"Trickles and Floodgates"

Evergreen Church (Admin)
Jul 30, 2024
7 min read

In resuming our monthly blogs, I want to take this moment to thank and praise the Lord from the depth of my heart for all He has done over the last several months. To God be the glory for all He has done for Evergreen Church in strengthening His people, sending more people to give the increase, beginning new ministries, and moving in real and tangible ways among us! How true it is, "No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2, NLT).

Over the last four years, many people have prayed for Evergreen Church and stood with us, encouraged us, and given to us to keep the vision of Evergreen Church alive and growing! People who are members of Evergreen have remained faithful, and even those that are far and near and belong to other church families have loved us and said, "keep going Evergreen!". Our God, He was the One constantly giving the next step of faith and encouragement not to give up.

We used to joke about the faithful 5 and then it grew to the faithful 7 and on from there, but to be honest, as the pastor, I spent lots of precious Sundays in our living room and then in the church space preaching to about six to ten people in person and about 2-4 online and I have enthusiastically brought the Word whether 10 or now 30 plus. The excitement about the Word of God has always been just that, the incomparable opportunity to break the Bread of the Word of God and enjoy what the Holy Spirit does among us. We spent 3 years and 8 months sowing seeds of prayer to God in faith for Him to bring about what He has put in our hearts with little to no movement in regards to growth in the number of people coming.

I cannot tell you how many meetings whether Wednesdays or Sundays, I would feel the tangible Presence and Arms of Jesus around me, loving me and making up for any longing or disappointment. His Presence has been our constant companion and strength and I say "our" because those few people, you know who you are, who were consistently faithful, I mean consistently faithful were the "Aarons" and "Hurs" that kept Stewy and my arms up to keep fighting another day. I saw and see Jesus in you. Thank you, and I love you. Pastor Stewy, you toil a lot behind the scenes, but you are my favorite ministry partner and always will be, thank you. Like Bishop Corder told you, Stewy, your passion is seen not in your exuberance, but in your constant, unwavering commitment to all that God has called you to do. That calm and stalwart spirit that you bring is passion that goes the distance. Steady wins the race and teaches a lot in the process.

Those who prayed constantly for us and gave over and above their own tithes and giving to their local churches to make the vision happen at Evergreen, you are our donors and friends at Evergreen and you share now and will share in every single beautiful thing Jesus does among us. One of the first encouragements that lifted our hearts many months ago was when a new man joined in with our existing online community and this brought us hope and excitement, another soul to love and steward!! And then, after 44 months of praying, sowing, watering, waiting, as I referenced in the last blog, here came...a new family. And then, not long after that a new guy walked into church one Sunday after service and said, I got born again 10 years ago and I'm new to the neighborhood looking for a church. The trickle had begun.

A couple of important prophetic words came at the end of January going into February. In prayer, Pastor Stewy sensed that Evergreen would be a place for "scattered sheep" to find their fold, "scattered sheep" being people who either know Jesus already, but have no church home for various reasons or people that are open and curious about God and want to find out who He is. After this initial word, Mark had a word that was confirmed by a friend of his that belongs to another church which was that we needed to get ready, that there would be a floodgate of people. Both of these words came to pass in the order they were given within a week to a few weeks.

From a trickle to a floodgate! Now, forty people may not seem like a lot of people to you, but when you go from 15 precious souls to 30-40 within a matter of weeks, that my friend is what we call a "floodgate". Doubling to almost tripling your numbers in a few weeks...that is the work of ONE person...the Holy Spirit of God!!!

How we love Your Word, oh Lord: 'I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. ' (I Corinthians 3:6-7, NKJV). Thank you God! You are so faithful! From Easter Sunday, March 31st, to date, every Sunday we have had at least one new guest with us in service. And from January to now we have welcomed in 15-20 new faces that call Evergreen Church their home. When God is ready to give the increase, it happens! And all the prayers, tears, cries in the night, feeling like you're going to give up, exhaustion and weariness, all of that is replaced with wonder and awe at what the Lord can do. It is replaced with love, hugs, and new precious souls to steward.

Arms full carrying sheaves that before were carrying out seed: 'He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.' (Psalms 126:6, NKJV). This rejoicing and awe-inspired praise comes from all our lips, those who faithfully endured and built with Evergreen from the start to our wonderful number now that has joined and makes us a whole that is mightier than its parts, praise God!

The Kingdom of God is wild and untamed and mysterious, but there is no adventure like being on mission with Jesus in Your heart and Jesus at Your helm!

'Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.” ' (Mark 4:26-29, NLT).

Aren't you glad that we get to be a part of this Kingdom together? A family, a building, a bride, wow!!! No one like our God! Not only does He give the increase and begin the work, but then He works the growth as Mark 4 above captures so amazingly. That growth that day by day and night by night, and even moment by moment is making us more and more into the image of Jesus, reflectors of His Grace and His Power! Speaking of new growth and new life: join with me in praising God for our new sister in Christ Jesus, Mya, born again on July 12th and for our first ever Youth Night at Evergreen on July 27th with 12 youth in attendance and 7 volunteers for a milestone of Grace to say thank you Jesus!!

Keep Mya in prayer as you are rejoicing and keep Lauren in prayer as she leads our youth! We had our first baptismal service ever this summer, in June with 3 people getting baptized, prayers and blessings for Dee, Steve, and Kevin! This is yet another incredible milestone we continue to praise the Lord for in the midst of all the other praises to Him! And last, but not least, an amazing thing to give God praise for and to celebrate is that we exceeded our June fundraising goal to be able to pay all of our expenditures in the month of June! Let's continue to give generously as a body of believers so that we can support what Evergreen needs each month to sustain the ministry God has begun!

If you are reading this blogpost and do not have a church home, come find your fold with us! We warmly invite you! We are pursuing the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness as we make disciples who are deeply rooted in Jesus, abundant in love, and eternally focused. We aim to be a modern expression of the Acts Church in the Name of Jesus Christ and by His Grace. See our August calendar below!

Love to you all in Christ Jesus,

Pastor Danielle

AUGUST 2024 Calendar:

Sunday services begin every Sunday at 11:00 AM.

(Childcare is available for ages newborn to 5 years old during Wednesday and Sunday services.)

July 28th - August 3rd: