After 3 months and 11 posts, today’s blog marks the final chapter of the “Our Story” series detailing the beginnings of Verdae Pres. It has been really fun for me to recount the way in which the Lord has brought us into formation. And as we draw this story to a conclusion there is only one thing left to mention – our launch!
As our small core group met in May of 2017, we all felt like it was time to move towards regular weekly worship services. We weren’t exactly sure what our worship services would look like. We weren’t positive which songs we would sing. We had no idea how many people might show up. But we felt certain that the Lord was calling us to take this next step. So we did. Our first goal was to put on a series of “preview services” once a month beginning in June. A church’s preview service is similar to a restaurant’s soft opening where family and friends are invited to something that may or may not go well! We knew there would be some kinks to work out, and we felt like it was smart to make these early mistakes in front of people who knew us.
Our first preview service was held on the final Sunday of June, and we held two more on the final Sundays of July and August. There were some mistakes that we made, but nothing major stood out. There were some ways we knew we needed to improve, but nothing that we felt prevented us from moving forward. So after our service in August we decided that we would worship again on the final Sunday of September…and every week after that.
So it was decided. September 24, 2017 would be the official launch service for Verdae Pres!
As the morning came I realized just how far our church had come. It had been 5 years since the prayer drive that started it all. We were in a facility offered to us by an orthodontist and former swim coach I first met 24 years earlier. What had begun as an unlikely endeavor had now grown into a group of 6 members and another dozen regular attenders – all of whom were on their way to be a part of our first official worship service. I thought that morning just how perfect the work of the Lord truly is, and how gracious He had been to our group in bringing all of us to this place. I thought for just a moment that this journey I had been on for over two years had led to this finishing place.
But that’s when it hit me…this wasn’t the finishing point. In fact, this wasn’t a final chapter at all. The entirety of this story – from our clear calling, through our first speedbump, to our launch service – was not coming to a conclusion. It was just beginning!
So as we finish this blog series let me say that while it has been fun to recount this journey, story by story, the truth is that all I have written is the preface. The preface to the book that God is writing at Verdae Pres. The remarkable ways that God has worked do not end now, but rather are just beginning. The twists and turns to get to this point were just a shadow of the twists and turns that are bound to come. And the lives that we have intersected with so far, Lord willing, are just a small number of the lives we believe God will bring into contact with our church – even just one time.
So if you have enjoyed reading about our beginnings over these last three months let me encourage you to come see us. Worship with us one Sunday morning at 10:30am. Enjoy dinner with us one Tuesday night at 6:30 before our Bible study at 7:00. Attend our first official small group on a Thursday evening. And join us in prayer as we seek God’s wisdom and power as He leads us through the next phase of our journey – the march towards becoming an organized
church.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!” – Psalm 34:8-9