Yesterday was the first ever worship gathering of browns mill church. What a day! It was so exciting to see months of preparation and planning pay off with the birth of a brand new work of God in Coweta County. We had 47 adults and 28 children who attended for a total of 75 on our first Sunday. In addition, we were blessed with an absolutely astounding amount of giving without even passing the offering basket (our offering basket is on a back table). However, the most exciting part about the day was the fact that this church is returning to the original mission that Jesus gave His Church–to make disciples.

Tim did not sugar coat the truth in his message. It was a clear call to surrender from Luke 9:23. The Church in America has a love affair with “victory.” We teach on having victory in our finances, our marriage, our thought life, our parenting. The list could go on and on. But what Jesus values most is surrender. He wants all of us. The truth is that following Jesus is difficult. It is sometimes painful. It can be lonely. But there is nothing that compares to living a life of total surrender to the will and ways of Jesus. It is a life of abandonment, risk and adventure! Although it is not a “seeker-sensitive” message in the traditional sense, we believe that there is nothing that would speak to the heart of the seeker than this.

After we packed everything into the trailer and sloshed home through the rain, Suzanne and I crashed on the couch for an hour or so. It had been a long couple of weeks with nights filled with projects–building a projection screen out of PVC and a king-sized bed sheet, ironing a dozen bed sheets for the preschool pipe & drape walls, and many other miscellaneous tasks. It was both exhausting and exhilarating at the same time!