When I was a child my mother would purchase one of those Christmas calendars that helped count off the days until Christmas Day.  Each day my brother and I would take turns opening one of the little doors to reveal the next day. I’m not sure if those calendars helped Christmas to come any more quickly–in fact, it probably made the day seem even farther away–but we certainly enjoyed the time of anticipation.

These days at Harvest Baptist have been “calendar watching” days. The new building for which we have sacrificed, worked, and prayed has taken shape and is even now in the last phases of completion. (Check out harvestbaptist.info for up-to-date pics.) 

Pray with us that the occupancy permit will be granted in time for the children to start school by the end of August. I’m not sure that the children will be praying as fervently as the rest of us! And specifically pray that all of the preparations will be in place for our Grand Opening service on September 20. 

The purpose for our new building has always been and will always be for the reaching of people. Church buildings retain value only as they remain tools in God’s hand to see boys and girls, men and women come to Christ and grow in grace.

Pray! Pray! Pray! (And count the days if you must…)

admin Building Building, Harvest Baptist Church

I love Sundays! There’s just something about getting together with a group of like-minded people (well, I guess not totally like-minded; after all, we’re not all privileged to be Red Sox fans…). Even with two Sunday morning services, our building is doing all she can to accommodate the people; and I’m afraid that Miss Parking Lot has been overwhelmed for too long.

The music was wonderful! One of our teenagers, Josh Messenger, provided the solo on Sunday morning. God certainly has given that boy some talent. The Cardamone men traveled from Washington State and California to surprise Mom and Dad for their 30th wedding anniversary. Any time we get the five men together, we make them sing. And sing they did! Their two songs Sunday night were incredible and I’m convinced that there’s nothing quite like family harmony. The choir treated us (as usual–best choir in the world!) with two great songs including one of my favorites, “I’m Amazed!”

The highlight of the day for me was the evening service in which Mark and Cassie Bachman, along with their 13 (not a misprint) children joined us. The picture above is somewhat outdated–the Bachmans only had 10 kids then. Bro. Bachman preached an incredible message on the topic, “Why would anyone avoid the presence of the Lord?” Using the Biblical accounts of Adam/Eve, Cain, Jonah, and especially Mary (John 11:20), Bro Bachman highlighted the fact that we tend to ignore the Lord for four reasons: (1) when we suffer from embarrassment; (2) when we incorrectly assess our punishment,; (3) when we disagree with our God-given assignment; and (4) when we believe the Lord has let us down and thereby suffer from disappointment.

I would encourage everyone to listen to the message. It should be uploaded to our site (www.harvestbaptist.info) in a couple of days. You can download it for free then. Hope your day was great too!

admin Sunday Review Harvest Baptist Church, Missionary, Sunday Review, Sunday Services