430 Reasons to Celebrate
- Josh Anderson
- Apr 7, 2021
- 2 min read
After more than one year, theHeart was able to once again meet together in person at Watauga High School. Doing so on Easter provided us with yet another reason to celebrate the transformative significance of Christ's resurrection.
By Josh Anderson, Pastor
You've probably noticed by now that we don't report on numbers all that often. It's not that we don't think they're important, it's just that we're not very formal about it.
Don't get me wrong, numbers and statistics are useful. But alone they seldom tell the whole story, especially when it comes to matters of faith and the immeasurable work of God. Trying to quantify the movement of the Holy Spirit so often feels like trying to predict the weather—or in the words of Nicolas Cage in The Weather Man, "I don't predict it. Nobody does, 'cause i-it's just wind. It's wind. It blows all over the place!"
And yet, this weekend we were graced with an incredibly powerful and encouraging number that's certainly worth sharing: 430. This represents the estimated number of people who joined theHeart in person and online to celebrate Easter.
Still, there's a number within this number that is absolutely staggering. Even with limited seating capacity due to COVID-19 protocols, we welcomed 117 people into the high school. After more than a year socially distanced from one another, so many volunteers, families, newcomers, and familiar faces gathered together in one place to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
Something Bigger is Happening
It would be easy in these pessimistic times to simply dismiss this number. It would be easy for us to shrug it off and think the return after a long layoff is what resulted in people coming back. But I choose to believe that something—someone—even greater is behind this momentum. And I felt it as soon as Erin invited folks to stand and sing together. Perhaps you noticed it as well?
Whether you were joining us online or in person, I want to thank you again for hanging in there with us. And I want to thank you for your faithfulness in answering our invitation to come back to in-person gatherings. There was no guarantee, just faith. And your friendship. I'm excited for where God's wind will take us.
Let's Keep This Going
So it's been decided that because things went so well this past Sunday, we plan to do it again this coming Sunday. And the Sunday after that. And the Sunday after that...
Gather with us at 10am every Sunday online or in person.
I for one will work really hard to never take for granted the joy of God's people gathering together every week to praise His Name together. I hope you will join me.
theHeart. app.
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