Last night I had the privilege of preaching the opening service for the Impact Missions Conference at First Baptist Rock Hill.  This is a great church pastored by a great friend of mine, Steve Hogg.  This was their second missions conference and it was very exciting for a number of reasons.

First of all, I got to see some missionaries that have been with us in the past.  This is always a blessing.  They always ask about how our fellowship is doing and they always speak to me about the wonderful time they had in our midst.

Secondly, it is exciting to see how we have been able to have a small influence in other churches.  On a number of occasions, I have talked with Steve about our conference.  They have used a great deal of what we do.  I also got to see Alan and Lisa Bishop who were in our church a number of years ago.  They are serving in a leadership capacity in that missions ministry and we were able to make an investment in them.

Thirdly, I got the chance to see a number of people who had been in our church in the past and have moved to Rock Hill and are a part of that church.  They are serving in a number of different capacities.

And I got the chance to challenge and encourage that great church to be involved in touching the world through missions.  It reminded me of how blessed we are with such a committed group of believers and how the Lord has not only given us a great opportunity here, but also in the lives of others as we invest in individuals as well as churches.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to do these types of events.  I am always aware of the fact that the reason they ask me to do it is because of what you have done.

I always look forward to Sunday and this is going to be a great week, but this experience heightened my expectations and excitement.