Not the Same ole same ole!
It’s been said, “If you do the same thing you have always done and expect a different or better result that’s called insanity!” God is doing some awesome things to recharge our church family at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Macclenny Florida! On August 3, 2011 we started a brand new Wednesday night program for the entire family. We wanted it to be Christ honoring and life-giving. We wanted Wednesday Recharge to give the tired weary saints a supernatural shot in the arm. Through specific and fervent prayer, and intentional and strategic ministry planning God is using Wednesday Recharge to accomplish these goals!
Recharge who?
For our adult recharge we have Bible teaching on a specific topic that relates to most Christians and young people. For our August recharge we are privileged to have my father-in-law Dr. Charles Shoemaker with us. Each Wednesday in August he is teaching on the subject of marriage enrichment. Although his topic is for married couples the principles apply to all relationships. It’s been awesome to say the least. Our youth team was pumped about launching an awesome new Student ministry called “The Resistance!” Their motto is “Following God…resisting the world!” We had the youth building remodeled, repainted, and recharged! The students at EBC love it and are excited about it! We made some cool invite cards too so they can spread the word to their friends. We also launched a new kids program called the Kids Zone! Although we offered something on Wednesday night for our kids we needed to charge it up a little. And that’s exactly what happened! God has blessed us with some great leaders and workers who love children and want to help them know Jesus more in a fun environment. The kids are loving the Kids Zone!
Recharged Indeed!
God has enormously blessed our new Wednesday Recharge so far! God has recharged our attendance. It’s awesome to see so many new faces on Wednesday night worship. Several young couples came and brought their kids and students. The first night God blessed us with 77 in attendance. The next week we had 78. This past week we had almost 70. We were averaging about 35 on Wednesday nights. Now that God has helped us have something exciting and relevant for the entire family our numbers have increased significantly!
We recharged our appearance. We did much more than just decide to offer something on Wednesday night for everyone. Much prayer and planning went into it as well. Besides starting new ministries we also had some cool logos and signs made! My bro-in-law, Dennis Schaffer, who happens to be a pilot and a pastor, also does some graphic designing on the side. He did excellent work designing the logos for the Resistance and the Kids Zone. Along with the awesome logos that were designed we had some sharp directional signs made for both the Resistance youth ministry and the Kids Zone. The signs we hung in the church not only look incredible they make a foundational statement as well: quality is important! We want to communicate a spirit of excellence in all we do. How we take care of our appearance speaks volumes. When our facilities are neat, tidy, and attractive, when our facilities are well maintained it shows how much we care and that we appreciate what God has given us.
God has also recharged our spirit. When a church starts something new with the goal of fulfilling their purpose, mission, and vision better than ever before there is much to be excited about! Because of the time and efforts of those on the Maintenance team (Men of Acts), the youth team, and kids team the foundation has been laid for effective ministry for the whole family on Wednesday nights! With all of the activity and excitement one thing is abundantly clear: God is working at Emmanuel Baptist Church! We have life! There is something going on of a spiritual nature. And as a matter of fact there is. God through His Word and His people is getting Emmanuel Baptist Church recharged.
How has God recharged you and your family at EBC? Or what has your church done to recharge you and your family through the ministries and services they offer?
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