By Tim White
Once upon a time in the far away land of Honduras. There lived a family of missionaries who lived one mile from the City Dump. There was a daddy missionary, a mommy missionary and a baby missionary. Everywhere they went in the city of Tegucigalpa there was a traffic jam. The baby missionary did not like this at all and used to cry when he got frustrated waiting in the car which seemed to hardly ever move. Then one day one of their missionary friends suggested that they listen to a Bible Story CD in the car that would entertain and inspire them all. So, they listened to it the next time they were caught in a traffic jam. They all just loved the Bible story which was one of the greatest stories they had ever heard. They were all so happy. When they met their missionary friends again (who were our own church’s Gibson family) they thanked them for loaning them the CD and said “who was that telling the stories?” The Gibson family laughed and laughed at the Diaz family and said, “that is your own G.P. (Grand Pa).”
That silly story was true, and it illustrates how important the great stories of Scripture are to all of us at every age. We are starting a new series this summer entitled The Greatest Stories Ever Told. Each week you are going to hear a moving testimony of how Grace has transformed the life of someone in our church family. I have asked our Music Team to raise the bar on having the wow factor in every worship service because we want to sense the “Presence of God” in each service. Then the Teaching Pastor is going to tell a twenty-minute Bible story, giving it everything they have; always with one powerful point. This week I am starting with the story of Moses and teaching us the profound meaning of “stand still and see the glory of the Lord.” If you want to bring your kids to church they will love it. But as you know Children’s and Youth Ministry is always great. Moses has been pointed to as a likely candidate for telling the story of Genesis, so we are starting with the story of Moses; but the point is that the Bible is a collection of funny, exciting stories that have been passed down from generation to generation with insights that our society, our families and our church desperately needs to hear. And yes, you will be able to download the stories and play them in the car for your kids or yourself to reboot the inspiration in your life.
Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White
PS: Don’t forget this week we are beginning our Summer worship with all services in the Spirit Falls Sanctuary. The times are Saturday night at 5:30 pm, Sunday morning at 9:00 am, and Sunday morning at 11:00 am. Join in our “Happy Hour” of fellowship and refreshments on the South Patio of Spirit Falls every Sunday throughout the summer.