What's New With Desire Church
It has been a true joy to see Desire Church planted in our pastor's heart and now being fleshed out here in South Florida. We don't claim to be the perfect church, have it all together, or think we're super cool because we're a church plant. However, we do claim to follow Jesus Christ, mess up, and need grace! A lot of grace. God is moving in big and small ways, as He does best. It's definitely not easy. Sometimes I sit and reflect on my past experiences in church and I'm still amazed by this adventure we are on. We live in such an interesting town. I'd say there are close to as many nationalities living here as there will be in heaven! It's nice to walk in to Wal-Mart and not feel the sting of culture-shock any more! Life is just a precious gift. I'm reminded of this each morning that I find our sweet Jude jumping in his crib. God's glory is everywhere! Personally, I'm humbled to be a part of this church family. I don't know how long we will be here but I hope that I can be truly thankful for each day that we are a part of this journey. I recognize that it's impossible to document each person or thing that God has left his handprint on, but I just want to try! His glory is all around us! (You, too!)
We've seen neighbors, co-workers, new friends, and old friends start to show interest in Jesus! It's such an honor to simply love on people around us. We have the light of the world, the ability in Jesus to "set crooked paths straight" as Jerel reminded us in his sermon. Through inviting friends over for dinner, playing tennis, helping a neighbor with a ladder, or befriending a teenager we see walking the streets, we get to share life with people who don't know Jesus. Our church has tried to continue to focus on loving our community, the people we are around each day! For example, a few weeks ago Blake and I had a special gathering at our house to say goodbye to one of his Lowe's coworkers, Harold. Harold moved to Columbia for a new job and requested to come over to our house again before he left. We were honored to have him over with a group of Blake's friends from work. One friend said that she's never felt so much love in one house... that's Jesus. Jesus was at our table eating pizza and cookie cake with us. Jesus was there listening to one couple's marriage problems, allowing Blake and I to be honest about our struggles. Jesus was there when they screamed and cried over that horrible soccer game. Jesus allowed us to extend grace, mercy, and unconditional love for these new faces. I'd be a fool to think that it has anything to do with me. They begged us to play some piano, guitar, and to sing so we played a few worship songs for them. I pray that those words spoke life, hope, and joy into their current struggles. Jesus is alive.
On another note, (no pun intended) I have loved being able to play keyboard on Sunday mornings! We've seen some wonderful and talented musicians come and go lately so I kept putting a bug in Blake's ear that I'd love to play some piano! There's a lot of patience required while any church makes a financial decision... soooo about six moths later we have a keyboard! I was very apprehensive about playing the keyboard for many reasons. There's a part of my heart and soul that is connected to music. I think we can all relate to that. Mostly I was nervous because it has been a while since I've sung and played, even though I play our piano at home daily. I was also nervous because in the past I've been really insecure about how my "by-ear and chord chart" skills sound. I was afraid to really develop that talent the Lord had given me because I compared my gift to others who play better than I do. However, the biggest reason that I was reluctant to play the keyboard over the past few years is because it always brought stress to our marriage. Weird, huh?
See, Blake and I are both very passionate about music and when you don't agree or mix insecurities with leading worship, it creates a big mess. For example, I never practiced enough, was confident enough, or felt comfortable with chord sheets until the past year. It takes hard work, communication, and dedication to play the piano right. It also takes hard work, communication, and dedication to be married and be honest with one another. Worship is our life, the music part of worship is a creative art that we take seriously. Sometimes we overcomplicate and try to control musical worship in the church too much. I pray that we never focus on ourselves and that we welcome God's Holy Spirit to overwhelm us! I'm so thankful for God's unfailing love and grace in this situation. Where there used to be this stain of stress, fear, and anger while we led worship together (who knew, haha?!) there is now freedom, grace, and joy! It's more of a joy to play together than it ever has been! We all have areas in our life where God wants to heal, grow, renew, and rise up! Resurrect from the dead! Hallelujah, He didn't give up on me and my little piano drama.
Serving one another. May we never forget to be like Jesus and serve those around us that need the love of Christ. Also, may we never forget to serve our body of believers. As we were reminded in the past few sermons, we all have spiritual gifts that God has given us and wants us to use! Our week as a Desire Church family starts by setting out the church road signs on Saturday. I know it's no easy task for these men to wake up, leave their Saturday morning comforts of home, and set out 5-10 road signs in this Florida heat. Thanks guys. Thank you for serving our church in this way.
