Church Today

Most churches lose a lot of folks on Memorial Day weekend. Our attendance goes up! We had a full house in all three services this morning -- and visitors from:
- other cities in Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Texas
- Michigan
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Florida
- California

Hayward is not on the way to anywhere, but it sure is a destination point!

The services were inspiring.

We had an enthusiastic worship choir leading us in three "rockin'" praise songs. After that, in observance of Memorial Day, I read the names of 25 members of our church family who passed away in recent months. After I shared their names, I opened it up for the congregation to add names of others who have recently died. It was powerful to hear the many names spoken by grieving loved ones.

One young family came to church today, specifically because I had called them and told them I was going to mention their little daughter's name in church. She died a few months ago. They rarely attend services -- but made an extra effort to be there today. It was healing for them.

We had a moment of silent, prayerful reflection, and then broke out in a rendition of "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder", followed by a couple more old classics.

The ball was on the one inch line by the time I got up to preach -- so I just jumped over the goal line for the touchdown. (I recall the early years, when the ball was often on the one inch line on the opposite side of the field when I got up to preach!)

I spoke on Nehemiah

1. Look Around and See the Brokenness
2. Look Up and Say a Pray
3. Look Ahead and Seize the Opportunity.

We finished with communion and the Lord's Prayer. I walked away thinking, "What a wonderful Savior we have! And what a fantastic church!" I'm really glad to be their pastor.

Also -- Last night we had two services at our satellite campus in Minong (20 miles away)

We held a Spanish speaking service at 5:30, and then an English service at 7:00 p.m.

Barry, the usher, beamed as he said, "Just think, we haven't even been going four months yet and we've already added a second service!"

Altogether, between last night and this morning, Hayward Wesleyan Church touched 777 people.

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