We had 477 people present on Easter Sunday. That includes both worship services and the adults & kids in our preschool. That's a lot of people. We are still trying to find out if that is the largest single day attendance in the history of our church. It's okay if it is and equally okay if it's not, because I'm not much into church growth. I am more into church health.

When our kids are growing up, we don't encourage them to grow, we encourage them to be healthy. We teach them to eat the right things and to engage in proper hygiene and to get plenty of exercise and to do well in school and other things that will help them be healthy. And if they are healthy, we know they will grow. I really don't care about our numbers other than making sure everyone has a place to sit and they all get the opportunity to learn and pray and worship without distraction. I am particularly concerned that everyone is getting plenty to eat spiritually and that they are exercising the spiritual disciplines. Good diet and exercise is always important, even spiritually.

I am concerned that everyone loves their neighbor as they do themselves. And if your not loving yourself, get started. I am concerned that we love God with all our heart, soul and mind. I am concerned that we are laying up treasure in heaven and not worrying about our retirement plans. God has a plan and a purpose for us as a church, just as He does for each of us as individuals. I truly believe that God wants us to be the very best example to our neighbors and the whole community around us. I believe that He wants us to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. He wants us to be a lighthouse during troubled times for teenagers. He wants us to be about the business of healing broken relationships between husbands and wives. He wants us to assist parents in training up children in the ways of the Lord. He wants unity in His body. That means that He wants you and I to lock arms and purpose together to be about His business.

In the midst of churches closing their doors, laying off staff members because of budget constraints and resorting to other drastic measures, God wants us to continue to remain on our knees thanking him for the blessings that He brings our way. God wants us to remain faithful to the calling to be His church in this place. God wants us to reach out to touch the broken lives of our friends and neighbors, even when they try to hide it from us. They need to understand that we are equally broken, but have found the answer to restoration and wholeness in Jesus Christ.

In the past two years, we have experienced record giving, record attendance, God's healing power and other manifestations of His great love for us. This calls us back to our knees to thank Him. We must give him all the praise and glory lest we try to take credit for something we had nothing to do with at all. I hope you will pause right now, bow your head and say a word of thanks to the God who loves us with all His heart, for He alone is the one who makes us grow. And by His grace, grow we shall!