What a great night we had showing the movie FireProof! I don't have the final numbers yet this morning but I know we had well over 500 people come out for our little community cinema. Everyone I spoke with enjoyed the movie and many couples took advantage of the extended childcare to go out on a mini date following the movie. Donna and I went to Leghorns after the show and I recognized several of the couples there as people I had seen at the movie.
I heard so many good comments from people in our community. People were very thankful that our church did this and especially that we provided the extended childcare to allow those couples to spend some time discussing the movie after it was over.
Many people worked hard to make this happen, and I am thankful for them all... but two I want to mention... Mark Kifer was in charge of publicity, set-up, bookstore, and all of the logistics. We couldn't have done it without Mark.
Pastor Wally was in charge of the extended childcare. That was a challenge. We didn't know if we were going to have ten kids or one hundred kids. That isn't easy to plan for, especially when the childcare lasts four hours. When I picked up my kids, someone told me we had 114 kids in the family life center. I don't think that included the number of kids we had in the preschool area. Wow! Great job, Pastor Wally.
Very, very busy week upcoming. This would be a good week to put your pastor on the top of your prayer list.
Quick note about what the Lord taught me in my devotion time this morning...
I am in the middle of the book of Exodus in my reading right now. Exodus 25-28 is tedious to read. God is giving Moses very detailed instructions on how to build the tabernacle of worship, the furniture for the tabernacle, and the clothing for those serving in the tabernacle. For me it is very hard to read and stay focused. The detail seems meaningless to me and my personal life today. Here is a sampling...
"Make heavy sheets of cloth from goat hair to cover the Tabernacle. There must be eleven of these sheets, each forty-five feet long and six feet wide. All eleven of these sheets must be exactly the same size. Join five of these together into one set, and join the other six into a second set. The sixth sheet of the second set is to be doubled over at the entrance of the sacred tent. Put fifty loops along the edge of the last sheet in each set, and fasten them together with fifty bronze clasps. In this way, the two sets will become a single unit. An extra half sheet of this roof covering will be left to hang over the back of the Tabernacle, and the covering will hang down an extra eighteen inches on each side. -- Exodus 26:7-13 NLT
Why do I need to read all of this detail? And then it hit me... I need to see how carefully the Israelites prepared the tabernacle of old because it teaches me how carefully I should prepare my heart to be the tabernacle of God today. I need to be careful to remove sin from my life... I need to be carefully to be obedient to Scripture in my life...
Just as God was honored when the Israelites took special care to in the construction of the Tabernacle in their day, so He is honored when we do the same with our lives...
Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
Pastor Noel
