Last Sunday’s Trunk or Treat was a hit! I hope you were able to participate in all the festivities last weekend. God blessed us with a huge crowd, and it was an exciting event as we welcomed hundreds of new faces. I was especially proud of our church family for inviting their friends. I was stopped by many families who wanted to introduce me to their personal guests. The greatest way to grow a church will always be the personal invitation. Thank you for being proud of your church and for taking the opportunity to introduce your friends and family to the life of ABC. I encourage you to invite them back this Sunday to join you in worship.
I especially want to thank everyone behind the scenes who made Trunk or Treat possible. Kati Dobbs and Rachel Tovar did an excellent job spearheading the event with our ABC Kids ministry. Derek Tackett and his facilities team led well through every step of the set up and tear down, and our amazing volunteers truly made it a party! Thank you to the 39 car owners for setting up amazing displays and going all out on the decorations. Thank you to our student ministry for stepping up to lead games on the field, and we of course appreciate all of the generous folks who donated candy this past month. Thank you to our registration teams, inflatable volunteers, parking team, and all of the logistics positions that made the event go off without a hitch. Trunk or Treat truly is an ABC team effort, and I’m proud of how our church represented itself to our community.
This week we’ve been following up with our registered visitors at the event. All guests received an email from me and a personal phone call from one of our staff members, and it has been encouraging to hear stories come back from those contacts. One guest wrote me a note explaining that her family was hesitant to go as they haven’t been to church much. However, she said her son “walked into the blow up area (inflatables) and was blown away. He said that he thinks that this is his church. They all had a fabulous time. The cars were all fantastic, and yes, everyone was more than friendly. My son went home and said he wants to come and wants to do Sunday School.”
Stories like these are why we do events like Trunk or Treat. I know you will not always get to see an immediate return on your act of service or generosity, but I do believe God plants countless seeds into the hearts of our community through events like this. We will have new first-time guests as a direct result of this event, and I pray that God will continue to light up more homes for Jesus Christ through the intentional outreach of our church. Thank you for your continued generosity in giving to our general budget, as ministry like this is only possible through your faithful stewardship. And thank you for showing up big to roll up your sleeves and help make our community feel welcomed at ABC. Pray for our student ministry as they are up next and preparing for their new outreach event on November 3rd, “Impact.” We are praying that God will continue to touch lives and reach the next generation for Jesus Christ through Austin Baptist Church.
As we learned last week from Jonah, we do serve a “sending” God. My hope is that we will continue to go when he tells us to go, because if we do, I believe our church will continue to make an eternal impact on the lives of those around us. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). I look forward to giving him glory alongside you in worship this Sunday. Have a great rest of your week.
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