From December 2006 Side Lites . . . I am EXCITED!
Are you ready to hear about excitement? Get ready to get excited! Now I realize that I was taught in English class to use my thesaurus to find different words with similar meanings. Please pardon my use of the word “excitement” (or a form of this word).
When I think about excitement in the religious realm, I think of the Hillsboro Family Camp. Each year at Hillsboro Dan Schafer would lead the assembly in the chorus: “Get All Excited”. Dan really made use of the whole platform as he generated excitement in the preaching of the Gospel through songs. I would walk away from the evening sessions all excited to “tell everybody that Jesus Christ is Lord!” Dan would also lead us in the chorus, “I’m Excited, I’m Excited, I’m Excited in the Lord!”
Many things that have happened recently have excited me. Let me write in this column about a few of them.
First: I am excited that we have seen the Lord add to our number at South Side in the past couple of months. How could that not be exciting? South Side is a great assembly—a church strong in the Scriptures. It is very exciting to see additions to the assembly!
Second: I am excited about the growth on Sunday and Wednesday nights. As a teacher of the Gospel, I have seen, not only numerical growth, but the spiritual growth of those who attend. It is exciting to see people with an excitement for learning.
Third: I am excited about hosting two County Meetings next year. South Side will host the January meeting and I get to preach—now that really excites me! Then in May, we will host the County churches while we are in the middle of our revival.
Fourth: Which brings me to my fourth reason to be excited—our May Revival Meeting. I believe you are going to love Ray and Gyneth Bennett. Ray is not only a great evangelist, but he and his wife are wonderful Christians! I first heard Ray preach in 1988, and have loved hearing him every time. Each year he opens the Hillsboro Family Camp on Monday nights. We also had him preach every year at Lawshe when I preached there. Gyneth can really play the piano, also. And if we are really blessed, maybe Ray will pull out the harmonica! I am really excited about having an old fashioned, Heaven High! Hell Deep! World Wide! Shot Gun Barrel Straight Revival Meeting! We should have an exciting time!
Fifth: I am excited about being your evangelist. Over the past year I have grown to love preaching and teaching here at South Side. I am very excited about working with the eldership here. They are great men of God! I am blessed as the evangelist, and you are blessed as the congregation, to have these six men pasturing the flock. I hope you join me daily in praying for the eldership and thanking God that He has blessed us with them. It is exciting to work with these godly shepherds of the flock at South Side.
Sixth: I am excited about the assembly’s giving. We are blessed at South Side to have good givers. This giving is not limited to money. But our offerings for Sunday Bible School have been tremendous since we adopted the four children in Haiti. Our main giving has stayed steady throughout my first year. And enough cannot be said about the excitement that I have as I see people giving of their time and talents. So many things go on behind the scenes at South Side with unnamed servants of our Lord. This is one area where true growth is seen in the assembly.
Seventh: I could list many more things that excite me about South Side. As I look to the bottom of my computer screen, I realize that I am quickly running out of space. I did, though, want to mention the most important excitement here at South Side. I am really excited that South Side continues to be solid in the Scriptures. As I look around and see so many churches compromising in so many areas, I see South Side as standing firm on the foundations of Scriptures! We still believe that there is only “one body (one church) and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). I pray that we will always have strong leadership in the area of the teaching of Scripture. I pray our membership will always contend for the faith! We have the truth that leads to eternal life—that in and of itself, should be enough to make each of us excited! Don’t do anything to stop the excitement!
Excitedly in His service,
Kevin
