SUPER SUNDAY - TAKE TWO

I got a call late Saturday from the owner of the College Cinema, where Crossroads holds Sunday morning services.  He told me that all the rain we had finally began leaking around the front A/C unit in Cinema One where we meet.  He said the fire department came and blocked off a portion of the seating down in front in case the ceiling fell in.  My first thought was, "no problem, no one ever sits down front".  My second thought was, "This is ironic, considering we had originally slated moving our services into Cinema Three for the 3rd of July".

I called Will Lurie, our Media Arts Pastor, to let him know what I knew.  By yesterday morning at 7:15AM, I'd heard from Rachel Williams our Guest Services director, and David Myers our soundman, that it was now raining in Cinema One..front and back.  We made the call to move to Cinema Three and the race was on.  We cancelled the early service and had two and a half hours to move stage, sound, lights, projector, to another cinema, and re-set the lobby to accomodate a new traffice flow.

Standing with the staff in wet. soggy. smelly Cinema One I asked, "Do you hear that?  That's the sound of God laughing at us for not moving to Cinema Three two weeks ago."  Under my leadership, we had allowed the date to slip, and opted for a re-launch on September 18th.  Apparently...God wasn't confused when he led us to make the move.  I'm pretty sure He knows when it's going to rain.

So we moved.  And something amazing happened.  Staff, leaders, volunteers dug in to the task at hand with and energy and passion I remember from the very first Crossroads service.  The Lobby looked great, the hallway and traffic flow worked, and Cinema Three was absolutely electric!  It looked better, it sounded better, it smelled better, it WAS better!  Why didn't we do this years ago?  It felt like we had moved...to a new church!  (In fact, I remarked from the platform that I felt like I was cheating on my old church.)  

God orchestrated a fresh start for Crossroads at exactly the right minute...when we least expected it.  And I couldn't be more grateful to Him, or more appreciative of the hard work and fantastic attitudes with which EVERYONE approached the challenge of moving. 

More people made first-time decisions to trust Christ and decisions to renew their commitment to Christ in one service than at any time in the last year.  God is so good!  He knows exactly what we need, when we need it.  And often He lets us know about it in advance...we just have to be obedient.  I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father is so patient with us, and not concerned about "paying us back".  If He were, I'd have been standing on the stage of Cinema One when a hundred or so gallons of rainwater, and a half dozen ceiling tiles, came down with a resounding "Sploosh!".  

"God, thank you for not embarrassing us like that, but for giving us the very best opportunity to worship You, to serve You and others, and tell people about You and Your Son Jesus!"  See you all next week for two services in Cinema Three.  Let it rain!  We're good now.