Grace Goes Public: A Reflection on Our First Service

October 1, 2012

Yesterday we celebrated our first public service of worship at Grace Community. It took place at Ashford Park. The weather was dreary but the atmosphere filled with light.

At the end of our dinners at home we have “high/low.” We speak of the thing that blessed us the most and the thing that disappointed us the most during the day. We begin with “lows” and end with “highs” believing there is always more to be grateful for than to lament. In that vein, I reflect on our first service.

Candor? I was disappointed (somewhat and short-lived) not to see many folks that I anticipated coming, both supporters and folks engaged in Grace Community. However, this is me getting ahead of the Lord. His timing is always perfect and consequently far better than mine. Finally, it is pride. I also failed to take a single photo or video during the service. Kristen managed to get a few of the children’s artwork. Consolation? When push comes to shove it is better to love on people present than be overly concerned about making our service accessible to those on-line.

Now for the highs. The service was amazing. With children there were some 85 souls there. For many, this was their first experience of Grace. Four families came through direct invitations of those actively involved in our fellowship. Two want to attend our Monday night study. Praise the Lord!

The King’s Kids lead all the musical aspects of worship and performed their “What Christ Sees in You” skit. They accounted for more than half of all the people present. They exceeded all expectations as to attendance and worship. As to the latter, they always do. They hit a high water level with the addition of Liz, a talented 15 year old violinist. All are talented but they lead well because they are actually worshiping. They are blessed with great adult leaders too. Thanks in particular to Bobby, Nan, and Bill.

The message was sound and touched souls that had not experienced grace enough of late. The message is about 20 minutes in length and can be heard here: http://gracecommunityatl.org/2012/10/01/we-are-grace-community/. During the sermon the children were discipled well by Sandra Corner and Jordan Mallory. See their handiwork to the right.

Having broken bread together at the Lord’s Table we concluded the afternoon with fellowship and a hot dog supper. Children enjoyed the Park in spite of the steady rain. A good time was had by all.

There are many ways in which to measure something. But my last word is that the entire afternoon was imbued with GRACE. That was the ball we teed up. With His help, I think we got a lot of wood on it.