Reflections and Recap from Sun, Apr 17

The week of Easter has finally arrived but not before God continued to build momentum this past Sunday. It was our fourth straight week of an increase in attendance, and we had many new faces. I'd encourage each person who reads this blog to bring someone with you this Sunday. If you aren't connected to The Overflow, then consider joining us this Sunday. If you go to another church, then get excited about what God is doing in your church and take some people with you!

We're praying the energy level in the worship service is at an all-time high this Sunday. I'm pumped about the worship time and the message. I hope we have to rearrange our pipe and drape at like 10:50am because so many people are showing up! Our setup team will love it but hate it too, ha ha :)

Each week we continue to see volunteers step up in an amazing way. Church planting isn't an easy task. It requires sacrifice, improvising on the spot, and a willingness to get things done in the face of improbable odds. I'm going to begin recognizing a few volunteers each week for their hard work...

-Channon Martin: Each week, Channon does the small tasks that seemingly go unnoticed until they are not done. Things such as securing cords, taping things down, etc. He is a huge reason things around the stage have looked so great the last few weeks. The cool thing is that I don't believe anyone asked him to do this. He has taken initiative and is getting things done!

-Barbara Taylor: She started serving with us several weeks ago and has always been willing to do whatever needs to be done. Specifically this past Sunday, she cleaned the restrooms, which is a task nobody is in a hurry to do. Thank you for doing the dirty work!

Worship set was...
-Your Blood Overwhelms (Overflow Band)
-Nothing But The Blood
-Beautiful Jesus (Kristian Stanfill)
-Hosanna (Hillsong)
-We Stand (Newspring Church)




Romans 5:6-11

We're "loved enough" that God would die for us even though we didn't deserve it. He died despite the fact billions of people would reject Him. I hope we always remember the act of sacrifice that was made for us. We will often give up something if we personally gain something greater in return, but in Jesus' situation, He didn't need to gain anything. Jesus didn't have to die for us, but, He gave up His life so that WE could gain victory and forgiveness. This act of love blows my mind, but I'm so thankful He saw something in me worth dying for!

To better understand what it means when we say "God died for us," we walked through three important concepts.

-We are born helpless. On our own, we can do nothing to save ourselves, but when we were God's enemies, He made a way for our forgiveness through the death of Jesus.

-We are declared righteous. Because of what Jesus did for us, we can be declared righteous when we surrender our life to Him. He took the punishment that was reserved for us. He was the ultimate sacrifice, high priest, and fulfillment of all that had been foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

-Jesus took our punishment. Even though we can have victory and forgiveness, this doesn't mean the punishment for our sins was neglected. Instead of us having to endure what we deserved, Jesus took it on Himself. He gave up His life and took our punishment so that we could gain victory and forgiveness!