Glorious Day

5 minutes on the clock. The pre-service music begins. The concourse is packed. People waiting to get inside. T-minus 3 minutes. The pre-service video begins to play. The video ends. Someone runs inside the auditorium. “There was no sound. Play it again. Hurry!!!”  Reset the video. It plays with sound this time. The doors open.  The praise team begins to play, Here As In Heaven…..my Chariots of Fire running song. The rest is a blur…….

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This whole process began years ago.  God was just so awesome to bless me to be a part of this day.  But my story with opening day began a few days before.

I had served once at Christmas and knew I had to continue to serve.  So the Director of Membership and Volunteers placed me on the team.  Last week I worked my 40 hours in 4 days, at my real job, because of some training I had.  Something told me to email her Thursday night and ask if anyone needed help the next day.  She told me “Sure, come on in.”

I showed up at 9.  No one but construction workers were there.  So I left.  I got a few minutes down the road and she texted, saying she was there.  You see, she was supposed to drive to Florida that day.  With all of the weather problems, shipping of a few things had been delayed so she was going to find stuff elsewhere.

I had asked  myself, “When have I ever given up a day off to volunteer for something?  What am I doing?”  But something told me I would know why….maybe not in a week or a month or in 10 years, but eventually.  It didn’t take long, because when I got back to the church, she was extremely sick.

I spent the day completing projects that needed to be done. That night the boys had a school function. The wife and I went to dinner. When we were finished I said, “Hey, they know me….wanna sneak into the new building?”  We get to the building and find my volunteer “boss.”  My wife asks if she has anything for her to do. We end up at Wal-Mart at 9:30 on a Friday night picking up cleaning supplies for the new “Volunteer Central,” AKA the old Cafe.

So….the next morning my wife and boys are at the church, putting together gifts for new visitors.  The boys never fought.  Fun was had by all.  Both boys completed small project after project.  They never complained.  Finally, late in the afternoon we went home.

Back to Sunday morning.  The preparation had all been completed.  The doors had opened.  Little bits of stress were still felt by the staff, but overall, things were great.

The Pastor told us the building was great…..but the building was just a building.  The new room was just a room.  But if God was not there….then it was nothing.  I listened later to Pastor Steven Furtick’s sermon from the same day.  When referring to the places his satellite campuses meet, he said, “It’s not a church because of the building.  It’s not a church because of the steeple. It’s not a church because it has a sign that says church on it.  It’s a church because God is there with His people.”  For Jesus says in Matthew, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst (Matthew 18:20.)”

You see…..God was at Lowcountry Community Church on Sunday.  Like Pastor Jeff said last week, “God set this land aside for us in the beginning of time.”  That is such a powerful thought.  But it’s the truth.  God has planned out everything.  Your life already has a plan, my life already has a plan.  And when we wake up in the middle of that plan one day…..and actually realize where we are…..it’s so awesome.

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The last song of the last service is playing.  My “boss” walks up and says, “It’s over.  Now it’s time to have fun.”  She starts singing and raising her hands.  I look forward down the aisle until I find my wife, who is now in her second service of the day….this time with the boys.  She is jumping.  She is singing.  And she is “high-fiving” Jesus.

My “boss” is soooo wrong. There is nothing “over” about this.  God is just getting started at LCC.  And like I said before, I am just so blessed to be a part of His plan.

I’m not sure what an average Sunday attendance is for 3 services, but I do know that we had over 3100 people there between the 3 services on Sunday.  Day 1 of God’s new building and we exceeded our seating capacity of 3015.  What a Glorious Day!!!!!

“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.  I have surely built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever.”

1 Kings 8:12-13