Pure Freedom, Pure Joy!

Matthew Bruns's picture

Church,

I thought it would be pertinent to inform you about the wonderful things our God has done through Pure Freedom!  

First and foremost, let's give God all the glory and praise due for this wonderful event that we were so privileged to have a part in.  Through the efforts of our church and volunteers, we were able to see close to a dozen mothers and daughters give their lives to Christ and confess Him as Lord!  What a wonderful thing to see!  On top of that, there were nearly 850 mothers and daughters (not counting volunteers) who attended the event, many of whom committed their lives to seeking purity through Christ in their relationships and modeling purity to honor God with their lives.

As incredible as that event was, what is more incredible, is that in the words of Pastor Jimmy, "this small country church" was able to host, provide funding, volunteers, and care for those involved to the glory of God!  God did a mighty work through 30+ volunteers who had the faith the stand up and say, "Yes, Lord."  Through the faith demonstrated by all, God moved.  As if we should be surprised!  1 Thessalonians 5:24 states, "He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."

Which brings me to this:

A few years ago, former NFL head coach Dennis Green, in a pretty angry moment, made this statement after losing a close game to the Chicago Bears: "They are who we thought they were!"  He was speaking to the fact that the Chicago Bears were on a hot streak that season, and seemed to already have won the game before kickoff.  The media was speaking about how poorly Green's team had been playing, and as the game approached, it seemed a foregone conclusion they should lose.  But his team played a close game, yet, in the end, handed the win to the presupposed winners.  Green's team believed the Bears were a better team, and therefore, made them appear to be just that.

In our lives as the Church, we often will believe the lie that we are incapable of accomplishing great things.  That we are but a "small country church" who should keep to our humble roots.  But this is most certainly not what Jesus has told us.  In John 14:12, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."  Our faith in Christ is directly related to the works that we do.  Jesus has called us to great works; He has called us to spread the Gospel, to care for His Church.  He has faith in us, so we should have faith in Him to do the work he has called us to.

Moving forward at Suburban, let us remain focused on the Gospel!  Jesus has come to save sinners!  He has come for those who are cursed and gone astray! And let us maintain the faith that moved us in working for Pure Freedom.  It's not that we work together and accomplish great things, it's that we work together in faith in Christ and He will do great things in us!

 

I am so proud to serve at Suburban and know that both myself, and Pastor Todd, look forward to the great works Jesus has planned for us!  Our God is faithful and true, so let us be faithful!