We have now had a full week of feeling the transition of the Groenewold's departure and having Pastor Stephan leading church services. We were really blessed on Wednesday evening by a group that came from America to do gospel concerts as a form of outreach in the city of Berlin. They were led by the same person who sent a group last year around this same time, and last year we held the concerts in the Uckermark (East Germany). This year God was very sensitive to timing and we actually didn't have to plananything for them, they just showed up and sang for almost an entire church service. It was beautiful to see them afterwards spending time with people in the body, one and one and praying with different people. The presence of God was there, and you could really sense that God had this for our church at this particular time. The group was encouraged by the way that our church was continuing on with a new Pastor, and as a result they encouraged other body members here in the same way. Pastor Gary spoke an amazing message at his last church service here. He said, "Success is believing God is gracious and then receiving grace. Only know one message, the message of the grace of God. Be simple. Believe it. Receive from God. Receive truth." What an amazing message to leave on. If we continue on in grace there is nothing to worry about. The worry comes when we try to run our own race and do it ourselves. We cannot afford to miss the grace of God. So as we think about Pastor Gary we cannot help but think about the things he would say to us daily, "don't stop, keep going, push through the walls" and by God's grace, we keep going!
