Let Me Brag On God (Part Three)

We started Faith Community Church a little over four years ago with high hopes. God blessed immediately. Attendance soared. We scrambled to keep up having to find a larger meeting place after our first Sunday. We witnessed God at work and went about our work with faith and enthusiasm. Those were euphoric days. Many were saved and we celebrated their baptisms.

After a year things changed. We could not sell our house in Seminole. This depressed me. Attendance at church began to decline. The gossip spread about me around town took its toll. I became increasingly bitter and withdrawn from public life. Preaching became a greater chore as I saw more and more empty seats than people in attendance.

Three times we tried to start Sunday School and three times the people did not support it. The offerings dwindled. We found it harder and harder to make ends meet each month. The morale in the church reflected my defeated and soured attitude. It felt like Faith Community Church began taking on water and sinking like the Titanic. I did not hold out hope the church would survive.

My depression deepened. Nothing brought me out of it. No amount of Bible reading or praying. No books I read. All looked hopeless and dark. A veil of darkness covered my mind and outlook. I went through the motions of serving as a pastor but I did not shepherd or lead the church adequately. I doubted my call to start the church and convinced myself I got it wrong. I contrasted our troubles with the wonderful years we enjoyed in Seminole. Instead of looking forward I looked back to the past. People I loved shunned me, refused to even speak to me, and spread lies behind my back.

I had enough. I tried everything in my power to leave. I sent resumes. I prayed. I visited with friends. For two years my obsession became getting my family out of Paradise. FOR TWO YEARS GOD SHUT EVERY DOOR.

Fast forward to this past summer. God used a series of events to remind me of His call on my life to start Faith Community Church. He settled this in my mind in a very real way. He renewed that sense of call on my life to do this. He healed my heart from bitterness. God produced forgiveness in my heart. God renewed my love for the Faith Community Flock and opened my eyes to see how much they loved their pastor. They prayed me through the darkest times of my entire life.

Then it happened. I got involved in public life again. I shared my faith with people. I began loving people. I shepherded people with a renewed joy and preachhed with a renewed passion and power. I knew God called me to start Faith Community Church. Instead of planning to leave my mindset changed to planning on staying.

Then it happened. The church began changing. Many did to notice at first. Instead of the lingering smell of death and defeat the fragrance of life filled that little warehouse. God began moving. Slowly the attendance increased. People lingered long after the services ended. Our Sunday evening prayer meetings were better attended.

Then the attendance started increasing more dramatically. To be more exact, it doubled in two months. New faces started showing up and returning. The youth group began burgeoning like it had in the early days. Church became fun because God worked in visible ways. Testimonies were more frequent. Answers to prayers became more evident.

The final thing I want to brag on God  about is not just what He is doing in Faith Community Church. It is what He is doing in me. A week ago I worked in the concession stand at a football game. A trusted friend texted me later that night and said, "I see changes in you." I knew God had brought me back from the brink.

Last night, after Bible study, I talked with a member of our leadership team about what the Lord is doing in our church. That person made a comment that deeply impacted me. "You are different. I see joy in you again." Hallelujah.

I can only brag on God. He is touching me. He is delivering me from the things that strangled my faith and hardened my heart. He is still making me whole. He is opening His word to me in ways I have never known. He is anointing me to preach and teach. He is setting me free from the chains that nearly destroyed me. He has restored my passion to write again. LET ME BRAG ON GOD. He is at work in Matt Edwards and Faith Community Church. He brought me back from the brink of destruction and Faith Community Church from the brink of death. All I can say is, "Thank You Lord. I am unworthy. I am humbled You would bestow such amazing grace on me again. I renew myself to this work, to shepherding this flock, and to the advancement of the gospel and building your Kingdom in the community of Paradise, TX. In Jesus name, amen."