Events of last week

I am still thinking through the events of last week around ClearView. We began the week (January 18) by reading the Bible through as a church family. We did so by reading the entire Bible aloud. We started Sunday morning at 9:00 and read 15 hours / day each day of the week ending Saturday evening at 9:00. We actually read through the entire Bible by 9:48 Thursday morning. That is 60 hrs and 48 minutes if anyone is counting. We then started over at the beginning of the New Testament and read it through a second time. Then we started the New Testament again and read through to Acts 5. I have heard feedback from a number of families and individuals as to the impact of this experience. When each person read, they signed the Bible alongside the passages they read. This will be a keepsake Bible for years to come in our church.

We also signed up for prayer times in the new building with established prayer stations and instructions for prayer at each station. We finished the week with a 24 hour fast Saturday evening through Sunday evening to coincide with the end of our dedication service of the new building.

Simply put, this was a highwater mark for me personally as a Pastor. I don't know that I have ever been part of something that was so simple, yet made such an impact. We have as a core value the centrality of God's Word in all that we do and teach. This was a way to highlight this core value while making personal impact. To walk into the chapel at different times of the week and see and hear God's Word simply being read was just awesome!

This is a public "thank you" to all those at ClearView that personally participated in the reading, the prayer, and / or the fast.

Here are a couple of pictures of the new chapel for those that haven't seen it.