To the Lifespring family – you are all amazing. From the pastoral team – we thank you and love you all so much.
I wanted to simply give a short word of encouragement to this church family. Ever since Adrian and Pastor Alvin have showed us what it means to walk in transparency – revealing our weaknesses so that God can be glorified – it has truly been an amazing journey to see God work through the lives of the people of Lifespring.
I saw a picture of Andrew without a beard and I couldn’t even recognize him. He was just a punk kid – now the leader of our youth and a Christian psychotherapist.
I think of Joe – lying on the grass for hours when God first encountered him – now an elder.
I think of Rodney – lining up for prayer twice, because 1 prayer was not good enough – now an elder.
I think of Sam – a little girl who fasted tv once in Overflow so she sat backwards during a movie – now on the Board of Directors.
I think of Peggy – came into the basement here at Lifespring, so broken with Ray – now on the Board of Directors and a LifeGroup leader.
I think of Dan – steady and faithful where God has worked in him and through him – now a lifegroup leader.
I could keep going on and on. Many have matured in faith over time and some needed miracles – but God has worked in every single one of us.
God has worked in our weaknesses for His Name’s Sake. For His glory. But I hear the Lord say, “I am not done yet”. Your growth, maturity, and testimony is just the beginning. Like David who defeated lions and bears in his youth – those were merely stepping stones to the purposes and plans that God had over his life. To be a high priest, to be a King, to be the bloodline that brings the Messiah – Jesus Christ here on earth.
You may not feel like the best Lifegroup leader, the best deacon, the most worthy worship leader – you may have moments of I am not good enough. That’s ok – because God is not done yet.
You volunteer at Lifespring, but this is also a place where the presence of God is working in you. God will work in you while He works through you. As much as you give – know that God is giving in you as well. When God works in you – it begins to burn away our evil desires and we become a little bit more like Jesus.
Your time at Lifespring – consider it the lions and bears that David faced. It is merely a stepping stone towards the purposes and plans that God has for you.
I know how amazing you are – I see it first-hand. But my encouragement to you is to go be contagious. With the Holy Spirit in you, infect others with confidence, love, compassion, encouragement. You are contagious.
If you get covid, you are told to what? Isolate.
Kingdom is pretty different – you are infected and consumed by the Holy Spirit – go to the ends of the earth and be contagious.
I see the Kingdom of God here inside our walls at Lifespring. The world needs this too.