Telling stories of how we see God at work in our lives and the lives of others both expresses adoration of God and brings glory to God — it is an act of worship. As your pastor, here is evidence that I see of God moving in our church — things to foster and protect.

We have grown in our readiness to pray.

In January, we had our first High Point Church fast and prayer meeting. 338 people gathered at the prayer meeting to pray and worship God together, and most people stayed afterward to break the fast together. Beyond the prayer meeting, we’ve seen that as a church we have been responding to the Hunger for God series both in prayer and with prayer.

People are more actively praying for each other. On a Sunday morning, more people are praying in the moment for each other in the sanctuary, lobby, hallways, offices and even the copy room. A bunch of parents started a prayer group for their students. And, we have heard a number of testimonies of prayer getting answered — including healing and deliverance from pain, addiction, and demonic activity. Several people have come to faith in Jesus. This is all evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

People are truly interested in growing in Godliness.

People aren’t trying to make a quick fix to their problems. Instead, people are seeking counsel and having more conversations in order to grow with fellow believers, diligently praying for direction from the Spirit and then joyfully waiting to hear from Him. I’ve seen a mindset shift from What can I do to make my life better right now? to God, what do you want me to do in my life to further your Kingdom? The result of this mindset is that people with very serious problems are facing them with Christ, in the grace of the Gospel and through the power of the Spirit.

We are becoming more outward focused.

I know of a few people who have accepted Christ in just the last couple of weeks as people have shared their faith with them. Many of us have taken up opportunities to share our faith with people in our spheres of influence, such as inviting people over for evangelistic conversation after the intentional living seminar in December and the Tim Hawkins show in February. In general, we are starting to shift our perspective on what sharing our faith means and follow the work of the Spirit in evangelism.

Our staff team is comprised of very capable and godly people.

God has provided high-quality people for our staff team. We have added many new members to the staff team: Jill Reasa as the Communications Specialist, Erin Hesse as the Connections Coordinator, Mike Beresford as the Director of Outreach and Service, Estel Beresford as the Pastoral Staff Executive Assistant and Dr. Charles Moore as the Principal of High Point Christian School. We have the largest and keenest incoming intern class yet, with four full-time ministry interns that are very bright, very devout and very interested in serving Christ’s church.

We are enormously fortunate, and I feel as though our present staff is the most godly and gifted staff I have ever worked with — from the pastoral offices, to the most part-time offices of people like Heather Gunderson, one of our Kids Ministries Assistants.

In addition, we have seen that both staff and volunteers haven’t been simply abiding by their job descriptions. Instead, people have been seeking to go above and beyond what is required of them on paper when it comes to doing the work of the Kingdom of God and the relational work of building a team.

We have seen growth in numbers. 

We have the largest pre-married class I know of to date. This bodes well that not only are our young people finding a home at a local church, but they are choosing to marry and form families.

Since attendance was slightly down, it has now turned significantly up. We’ve had two Sundays with very high levels of visitors — the first Sunday in January and the first Sunday in February. On February 7, for example, we had at least 17 different visitor cards. We also have a few new small groups starting.

11 people have presented themselves for baptism — some of whom have come to faith recently.

The congregation has been extraordinarily financially generous, which means that we are worshiping God through giving and excited to join in the work that he has for us to do as a church.

This is exciting. We are grateful to God for what he is doing in us. Do you have a story to share about how God has been working in your life? We’d love to hear of God’s work in his people. And let’s continue to be vigilant in prayer, in working for unity, in becoming substantive disciples, and in worshiping our good God.