At 7:04 am, I sent an email out to our Elders, Trustees, Deacons, Staff and Lead Team. I asked them to pray for our final inspections on the building project. I also shared these words from Psalm 90:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:1-2,17
Just 4 hours later, we had our CO (Certificate of Occupancy)! God is so good!
This Sunday, our worship services mark the beginning of a new season for our church. And worship is a fitting beginning. We give God all the praise as He has been our dwelling place, leading and guiding us to this exciting milestone. Our prayer is that this church will be a place that for generations will shine, inviting all to know the grace of Jesus, the light of the world.
At all of our services, you will receive a stone. Through the years, we have sung the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” which includes the phrase, “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ve come.” Ebenezer in Hebrew means “Stone of Help.” We have raised our Ebenezers on every stage of our church’s journey. Throughout scripture, people have stacked stones to remember God’s help and faithfulness on the journey. At the end of the service, we will all come forward with our Ebenezers to take communion. We will stack these stones to mark God’s incredible faithfulness to us in the past and for our future.
Many of you will be at the Open Houses and training sessions this weekend. As you are in the building and in worship, you will see that there are still some things to be finished. But I know we will all be so excited to be in our new church home together. There will be NO LIVESTREAM this week. Join us in person only this week. The livestream will resume next week.
Also, we will have a parking shuttle running from Northampton Community College J-LOT (accessed from Hecktown Road) from 7:30 am – 12:30 pm. Consider using this as we welcome many new guests this week.
We will have our Building Dedication on May 7th. More details about that next week. With expectation for all God will do!
Your pastor,
Dr. Marnie Crumpler
Senior Pastor