Building Tomorrow Today

I will utter hidden things, things from of old- what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Psalm 78:2-7

The above verses from Psalm 78 opened a very exciting church service last week in which we celebrated the ground breaking for a new children and youth wing at our church. And what an amazing "standing order" we are charged with ~ to teach our children, so they can in turn pass on to their children "the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord...so they may put their trust in God"!

The church is already quite big and beautiful, but we are outgrowing a number of the school age classrooms. For example, we sit at child size tables in my classroom, which for my kindergarten students is no big deal at all. However if they had a full sized adult teacher {there's a hint of a joke there in case the humor didn't translate to text :-) } this would be more of a problem. I find the kids respond so much better to the lessons and the invitation to submit prayer requests when I am sitting with them, instead of talking over them (so I gladly scrunch up my knees and sit with them every Wednesday night). There just isn't room in the classroom, and all the classrooms have their own space concerns, for normal sized seating for 20+ students and many of the other learning materials we would love to have in place there.

Also, the only praise and worship area that our teens and crossroad age groups have is in the gym where the music bounces off the walls. It will be an awesome blessing to their ministry and every young person who steps into our church to be ministered to, for them to have their own auditorium for services!

 I didn't get very many (or any) good pictures of the actual ground breaking ceremony outside. I was standing around the perimeter of the building lines with a sign to show where my future Kindergarten classroom will be.


 Running up to me with our sign.


 Oh no, our construction hats are blowing away! It was a really windy, chilly night.


 The children's choir sang during the service. This is the best attitude these little girls could pull off :-)
They're singing: Oh No, No, No, don't build your house upon the shifting sand, when the rains of life come pouring in, those walls will never staaaaaaaand! Gonna build my house {gonna build my house}, on the Rock {the solid rock}.



I remember during the celebration of our Pastor and his wife's 35th anniversary of ministry at our church a story being told about how when they first came to serve at our church she was the main Sunday School teacher for all the children of the church. They had a small downstairs classroom that often flooded when it rained. She would have her students sit on the stairs leading up out of their classroom in order to hold lessons on those mornings. Certainly not the most ideal conditions for planting seeds of God's love in the hearts of these children. But, wow, how encouraging to see how God has rewarded her faithfulness and the faithfulness of others in the church! To see the church grow from that time when she was the primary teacher, to where it is now with several teachers offering several different opportunities for times of learning throughout the week to several hundred children is nothing short of a miracle.

At this same time I think about my parent's church and the new growth they are being blessed with there as well. They are a younger, growing church that has just received a more permanent location for their church home. It's not the permanent location, but as Pastor Rob would say it is without a doubt a "game changing moment" for their wonderful, young church. I'm reminded of Ephesians 3:20 that says God is able to do "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." And I would have to say that is exactly what he has done in both cases here in response to a faithful commitment to reach their communities for Christ.

To be in a church that takes it's ministry to the youth so seriously and stands closely alongside families in their efforts to live out Psalm 78:2-7 and lead our children to a lifelong relationship with Jesus is incredible... And I'm so thankful for it.
 
 
 We are the Church of Tomorrow.