"Wanna Dance?"

This past Sunday evening, June 25th, we had our first "Love, Power, & Sound Mind" prayer service which was a prayer service dedicated to asking Jesus for healing and freedom in our minds, bodies and spirits. It was an evening of both corporate and individual prayer, corporate faith declarations, times of reflection and worship, and the recitation of the Word of God over His people. The program of the service allowed for an interactive experience with the Lord without the rush of a typical church service. Even though everything was planned out, even the reflection times with Jesus, what we ended up experiencing that made the difference was the sweet, tender and tangible Presence of Jesus. Nothing loud or boisterous, nothing forced or contrived, but rather, simply Jesus and the sweet fragrance of His Presence through His Spirit. His invitation and His touch upon our hearts and lives made the night beautiful.

It was one of those times I did not want to leave the church space because it reminded me of similar times as a child or youth sensing the peace and power of God at a saturated Holy Spirit service. This should be the normative experience of believers when we gather, and I hope and pray that it will be something that can be said of Evergreen Church and all churches that proclaim the Name of Jesus. That night before the service began we had configured the chairs into a more intimate layout, Pastor Stewy had strung some lights above the seating area, and we had rolled out the new rug for the new altar to sit on and it felt new and special. We had sent out personal invites for online attendees to the service and had an idea of who was planning to be with us.

As we prepared everything, it felt like everything was already being covered in Jesus' love and light, and a love for everyone planning to come in person and online was bursting our hearts. What impacted my heart at the end of the evening was, "what if Evergreen Church is just getting started?" What if this is our lane? A lane where there is freedom, creativity, and a love for the entire body of Christ to come together? This is one of the beautiful things about being a new church: the freedom to collaborate freshly with the Spirit of God without fear, constraint or rigidity. It is the opportunity to sit with Jesus and find out what is on His heart and what He has in mind for us as one of His believing communities! Asking Him, "what do You envision and desire?" Because at the end of everything, it/we really are His church, His body, and His bride.

Something I believe Jesus is asking us most of the time is, "Wanna dance?", and that instead of a smile, open hand, and ready heart, He gets some kind of answer that communicates to Him that our dance card is full. So, my question and my request is, could we be a community of believers at Evergreen that are ready and waiting to hear Him ask "wanna dance" and that respond "yes!" every time? Could we become that collaborative partner with the Holy Spirit to follow His steps and what He is wanting to do every time we meet and in our own individual lives? I want to be that for Jesus at Evergreen and I believe we are ready to do that and can keep growing in that readiness to dance with the Spirit. To flow with the Spirit of God together and bring Glory to God!

Some may say, wait, that sounds like a lack of structure or leadership; on the contrary, great dancers know the steps and the structure of what makes a dance beautiful, and what makes a dance flow is having a seasoned dancer leading the dance. The Holy Spirit is inviting us to dance and He is a leader like none other, so with this truth in mind, I want to challenge and encourage us to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit every time we meet and to continue to seek the heart of Jesus for what He wants to do at Evergreen. With all that said, I do believe we are just getting started.

A few important things to note for July:

• Men's Bible Study, still on summer break, no meetings in July.

• Exciting event on 7/14, "Hearts of Fire" - story of 4 Women who endured persecution for the sake of Jesus, includes worship led my Michael W. Smith, this is an all church event!

• Ladies' Summer Brunch on 7/29 at 11 AM!

Below you will find our July calendar:

July 2023 Calendar:

Sunday services begin every Sunday at 11:00 AM.

July 2nd - 8th

• Wednesday, 7/5, Prayer - 7 PM

July 9th - 15th:

• Wednesday, 7/12, Discovery Group - 6 PM End Times Study (Bring a snack to share!)

• Friday, 7/14, "Hearts of Fire" - Voice of the Martyrs Virtual Event - 6:30 PM reception, Event begins at 7 PM

July 16th - 22nd:

• Wednesday, 7/19, Prayer - 7PM

July 23rd - 29th:

• Wednesday, 7/26, Discovery Group - 6 PM End Times Study (Bring a snack to share!)

• Saturday, 7/29, Ladies' Summer Brunch - 11 AM, hosted at Linda Oakley's Home (this event has no child care provided, adults only).

July 30th - August 5th:

• Wednesday, 8/2, Prayer - 7 PM