Are you prone to spinning bad news in such a way as to present it in a positive light? I have to admit that I am, and I am very well aware of the fact that I do it sometimes. Moreover, I will go ahead and confess that I have been thinking for a few weeks now about how to share about our candlelight service in such a way as to put a positive spin on something that seemed to me personally as a step back. Now we have gone through the evaluation of this special service, and I have to say that I am in the minority in my evaluation of it. But nevertheless, we have a lot to improve before our special Lent and Easter services.
It was a year ago that I shared how our Candlelight Service seemed like a dress rehearsal for the growth of the church. But then we had to move last May and that put a wrench in our plans, though it did not stop the growth dynamic in our church. It was about a month ago that I told you a couple of stories from that service and how it was impacting people that were still pretty far from the Lord. This year our service was not as highly-attended as last year, and we held it in a much smaller place. There were a lot of challenges and obstacles that the team preparing the event had to overcome. After all, it is one thing to put together a service like that in your usual place of worship, and it is something completely different when you have to set everything up just for this one event in a place you’ve never been before. And I have to say that the setup team did a fabulous job. They were outstanding. The worship team did great too, and it was a real blessing to see how they wove the whole set together mixing solos, classical pieces, and leading the whole church in worship and praise.
Yet, for me personally (and once again I am in the minority here) it all seemed like a step back. Maybe it was because of the location that seemed cramped. Or maybe it was something else. I could not quite put my finger on it given how great a job everyone did. There were a dozen little things including my sermon that I thought we could improve, but there was not one big thing that clearly stood out to me. But as the service wrapped up, I just could not shake this feeling that was quite different from the one we had last year.
That is when I spotted my colleague and co-pastor, Alexey, chatting with one of the guests. This was her very first time at a church service. The set-up team was taking down the lights and packing up the equipment while she still held on to her candle and did not want to see the flame go out. As they were talking, Alexey was gently moving her from self-centeredness in her approach to life to the story of Christ Who came into this world as a baby to die for her as a man. At that moment, watching them talk, I thought, “It is not a step back, it is a step forward,” as long as we continue these conversations with our friends who come to church for the very first time and hear the Gospel in a way they never had a chance to hear it before.
Yours in praying and hastening the day of revival in Moscow and Russia,
Constantin and Alexandra
P.S. Honestly, I am not trying to put a positive “spin” on our Candlelight Service but am rather sharing what encouraged me. And next time, I will share how these types of conversations can transform not just one life but the lives of whole generations.
THREE PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please take a moment right now, after you fnished reading this e-mail, to join us in praying for God:
- To bless "Incubator for Church Planters." You may remember that I recently was certified as a trainer for "City to City's" ministry in Russia. We are in the early stages of launching this ministry which could be broken into three parts: education, faith and work initiatives and social projects. We are starting with education and will begin a two-year course for over 20 church planters from all of Russia at the end of February. The course is called "Incubator for Church Planters." Please join us in praying for the success and the impact of this program.
- To raise necessery funds for us to purchase our own building. I shared in my previous newsletter about our capital campaign that we just launched. Check it out if you have not yet and if you can please share about it with as many people as possible especially with the missions board of your church.
- To bring peace to Russia and Ukraine. Moreover, ask God to use this conflict by bringing reconciliation and revival to these countries.
