1/14/2006

It's been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.

It started out Sunday with our three services. The topic for Morning Worship was evangelism. During Kids' Church we learned about Acts 2 style Christian community. As a part of Evening Worship we held a season of prayer in preparation for the upcoming 40 Days of Community campaign.

On Monday I met with the principal of our local elementary school. We had coordinated with the Peacemobile (a traveling interactive exhibit which is designed to teach elementary school children peacemaking concepts and skills) to come from Port Huron, Michigan, to Pigtown for a week in March. We wanted to see if the principal would be interested in having all the classes in her school come on a field trip to the church that week to experience the Peacemobile. She was more than anxious to accept the invitation and put us on the school calendar.

That afternoon I met the builder at the church. They had a follow-up inspection for the roof. They also moved the scissor lift outside the building. It had been left there by a subcontractor and he was to come by that afternoon to pick it up.

I went back to the school Tuesday morning to pick up classroom statistic printouts from the principal so we could begin developing the schedule for the tours. On my way there I saw that the scissor lift was still in front of the church. I called the builder and they contacted its owner. His truck had broken down and he didn't think he would be able to pick it up for several more days.

Not wanting the machine in front of the church, especially with kids scheduled to come to SonRisers, the builder returned at about 6:30 Wednesday morning to move it back into the church. We had about 80 kids participate in SonRisers. Afterward, the man who drives a street vacuum around the park for the city stopped by the church to thank us for work we're doing in the neighborhood.

A couple hours later, the owner of the lift called saying he was in front of the church and wondered where the lift had gone. I headed back to the church so the man could get it out of the church and off my mind.

That evening was the Narcotics Anonymous meeting and our Adult Disciples group. The Adult Disciples reviewed 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus.

Danny and I tidied up the church on Thursday evening. Afterward, Jenn and I checked materials and talked through one of the elements of the consecration service.

Len Young and Paul Davis arrived from church headquarters Friday afternoon. They came to celebrate with us and lead us in our services of consecration for the new building. They participated in Pizza Church that night where we learned from Joshua 4:1-9 then had a chance for them to visit with the kids while we all ate pizza. Afterward, Paul and I spent some time walking around the neighborhood while I told him stories of things that had happened here over the years.

On Saturday Paul and I spent some time visiting in homes, running church errands, and seeing some historic sites in Baltimore. That evening Len, Paul, and Rick joined our leadership team for dinner together at the church. Vonceil prepared the soup and chili and Tamara made dessert.

Afterward, Paul and Rick stayed to help Tamara, Jenn, and me staff our monthly Solid Rock Cafe. We had a good turn out and the kids seemed to really relax and enjoy their time playing games together. Donald stopped by at Solid Rock to see if I could print out his boarding pass for his travels back to Graceland University. I printed it out later that night and he's scheduled to pick it up at the church in the morning.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, our Morning Worship will be our consecration service. Paul will speak and Len will offer the prayer of consecration. Both Paul and Len will share stories during Kids' Church then we'll get Paul to the airport to catch his flight home. Instead of a prayer service on Sunday evening we'll have a preaching service. Len will bring the message and afterward we'll have a dessert fellowship time. Next Saturday evening is our kick-off event for the 40 Days of Community campaign. We'll have a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m. followed by a video presentation by Rick Warren.

Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:

the Banton family
the Conley family
the Richardson family
the Taylor family
the Burrs family
the Johnson family
the Threet family
the Latham family

Thank you for your continued prayer support.

Jeff and everyone at
The Power House
"Building the Kingdom of God Here and Now"
PowerHouseMD@Juno.com
www.pigtownchurch.org