05/29/2026
What a moving night of music, testimony, and message. God’s presence was definitely felt by all.
Our evening started with full bellies from hamburgers on the grill, french fries, and broccoli salad. Nothing is better than grilled burgers! Thank you to our amazing kitchen crew for serving with such love.
Worship began with Zach Williams’ song “Wait for Me.” The lyrics describe a personal journey filled with mistakes, disbelief, and delays in faith, yet despite it all, God continues to wait, offering forgiveness and strength. We also reflected on MercyMe’s song “Make It Well,” a reminder of those seasons when our hearts are heavy, circumstances unresolved, and faith feels fragile. It was truly like a prayer.
We shared God sightings and praises from our week and celebrated many milestones this evening — 120 days sober, 2 years sober, a new job opportunity, and recognizing 9 individuals who shared their testimonies this past year. What mighty achievers!
Tonight, we welcomed Sean as he shared his powerful journey to Christ. Sean grew up in a broken home and remembered saying he never wanted to become like his father as he was dragged along to his dad’s meetings. Unfortunately, addiction soon became part of his own story. Sean began drinking, always wanting more, and eventually faced his first felony. After jail time, alcohol led to drugs, more felonies, dealing, prison terms, and relapsing.
The final breaking point came when Sean faced a possible 155-year prison sentence. Sitting alone in his jail cell, Sean began reading the Bible and crying out to God for help. Tired of hurting those he loved, he joined a prison Bible study where God began using him even while incarcerated. Sean shared that he now believes God allowed captivity to spare his life.
As Sean stood before the judge expecting a life sentence, God moved in a different way. Instead of 155 years, Sean was assigned to a new state prison recovery program and released. His mentor became the late Brett Barton — a man we all loved dearly and miss deeply. Brett believed in Sean and became both mentor and accountability partner throughout recovery. Sean shared how Brett and his wife poured love, grace, and support into his life.
Sean’s life began to change. He married, became a father to four children, and started building a future. Both he and his wife were in recovery and promised each other that relapse would end the marriage. Sadly, relapse and dark seasons returned. Sean survived a near-fatal su***de attempt and once again felt God save him and call him back.
Later, Sean and his wife welcomed a premature baby born addicted to he**in. As Sean held his baby while the child passed away, he found himself angry at God despite all the times God had saved him. Within the next year, Sean lost his wife to overdose, lost his mother, lost his children to DCF, and found himself trapped in deep brokenness and darkness that led to another overdose.
But even then, God was not finished with Sean.
When Sean woke up after that overdose, he was grateful simply to be alive. He prayed for help, entered rehab, and afterward found himself sitting in church praising God for saving him. He began having visits with his children at church, and one year later, God called Sean into addiction ministry.
Today, Sean says his heart cries out for hurting people. He wants to help the broken the same way Jesus helped him. He never imagined God would use his story to reach so many lives. Sean’s message to all of us was simple but powerful: Trust God. Keep praying. No matter what your struggle is, God can pull you up and change your life.
What a beautiful reminder tonight that no one is too far gone for God’s grace.
Third time is a charm. I say this as I type this for the third time after accidentally deleting my summary twice. Makes you wonder sometimes — is it just me, or is the enemy trying to discourage me from sharing?
Tonight, Pastor David shared a powerful message on opposition. He asked us, “Do Christians live in a world of opposition?” The more we grow in our relationship with God and share His Word with others, the more the enemy tries to discourage, destroy, and bully us. Opposition is difficult to face, but God never promised the walk would be easy.
Tonight, we were given 10 important reminders on how to stand firm through opposition:
1. Don’t be surprised when we face opposition. God is not surprised. Read 2 Timothy 3:12, Matthew 5:3-13, and 1 Peter 4:12.
2. Calm your outrage. Don’t respond with fear. Respond with grace and truth. Less reaction and more courageous love.
3. Repent with courage. Sometimes we are not respected because we are not respectable. Own your sins and repent.
4. Keep loving one another. Guard against the temptation to lash out.
5. Love your enemies.
6. Trust God and do good. Challenges come and go, but keep the faith. Keep serving, loving, and doing Kingdom work. Don’t play into the enemy’s hands. Trust God. Doing what is right speaks volumes.
7. Share your hope with others. Be ready because others may want what you have.
8. Be respectful as you share Christ’s Word with others. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Be kind.
9. Remember your Christian family. We are blessed, and there are many others who have it worse than we do. Be grateful.
10. Look to the Lord. Our Lord restores, confirms, strengthens, and establishes us. Fix your eyes on Him. Stay the course with love, integrity, and deep faith.
Our evening was closed in prayer.
Many thanks to Pastor David and Sean for sharing with us tonight. God bless you both.
Just a few reminders:
June 4 – Brianna’s Hope will NOT be meeting
June 11 – upon arrival to our church property, you will see Bruno’s food truck in front of the church. Please Park in the front, grab your supper and we will meet you in our foyer of the sanctuary.
