I don't very often get a chance to say this about a Sunday that just happens to fall directly on a major holiday, but, yesterday was an awesome day at New Horizon!!
* Yesterday was Independence Day (July 4th) and we are in the full throttle throes of the vacation season. And in the Triangle that means everyone heads for the beach. So we knew that attendance would be down...lots of volunteers would be out...and not too many guests would be showing up.
* So we made a strategic decision: rather than just give in to a down Sunday we decided to buck the trend with a baptism Sunday.
• What would have been a really down Sunday turned into an incredible one with 52 people stepping into the waters of baptism!!! Absolutely phenomenal!!!
• And it was a fun day too! We started the day with our version of Minute To Win It. Unfortunately Guy Fieri wasn't able to be here, but Jamie did a good job of hosting and giving away two $50 bills to the contestants.
• Jon and the band did a great job of leading us in worship. Our team is really growing at this and the worship atmosphere is getting stronger all the time. There are two really huge keys to the presence of God - worship and the word. As long as we're worshiping and teaching the Bible straight up, God's presence is going to rock our world!
• Had some fun teaching on baptism yesterday. One of the most challenging aspects of preaching is to be creative with something that has be taught over and over on a regular basis. So I had some fun yesterday with the Oreos.
• And I thought jumping into the baptism pool to illustrate a point was a good idea. However, I had no idea how hard it would be to stand up there soaking wet and finish my sermon! Oh well.
• But then to see people jump up and head for the back doors for spontaneous baptism made it all worth the effort. It was great to see our teams get excited about this weekend and making it into what it became. I've said it before, I'll say it again - we have the best volunteers in the world at New Horizon!!
• NHC'ers...NHC Staff...and everyone who was involved yesterday - THANKS FOR MAKING INDEPENDENCE DAY AT NEW HORIZON A GREAT DAY!!!
• Cant' wait to kick off our new series next weekend - All Jacked Up. And whatever you do, don't miss the opener. We have a very special treat in store!
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