Matthew

I know we're almost half way through the week but I have to share about something that happened during Sunday's service. It was an incredible day all around. We watched Matthew [from Rob Bell's Nooma series] and talked about God's desire to grieve with us as we suffer loss. We set it up to where people could come and be prayed for by our elders during the invitation time and boy did they! It's an awesome site to see someone humbly come before their church family longing to be prayed over.

I must share that throughout the week I struggled with the topic [in more than one way]. The subject needed to be addressed but my biggest concern was knowing that not all would be able to resonate with the video and message because not all, thank God, had lost someone near and dear to them.

God showed me once again how he can do his thing regardless.

After the video [which is awesome and is a must see] Kevin sang "Cry Out To Jesus" by Third Day which was a perfect fit. Towards the end of that song there is a line that says,

"For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus"

As Kevin shared those words I found myself losing it as I was reminded of a friend, who I knew to be in that service and I knew to be going through some rough times in his marriage. My prayer in that very moment was that my friend and his wife would cry out to Jesus and ask Him to mend what was broken, to fix what they could not.

The invitation time that followed the song was absolutely incredible. My elders and I had the chance to pray with people longing to touched by Jesus. And wouldn't you know it, when I opened my eyes, mid way through the invitation time, and looked across the room, my friend had come forward with his wife and one of my elders was praying for them. I couldn't help but run across the room and just lay my hands on them as Ed finished his prayer.

I found myself amazed at how God could use a service designed to reach out to people dealing with death...and heal a marriage that was six feet under.