18 Months

18 Months ago, September 15, 2013 I preached a sermon from 1 Kings 18.  It was the story of the Prophet Elijah confronting the wicked King Ahab.  Along the way he meets Obadiah.  Obadiah is trying to stay in the middle.  He is trying to appease the wicked king as well as honor God by protecting God’s prophets.  Elijah was direct in dealing with the king.  Elijah didn’t fear man…only God.  When I preached from this passage I was in the midst of an 11-day fast.  At the conclusion of the sermon, I called for the people of the church to come forward and pray with me that we would be like Elijah and not like Obadiah.  It was a moving thing to see over 2 dozen people down front crying out to God for His work at Cresset.  God had burned in my heart that He was doing a new work in our midst.

The next 4 months were difficult.  Some of the same people who had prayed for God to move were not happy with how God was moving.  We began to see new faces coming, lives changed, and a transformation in our church.  Through those months, some people left and went to other churches.  However, since that time we have had 58 new members in our church.  In a couple of weeks we will baptize a few more people, bringing the total number baptized to 32.  We have also sent out 5 people from our ministry to serve the Lord in other places!  All of this in the past 18 months.  God has been faithful to build His Kingdom here at Cresset.  He has moved in mighty ways in our children’s ministry, student ministry, young adult ministry, women’s ministry, and our school ministry.  It has not been without challenges.  I have learned in 17 years of ministry that when God is working, the evil one is working as well.

I am thankful for the privilege to serve the Lord here at Cresset.  I am thankful for the army of His servants who labor here as well!  It is a joy to see so many use their talents to build up the body of believers at Cresset.  I just celebrated my 6 year anniversary as pastor at Cresset.  God is doing new things.  He has birthed a new vision in our hearts.  He has called us to reach those who are broken, and see Jesus bring healing to their life.  We have many stories to celebrate the healing that Jesus has brought!  There was a time that Cresset set out to reach “those who are basically satisfied with their station in life.”  I am thankful that He is now calling us to walk as Jesus did…reaching those who need hope and healing in their lives.

Will you join us in thanking God for His work?  Will you join us in reaching people for Jesus?