When the Whole Church Shows Up!

When the Whole Church Shows Up!

We’ve been having a blast this week at Northpoint’s Vacation Bible School. We had 290 kids from our community officially register (the most in the last 5 years), and as I can attest, they’ve all shown up. What a blessing. Praise the Lord!

This year’s theme is Fruit of the Spirit, and the kids have been challenged to learn how the Holy Spirit grows the characteristics found in Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit, in their lives.

A point of encouragement for me has been watching over 100 volunteers from our church help pull off this major event. So many volunteered, that every role was filled. All of them. I wish I could name and thank each and every one of our volunteers for their dedication and hard work toward making this week so meaningful for these kids, but there are too many! I can, however, name a few main leaders: I want to give a special thank you to Terilyn Brown and Jenn Lemen for leading this year’s VBS. I also want to mention Andria Brucks, Leslie Schuller, Isabelle Cordil, Matt and Amy Beyersdorf, Heidi Holt, and Tri Nguyen for going the extra mile in leading this week.

What has struck me so far is what God can do when the whole church shows up to serve Christ and his church. VBS is one of those events in the life of Northpoint that require so many of you to make it a great success. And our body has shown up. As I have walked the campus these first few nights, I have been so encouraged to see folks from every age and stage in life volunteering in some way. Whether it has been helping with crafts, games, teaching, leading a small group, preparing food, leading worship, or performing the nightly drama, all these volunteers have demonstrated what the heart of Northpoint is all about: serving God to bring the world the saving message of Jesus Christ.

Watching all of our volunteers this week has continually reminded me of this passage from Romans 12: 4-6: “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”

What a wonderful truth it is that when God calls us to be part of the family of God, he also gives us gifts needed to further his kingdom. Not only does he gift us, but he gifts all of his children differently so that the church can faithfully and effectively fulfill its mission—and praise God for that! Can you imagine the disaster VBS would be if all of our 100+ volunteers all had the same gift? If all our volunteers were teachers, we would we have a two and a half hour lecture each night with no games, worship, food, etc. I doubt seriously that anyone would have shown up for day two.

Not only does God give us different gifts, but he also promises that in our diversity of gifts, he will bring unity. Unity that is what we find when God’s people serve out of their various areas of giftedness. It’s a unity in our diversity. As that verse in Romans says: “so we, though many, are one body in Christ.” This is what I have seen during the first 3 nights of VBS 2018. And with 2 evenings remaining, I’m sure I’ll see God bringing our body an even deeper sense of unity as so many serve out of their diverse giftedness.

So thank you Northpoint, for being the church this week and serving so faithfully!

In Him,

Pastor Scott Williams

The rest of NP News for 7.12.2018 can be found on the “This Week” page at https://www.northpointcorona.org/this-week/