Intro for 2.25.23

Intro:

Good morning everyone...

A few months ago, I introduced a Dennis & Katie Gervais to you guys as our Church Planting Residents. For those who don’t know, what that means is they are dedicating the next year to being part of our church family, for the specific purpose of learning from us, so that they can go start a new church in their home community of Rocky Hill.

You’ve likely seen them all over the place already…

At Life Groups

Helping in River Kids

During prayer...

And you’ll continue to see a lot more of them...

In fact, this morning, Dennis is going to share God’s word and their story with us...

Psalm 40:1–3 ESV

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

These 3 verses are powerful. If I could summarize them in 3 simple ways, I’d do it this way...

The psalmist had a story of pain.

The psalmist had a story of joy, based on what God has done.

Because the psalmist shared both stories, many people grew in their faith - they put their trust in the Lord.

Stories are powerful. The book of Revelation reminds us that...

Revelation 12:11 NLT

And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

In other words, Christians can experience victory by Jesus and by sharing (and hearing) stories of what God had done.

Today, Dennis has a story of pain and joy to share with us. I believe God will use it to help us grow in Christ - to put our trust in the Lord! So, with that said, I’d like to invite my friend - our church planting resident - Dennis us to come preach to us!