some games that were really a lot of fun (not just “church-fun,” which I think we all understand). Showed a video of my wife’s three brothers singing in the States, and I preached for about fifteen minutes towards the end of the night to finish up (I think) our “Invasion” series. Had some sundaes at the end of the night (which shattered the mental box that so many of these students had built around the concept of ice cream – hallelujah liberation) and some of our girls killed themselves trying to serve ice cream to all those people! The Lord is really building Himself a church – it is so exciting to be part of the lives of all these students that He is bringing together to spread His glory!