We've seen neighbors, co-workers, new friends, and old friends start to show interest in Jesus! It's such an honor to simply love on people around us. We have the light of the world, the ability in Jesus to "set crooked paths straight" as Jerel reminded us in his sermon. Through inviting friends over for dinner, playing tennis, helping a neighbor with a ladder, or befriending a teenager we see walking the streets, we get to share life with people who don't know Jesus. Our church has tried to continue to focus on loving our community, the people we are around each day! For example, a few weeks ago Blake and I had a special gathering at our house to say goodbye to one of his Lowe's coworkers, Harold. Harold moved to Columbia for a new job and requested to come over to our house again before he left. We were honored to have him over with a group of Blake's friends from work. One friend said that she's never felt so much love in one house... that's Jesus. Jesus was at our table eating pizza and cookie cake with us. Jesus was there listening to one couple's marriage problems, allowing Blake and I to be honest about our struggles. Jesus was there when they screamed and cried over that horrible soccer game. Jesus allowed us to extend grace, mercy, and unconditional love for these new faces. I'd be a fool to think that it has anything to do with me. They begged us to play some piano, guitar, and to sing so we played a few worship songs for them. I pray that those words spoke life, hope, and joy into their current struggles. Jesus is alive.
On another note, (no pun intended) I have loved being able to play keyboard on Sunday mornings! We've seen some wonderful and talented musicians come and go lately so I kept putting a bug in Blake's ear that I'd love to play some piano! There's a lot of patience required while any church makes a financial decision... soooo about six moths later we have a keyboard! I was very apprehensive about playing the keyboard for many reasons. There's a part of my heart and soul that is connected to music. I think we can all relate to that. Mostly I was nervous because it has been a while since I've sung and played, even though I play our piano at home daily. I was also nervous because in the past I've been really insecure about how my "by-ear and chord chart" skills sound. I was afraid to really develop that talent the Lord had given me because I compared my gift to others who play better than I do. However, the biggest reason that I was reluctant to play the keyboard over the past few years is because it always brought stress to our marriage. Weird, huh?
See, Blake and I are both very passionate about music and when you don't agree or mix insecurities with leading worship, it creates a big mess. For example, I never practiced enough, was confident enough, or felt comfortable with chord sheets until the past year. It takes hard work, communication, and dedication to play the piano right. It also takes hard work, communication, and dedication to be married and be honest with one another. Worship is our life, the music part of worship is a creative art that we take seriously. Sometimes we overcomplicate and try to control musical worship in the church too much. I pray that we never focus on ourselves and that we welcome God's Holy Spirit to overwhelm us! I'm so thankful for God's unfailing love and grace in this situation. Where there used to be this stain of stress, fear, and anger while we led worship together (who knew, haha?!) there is now freedom, grace, and joy! It's more of a joy to play together than it ever has been! We all have areas in our life where God wants to heal, grow, renew, and rise up! Resurrect from the dead! Hallelujah, He didn't give up on me and my little piano drama.
After that, a group of men start setting up the worship set around 8:00 on Sunday mornings at Chapel Trail Elementary School. Sometimes I just smile on my way to church (and sweat haha) as I pass all the palm trees; I just never thought I'd be living here! Lights, sound, cables, Bibles, info cards, pens, chairs, decorations, coffee, water, children's supplies, instrument cases, etc. All of these material things are prepared with expectant hearts that Christ will be seen, that his glory will be shown and that we can receive each individual with grace and love that comes through our doors. He deserve our worship, nothing and no one else does! We gather and welcome new friends as we corral what feels like a herd of children! We certainly have an abundance of precious children to minister too. We've been taking children's ministry seriously over the past few months and are getting ready to introduce some organizational changes to ensure that our children are taken care of and hearing all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. It's exciting! We celebrate Jesus through songs, prayer, preaching, and fellowship. I enjoy chasing my little dude around as he dominates the chairs, stairs, and anything else dangerous that he can find. Haha!
As the week continues, a large group of men meet in our sunroom on Monday to pray, reflect on the service, and study God's word. We want to be a church that equips leaders to grow so, the men preach to each other and give constructive criticism. It's a unique time of fellowship. They sacrifice a huge chunk of their evenings to gather and listen as the Holy Spirit guides our church leadership! We want to be sensitive to what God wants us to do! This is His church.
We also have small groups that meet during the week! We hang out, hug, discuss the sermon, study the Bible, pray, eat, drink yummy coffee that is percolated, chase children around, and always get rained on. Every week. Good ol' Florida storms. We have two small groups currently meeting and we hope to have more soon. Our small group has grown into a little family. We've had three people come that didn't know the Lord and now, two of those people are getting baptized. Did you catch that...BAPTIZED! They had so many questions about Jesus, it was humbling and sobering to hear their enthusiasm and longing to know more about God. Amazing! They accepted Jesus! Two men, Carlos and Eddie have passed from darkness into light. They have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. He gives us life, grace, and sustaining hope!!!!
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