We're off and running

After a couple of weeks out of the saddle, we're back! I've had an interesting schedule of sorts due to holidays and a few concerts. Christmas Eve weekend was fantastic at SCCC. Over 1,000 people came through our doors over the three services. There were some great moments... Scott and the choir with a hip version of "Go tell it on the Mountain" and of course, the candle moment at the end with everyone singing "O Come all Ye Faithful." Then singing with my wife was pretty sweet too.


I'm hearing from others who are saying how they are anticipating good things during our 21-Day adventure. The principle is not new. If God is going to do something in our lives, we have to make room for Him. Not just at Christmas but everyday. That's the idea here that we're talking about: do the things that make room for God and He will come.

Weekend of "Joy"

This last weekend was definitely a weekend to remember. On Friday we had our first C3 Partner Banquet. What a riot! As everyone gathered at church at 6 p.m. for a "volunteer rally" we surprised them and had buses there to take them to an undisclosed location! We wheeled them to Andre's Banquet Center and surprised them with a great time! As soon as I locate some pics I'll post them. We had 10 top C3 Partners: Anthony Lewis, James Burgess, Weezul Adams, Rebecca Skinner, Mandy Pyle, Tom Russell, Chuck Edmunson, Rachel Wethers, Mike Akers and Vince Kluge. Then we awarded our first Servant of the Year Award to Carol Haney. It was a tear fest! What a great night to honor some real champions.


Then on Sunday night we had a terrific Night Of Joy. Scott Reed and the music dept. did an outstanding job of ushering us into the Season of Joy. Here's some pics.

The first one features the team "Redeemed". They
were fantastic!

Here's one of Pastor Scott and the choir.



Then there was lovely Norene and Holly and their amazing gift!



I already have heard of at least one who prayed to receive Christ on Sunday night. Joy was definitely in Heaven too.

Crosstalk

Last Sunday night was a blast. I was entertained and totally blown away by the talent on display from our children's ministry. Rachel Wethers (director) and her team did such an excellent job of pulling the artistic ability out of the kids that I was asking my wife, "Who are these teen-agers?" They were demonstrating ability well beyond their short life span.

So many had an amazing number of lines to remember and were outstanding. All the little actors and actresses did a great job of staying in character and of course, their singing ability wasn't bad either. Here's a couple of pics:


This one shows Frankie Mantia as "Shep" who was convincing as a comedian cowhand.


Here's the final scene with a bunch of great champions for God! I'm so proud of our children's ministry. It is a ministry of excellence and our leaders demonstrate how much they love our kids.

Good memories

Some of you have asked to see some pics of the wedding. Here's a cool shot. You can see how fast we are running down the aisle! The wedding was beautiful without one mishap, so you can see the relief on our faces.



This one is during the ceremony. You can see my good friend Ken Schmitt officiating during the vows segment.



In this next one, you can see the genuine joy we were all feeling. This is a casual shot after the ceremony. It was so fun to have my good friends to celebrate this occasion with me. In the photo you can see L to R, Jim Cocos, Ken Schmitt, Shane (my brother), Scott Reed (on my right), then Big D (Duane Smith). On Becki's left is her good friend, Mel Davis.



One more...the music was fantastic. Our friends Tim & Mel Davis sang, "The Prayer". It was breathtaking. Tim & Mel will be with us at SCCC, on Thanksgiving weekend. What a gift they have!

7.5 days

I can hardly believe it. In one week I'll be a married man! This week promises to be a life-changing one as I enter the newness of married life. I've received so much advice along the way, most of it good. But there have been a few warnings like: "Shawn, Shawn! Get ready, get ready! You're going to have so many major adjustments. You have so many surprises that await you. You're going to have a tough time." While I appreciate the help, Becki and I are not naive. We both know the struggle of adjustment as we have watched our friends (often helplessly) struggle through early days of marriage. We are confident that God will finish what He's begun in us and with the help and prayers of wonderful friends and mentors, we believe we can have a wonderful marriage. Do pray for us, however, as we need God's grace at this pivotal time in our life. We have been so overwhelmed by the gracious generosity of our friends and church family. God has been good.

The God of the Comma

Yesterday was a great day. Over the weekend services, there were several who were saved and worship was fantastic. Pastor Scott was revved up which was surprising considering that he had just spent two and half days in the studio recording his new project. (I'll let you know the release date when I hear something!)

I said goodbye to one of my friends on Friday. The service was meaningful and it was an honor to preach his "graduation sermon." Here is his picture with his lovely wife Dixie when they were ordained in the Foursquare Church Intl. Sam Orrick started a church in '66 and was the pastor there for 30+ years. He and Dixie came to us recently and I was so blessed by his life. He had these pithy quotes that he would give me almost everytime we visited. One of my favorites was a mini-sermon he gave me on (Isa 59:19 NKJV) "...When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him." Sam said to me, "Quote this verse: "When the enemy..." So I quoted it and he said, "No. You forgot the comma! 'When the enemy comes in like a flood (comma!) the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard!" He went on to explain to me how there is a "comma" in our difficult times where we often wait for God's intervention. I loved that thought. He will be missed. I only wish I could have known him longer. We all long for those seasoned believers to be in our lives, don't we?

The First Post

This is my first post. More posts to come!