Grace Abounding

Our church family recently had a fun night out in Del Ray, a peaceful main street community in Alexandria. We attended a special event at The Dairy Godmother, a delicious custard creamery. In honor of the Dairy Godmother’s German Wisconsin heritage, March 15th was “Brat Night” (that is, bratwurst, not as in “you little brat!”). They offer sauerkraut, bratwurst, and frozen custard to the community along with live accordion music.

The place was packed with hundreds of people inside the tiny shop and filling up the sidewalk outside. There’s nothing else quite so good as cherry cobbler with vanilla frozen custard from this wonderful Alexandria creamery. It provided our church family a fun night out of fellowship together in our community.

Open for Brat Night!

The accordion players really got into it.

Aah, what a great dinner, topped off with frozen custard. Thanks to The Dairy Godmother for providing our church a relaxing time where we could laugh and share life together.

Last Sunday, God granted our church a rich time of fellowship & unity with Engleside Baptist Church, another local church in Alexandria. We celebrated a joint baptism & worship service where two from our congregation and four from theirs were baptized, picturing the power of the Gospel! Garrett shared our church plant’s story. Garrett, Shayne, and I fielded questions about church planting. I then spoke from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 on Treasuring the Gospel. This was the closing service of their missions conference, and we were honored to celebrate our first baptisms and our first joint worship service with another church. We can’t wait to worship jointly with them again!

As the Spirit forged genuine love and joy between our congregations, we experienced firsthand the truth of Psalm 133:1  – “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Thank you, Engleside Baptist, for your love for God and for the greater body of Christ!

Incidentally, a serious electrical fire broke out on Monday, the next day, in Engleside’s church & school building. Everyone was evacuated safely. We’re praying the building will be cleaned of chemical and smoke damage for them to worship there this Sunday. Please lift up the brothers & sisters of Engleside Baptist in your prayers.

Storytelling, Face Paint, and Balloon Art
Our church family and teens from Truth Baptist Church in East Hartford, CT, told stories in Alexandria parks and coffee shops on August 31, 2008. The teens made balloon art, painted faces, told interactive stories with props and costumes, and handed out popsicles. We had a great reception from kids and parents in Del Ray, Cameron Station, and Cameron Perks. Several families asked about our church and how they can visit.

Expecting The Unexpected
The teens from Connecticut intended to arrive Friday night at 9:30 pm. But their van broke down on the NJ Turnpike. Pastor Matt Harper went to the Philadelphia airport and picked up another rental van…after 1 AM! They arrived after 4 AM, quite exhausted. Jane Coates, Christy Matias, and my brother Nathan Matias all pitched in and led the first storytelling session the next morning while the teens caught some sleep.

Back On Track
By lunchtime the teens had taken over and kept many kids and parents captivated through their stories and activities! Thank you, brothers and sisters from Truth Baptist Church! You encouraged our congregation and served our community well.

Join us this Saturday, August 30st, 2008, for interactive storytelling, balloon art, and a surprise at local Alexandria parks and a coffee house! Kids ten and under are invited.

11 AM, Alexander Boothe Park – by Samuel Tucker Elementary School in Cameron Station

2 PM, Mt. Vernon Community School’s Playground – in Del Ray

4 PM, Cameron Perks Coffee House – in Cameron Station

Kids will hear and help tell classic children’s stories like “Casey at Bat” and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”

I'm Part of a Bigger Story