Catching Up - Church

It took a lot longer than any of us expected, but Impact Church (err... iMPACT for those who want to be real official about it) finally moved into the new facility this past Sunday. It was a very hectic week leading up to the first service. Countless volunteers worked tons of hours in the final week to get the building ready for Sunday morning.

Not that I think any of these folks read here, but huge thanks go to my father-in-law who built and carpeted the stage. Without him busting his butt, the building wouldn't be what it is. I'm incredibly thankful for his servant heart. Now I can lead worship barefoot again. It felt good. I've missed that part of worshipping God.

There was a ton of stress, especially beginning Tuesday night. I had big plans for how the week was to happen, musically. The stage was supposed to be done by late Tuesday night so that the band could rehearse Wednesday night (which happened to be my last effective night before Sunday, with all the wedding stuff). So when Tuesday night was a disaster from a stage-progress standpoint, I got frustrated.

Then the Spirit reminded me that I'm not in charge. Certain responsibilities are within my control, others are not. There was nothing I could do about it. So I stopped being frustrated. I believe it was a decision. So Wednesday, when I spent 4 hours in the evening at the church building while my wife sat at home with Toby (on our freaking anniversary), I prayed and thanked God for what was going to happen Sunday, even though at that point, in my mind, Sunday was very much in doubt. As a band, we prayed for the new facility, thanking Jesus in advance for all of the wonderful things that are going to happen there.

I thought very little of the new building while away leading up to Sunday. One concern I had was my own attitude. Would I be "leading worship" on Sunday morning thinking about the new building and contemplating how cool I must look on this new stage with nice overhead lights and wondering how great everyone must think I sound through all this new powerful sound equipment? The answer? Nope. Not at all.

I was very pleased with the first service in the new facility. We (and many other rent-a-churches) have proclaimed for years that "the church is the people, not a building." Sunday morning, the church proved that to be true. We weren't celebrating a building. We had a normal service. Sure, there was an acknowledgment (how could there not be?), but it was the standard worship set followed by the next chapter in Genesis, just like the last 2 months.

I'm excited to see what awesome things are going to happen in the new building. But I'm a whole lot more excited to know that I'm a part of a church that loves Jesus more than it loves itself.

Impact Church, 10:00am every Sunday morning... come check it out. We'll worship Jesus in song, then Aaron or Greg will preach about a chapter in the Bible. It's pretty simple, really. And I'll be there, so you know it'll be cool...

www.impactwest.com
6420 Bridgetown Rd
Cincinnati OH 45248