Evangelism Every Day

Send Out Your Light

Wow! What an awesome weekend being commissioned at Compass Bible Church! Here are just a few of the reasons I came away so encouraged in my heart about our new church here in Huntington Beach:

PASTOR MIKE’S CHALLENGE TO PREACH THE WORD!

Pastor Mike has been such a good example to me of a preacher these last 8 years. It has been a blessing to sit under his teaching both at church and personally. This weekend he preached a great sermon on evangelism and why we should be praying for God to save and preaching the gospel with urgency. During the sermon he, and the other Compass pastors I have had the privilege of serving with, prayed for my family and laid hands on me. This was both a great honor and at the same time very humbling. During this time, Pastor Mike challenged me personally not to just evangelize but to make sure I am equipping the saints through the weekly preaching of the word at Compass HB. This challenge is exactly what I am eager to do as we start services and commit to expository preaching through the epistle of 1^st Thessalonians!

COMPASS BIBLE CHURCH: I AM FEELING THE LOVE!

On Sunday night we had a special time to say goodbye to our church family in Aliso Viejo. I was really encouraged by the other pastors and by the entire congregation of our church. Christa and I were there talking to people for almost three hours afterwards! It was wonderful to talk to so many people we have loved and who love us and to remember the life of Jesus we have shared together! It is so encouraging to consider how many of these people God has saved and to know so many of them are praying for us.

MY BROTHER BEN’S NEW WORSHIP SONG!

At the commissioning service this weekend Ben introduced a new song to the church: Send Out Your Light! I had the privilege of hearing this song beforehand and even talking through the lyrics with Ben as he was writing it! It has been so encouraging to sing it in my car all by myself and now to sing it in our church worship was a powerful experience! This song perfectly captures the prayer of my heart as we start this new church in Huntington Beach:

Send out your light

Send out your truth

Let them lead us    

Lead us to you

Let your glory shine

Let your word resound

Turn the lost to your Son

As the gospel rings out

WHAT HAPPENS IN LIFE, ECHOES ON THE INTERNET

Amidst all of the excitement of commissioning weekend, Ryan Pierce and Shane Rouland launched a new blog which is also called Send Out Your Light. It was great to see them come up with the title of this blog at the same time Ben was writing his new worship song. Even though they never talked to each other about it they were all on the same page: Psalm 43!

³         Send out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your holy hill

and to your dwelling!

⁴      Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

Ryan and Shane are my “gospel partners” here on staff at Compass HB. It is so great to pray with these guys and plan for the new church and we can’t wait to get out there and evangelize every day for a month starting this Friday. Our prayer is definitely for God to show us his glory and if want to hear how God is answering that prayer here in Huntington Beach you should keep checking out their blog!

Speaking of websites, this weekend we also officially launched compasshb.com. Over the years, my long-time friend Brad Smith and I have partnered on many websites and I really enjoy working with him.  He helped me start this blog and has recently started a blog of his own with his wife Laura. It is exciting to partner together again in echoing Compass HB here 
on the internet!

THE LAMP STAND IS LIT!

 Perhaps the most powerful moment this entire weekend was when Pastor Mike announced the lamp stand of our new Compass Bible Church has been officially lit in heaven. I was reminded of the picture in Revelation 1 of Jesus standing among the lamp stands. There he is revealed in all of his glory:

 ¹³ And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

¹⁵ His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

It is awesome to think that this Jesus is the one who is really lighting up our church here in Huntington Beach. You can see how if he is building the church then no one, including all the forces of hell, will be able to stop him. Please keep praying he will send out his light so many will see the glorious good news of his gospel and be saved!