Seek and Find

We had an amazing time of worship as a congregation at the West Club campus this past Sunday. I'm not sure that I can ever put it into words. So many things set it apart from other Sunday mornings.

The worship through music. The choice of songs/lyrics was amazing. We sang the gospel so many times. I got lost in the moment several times as if it were just me and Jesus. A few times I let myself enjoy the corporate voice of the whole congregation. I was sitting in front of a friend of mine who has an amazing voice. I have never heard him sing so loudly as he did this Sunday morning. I can't be sure of why he sang with such passion but I speculate it was his rest and freedom in his Savior.

The company. I got to sit with one of my roommates and one of my students whom I trust will one day bow with me as we worship our Lord together in eternity. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20) There were also people near me who have not yet trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. My heart was broken as we sang and heard words of truth that their eyes are still blinded to. Lord, please open their eyes to You.

The sermon. You can listen to it here (I highly recommend it!). Two things really stood out to me from the sermon.

The first was our lineage as a church. J.D. started with Acts 1:8 and walked us through until present day. You can see the time line on his blog here. I started getting excited when he mentioned the first church plant in NC. And again when he mentioned Sandy Creek - I knew about that one from my time at SEBTS, we had a Sandy Creek Revival week every year. Then as he got closer to the time that I started attending and serving at The Summit Church I could barely contain myself. God has me HERE, NOW! It is absolutely amazing. And when I think of my own journey getting here... God is so good, and what He does is good (Psalm 119:68).

The second was a passage he read in Acts 17. I can't remember what part he read specifically but I have been meditating on 22-28a over the past few days. I can't get it out of my head. It is so appropriate for the circumstances I currently find myself in. To know that I am where I am because God has purposed it... in order that others may seek Him and reach out to Him and find Him... to know that is such a comfort for me. And as I have friends who are currently overseas or preparing to go, I am ecstatic as some of them will get to speak as Paul spoke declaring for the first time who the unknown God is. Oh, God would you make ripe the fields for harvest and bring many into Your kingdom for Your glory.

Acts 17:22-28a

22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.'

God, You are the maker and sustainer of heaven and earth. Make Yourself known to those who do not yet know You. Speak Your Truth through Your children and to Your children. I love you. May my life bring glory to Your name. Amen.