Away for the First Time

We say the church is God and not ours, but planting a church one gets pretty attached and sometimes that can get blurry feeling. I’m used to being there to fix the things that don’t work, hit all the right knobs for the live stream if something goes wrong and so on. I’ll admit it was a little scary being away from it for the first time during a worship service, even if my absence was made necessary by chickenpox (the last thing I’d want to do is share this!).

But what a wonderful reminder that the church is HIS, not mine nor anyone else’s. His Body at Little Hills Church went into overdrive tonight to make everything work for worship in-person and for those of us worshipping online. Thank you to my mom (Tamara Haffner Butler) who got there super early to make sure all the systems were on, Jim Krenning who faithfully delivered God’s Word on a challenging passage, Melanie Lawrence Haynes who led worship beautifully, Pastor Tim Krenning who oversaw the Lord’s Supper, Jeff Landis who read Scripture and helped with a few technical points and of course, the entire church family (whether online or in-person) who was praying and simply BEING together.

God is at work and this was beautiful tonight as He made sure His work continues. Indeed: His Treasure is the lasting treasure.