Kudos to the musical team!

Got this email from Pastor John yesterday and thought I would share it with you all.? I agree with him completely and it would be worth the effort to go see the final performance tonight at 6:00 p.m. for those around J-town.

My dear friends,

Wow, wow, WOW!? Last night’s presentation was simply the BEST Christmas
performance I have ever experienced!? I laughed, I cried, my soul soared.
The people around me in the balcony were wrapped up in it too.

Thank you, thank you, for your hard work.? I NEEDED last night.? It was the
first time this year I have felt “the Christmas spirit.”? I woke up still
feeling it today!

Thank you for being willing to “reach down” to engage our culture.? By
telling a story from our culture, people who don’t know Jesus could relate
to their need for God.? Some might say that the church has no business
singing songs that are from culture.? To that I would say, “then why did
Jesus use culture so often in his teaching?”? “The Kingdom of heaven is
like” he would say, and then use things from the world to help his audience
understand spiritual truth. You did EXACTLY what Jesus did last
night…which is why it had such a powerful impact.? What some call “carnal”
is actually “incarnational.”? The WORD was made FLESH (John 1:14).

Thank you most of all for your personal walk with Jesus.? In my sermon last
Sunday I started by saying that some people have God all over them.? Last
night, you all had God all over you.? Excellence and talent (which this
performance had) is no substitute for God’s hand being on those who are
telling the story.? God came down on Forest Park last night, some might say,
but the truth is, because He lives so powerfully in YOU, He was already
there.

I wish I had EVERYONE’s email address…feel free to pass this on to others.
I’ll be praying for you this afternoon as you tell the story once again.
For those of you who missed the news story on KODE, there is a link below.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=45191

I love you all so much!? And I am thankful that I get to be one of your
pastors!

John