Community Day @ Shaver’s Creek

On Sunday (09.23.2007) area United Methodist churches came together for a day of worship, lunch, and a concert.

GodCan03“Community Day” at the local Shaver’s Creek Firemen’s Park, in the Juniata Valley area, has become an annual event, running six years now. This year’s focus was “God Can!” Joleen named several stories in the Scriptures that demonstrated that “God can do a lot with a little!” Randy focused on the story of Gideon.

We decided to talk about this topic because of a mindset that many people seem to have. A scarcity mindset basically says, “God can do a lot with, well, a lot! IOW, “I don’t have enough __________” (time, money, talent, you-name-it).

Gideon amassed a huge army (32,000 people) but God said it was too big. After sending 22,000, who admitted to being afraid, God said the remaining 10,000 man army was still too big. After a simple test to divide the army into two groups, Gideon was left with 300 men. God gave Gideon’s small army a victory that only God could give! God can do a lot with a little!

Thanks to Nate Lawrenson for pointing us to a song by Downhere called “Little is Much.” The song’s chorus states:

Little is much when God’s in it, And no one can fathom the plans he holds, Little is much when God’s in it, He changes the world with the seeds we sow, Little is much, little is much

We loved the song and used it at the conclusion of our message, with the lyrics flashing on the screen phrase by phrase. It was intended to be a prayerful time as people wrote their excuses (notice Gideon’s response to God’s “I am sending you,” “But Lord …” followed by his excuse) on a small piece of paper then took them to God and dropped them in one of the “God Can!” soda cans, giving their excuse to God in the process.

Unfortunately, attendance from the four churches that gathered together was down this year. It seems a number of people took this day as an opportunity to do something else, which sorta defeats the whole purpose of a community gathering. But for those who attended, it was nice to spend the time together. And though it tends to be a lot of extra planning / effort for us, we enjoyed the opportunity to work together. Serving in different churches, that’s not an opportunity we often get.

We certainly hope it was a meaningful day for all who attended!

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