Seeing God in the little things

An employee at our church invites his friend to come check out a Sunday service. The friend and his wife have never been to a church, and don't have a desire to attend. Many years go by. The friends still hang out and grow their friendship. Eventually the friend's 5 year old son starts asking about God, and the friend remembers the offer to attend church.

• The man and his wife show up early one Sunday, and are greeted warmly at the welcome table. 
• The greeter sees their son and offers to walk them all over to his classroom. 
• At the classroom, the sweet volunteer welcomes the kinder kid to a bright, inviting classroom. They check him in with a secure paging system, and leave watching him sit at a table with a group of kids, smiling. 
• When they get back to the front of the worship center, they are still a few minutes early, so they wait outside. 
• A friendly church-goer walks over and introduces himself. 
• The man and his wife go inside, are handed a study guide for the service, along with a smile. 
• They take their seat and the couple in front of them says hi. 
• Then they rise to hear worship songs like they have never heard before. 
•  The pastor shares a sermon that moves their heart, is easy to understand and speaks to them. 
• They leave feeling amazed at all they just experienced, their son begs to come again, so they are excited to come back next Sunday. 
• Several weeks later they hear the sermon that changes their hearts and they decide to walk with Jesus. 
• And their lives are forever changed. 

Hearing this story on Tuesday, my eyes filled with tears. God is so amazing! And picturing all of those people contributing to the amazing experience of church to honor God, just fills me with joy.

I heard this story from my pastor, as part of my bible study about serving sacrificially. He was getting at the fact that if anyone in the story above dropped the ball with their level and commitment of service, that story most likely would have ended much differently.

To be honest, I was a little surprised that the story made me so emotional out of everything I heard that night, but it did, and I accepted the fact that I was crying in the middle of a brightly-lit bible study room.

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Today I received a text from a friend of mine who I invited to my church awhile back. He's never been into attending church, but he openly listened whenever I spoke about Jesus. His text said that him and his wife went to my church this past Sunday, and loved it so much they are committed to attending every Sunday.

I can't wait to see what the future has in store for my friend and his wife. And I am once again amazed at how God shows me how He connects everything in life.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. ~Ephesians 1:13