Family,
God is good, and you are amazing! He continues to guide and provide, and you continue to walk forward in faith. On that note, let me say, “thank you, thank you, and thank you” for your faithful generosity and tithing. You have been a blessing to our staff and have allowed us to continue to serve our community with resources.
On another note, I’m having a ball preaching the series "NOW: How to Tune Into What God is Setting Up". This word has been brewing in me for a while, and it lines up with the prophetic theme of this entire season. In other words, if you peek into the message God is trying to send humanity behind the pandemic, protests, and economic news, what is He asking us? I believe God is asking, “Will you be faithful to me no matter what you go through? Will you be true to our relationship? Will you be faithful to Scripture?” I think each person and family must answer God. Ironically, He has even revealed that some Christians have made the physical church building a modern-day Golden Calf (Exodus 32:4). Without the ability to gather in a physical place, they have lost their bearing. They no longer feel God like they used to. However, Scripture teaches that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3). This means that God is present wherever and whenever His people gather to praise Him; that He inhabits online; that He inhabits offline; that He inhabits at your home and your office. If you feel like you can’t feel God without gathering in a building, then the problem is your struggle to be faithful to your relationship with the Almighty – it is not the absence of gathering in a building. Family, I believe God is looking for trustworthy people. A remnant of people who will stay true to Scripture and relationship. A people who will worship wherever and whenever. A people like the Christians in the Book of Acts, who, without physical church buildings, the internet, cellphones, cars, or computers, worshipped God during a global crisis. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6) and grew exponentially (Acts 2:7). Trust me; I’m completely tuned in to what God is setting up for us and I’m trying to keep you focused on the NOW moment so that we boldly embrace our future. We are the remnant. We are one church in many houses. We are Impact!
One final note. Tomorrow, Saturday, September 19th, I want to see every New Jersey member at our South Plainfield campus. I know you might have plans, but Lady Terri and I, along with our pastors and leaders, would love to have you drop by to say hello. It will only take you 5-15 minutes to pull up, receive your gifts, and greet us. If you are outside of New Jersey, make you register for the digital pull-up, and we will mail your gifts and meet you in a secure Zoom room. Maintaining a relationship requires sacrifice, so please make showing up a priority. Click this link for all the details you need for this fantastic meetup. Oh, I almost forgot, we only have a limited amount of gifts for both the online and offline pull-ups, so make sure you get there early before supplies run out. See you and your family Saturday!
-Bishop