Glimpses of Grace – March 2021

One of the things I believe God would have us grow in as a church is to better recognize some of the ways He is at work in our midst. While I have many hopes for us as we seek to do this, three of them are primary. First, I pray that we would rejoice over His grace to us. One of our core values is “joyful worship”. Recognizing some of the ways God is working in our midst will help us to more joyfully worship Him with our lips and our lives through every season and circumstance. Secondly, I want us to be encouraged. I don’t know a person or a church body who is too encouraged. My prayer is that as we recognize some of God’s grace toward us as a church, we will be encouraged in Christ and in the worthy work He has sent us to. Third, I pray recognizing His handiwork would make us hungry for more and more of Him and His work in our midst. The truth is, God is always working in powerful and profound ways, both in the ordinary and extraordinary. Often, we don’t see it, recognize it, or acknowledge it. So, in an effort for us to recognize His gracious work more regularly, I’ll be sending out a monthly post highlighting a few ways He has been at work in our midst. 

As you read these glimpses of grace every month, I would ask three things of you. First, let’s praise God and be encouraged together because of God’s work in our midst. Second, I want to encourage you to be on the lookout for God’s work in your life and share it with those around you. Third, I’d love to hear from you if you have a glimpse of God’s grace to share. Please email me at david@sentcharlotte.org. 

Here are three glimpses of God’s grace from the month of March:

The women of Sent Church finished their bible study on Genesis 11-50. One of our core values is “biblical authority”. We want to be a people who are completely submitted to God and His word in all things. One of the ways we seek to do that at Sent Church is through studying the Bible together. This was the 5th official semester that we have had a women’s Bible study where the women of Sent church were being taught the word of God by women of Sent church. I praise God for His work in and through the women of Sent Church. We heard several testimonies of how God used this study to grow those who were involved. One of the ladies who participated said, “This Bible study came at just the right time for me. I was feeling stagnant and stuck and God used this study of Genesis to remind me of His Truth, to call me to repentance, and to lead me in obedience. I am starting to see some victories in certain areas of my life where I didn’t think I could ever be free. I am incredibly grateful for His grace and kindness.” The women of Sent Church who love God and His word and are seeking to be submitted to and shaped by it are just one major glimpse of His grace to us as a body. Let’s praise God for this!

We hosted our first prayer and worship night of 2021. Another one of our core values is “dependent prayer”. We want to be a people who regular and faithfully cry out to our God in prayer. We want prayer to be one of the things that unifies us together as a body. On Friday March 12th, we gathered as a body to spend dedicated time together praying and singing to our Savior together. We know that he heard us and we know that He answers us. In fact, the night we were gathered together to pray, God answered one of our prayers before we left the building. We were praying for one of the church plants that we partner with in another part of Charlotte and we got word that God had saved someone that we had all been praying for that evening. God loves to hear and answer our prayers! Getting to pray together as a body is a gift from God and I can’t wait for our next prayer and worship night coming up in June. 

Brookelyn Joy Keen was born. On March 20th, Jordan and I got the honor of welcoming our 5th baby into this world. (She is named after her wonderful and godly aunt Brooke.) God heard our prayers and labor and delivery were smooth and momma and our baby girl continue to be doing well. In a broken world that too often and sadly sees children as a distraction or, even worse, dispensable, we know that God gives them to us as His precious image bearers. They really are a gift from Him and it is a joy and labor of love to get to seek to raise them in Christ. We pray that we get to see all our children launched into this world as those who will be used by God to continue to advance His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. We pray for and celebrate Brookelyn Joy as a gift of God’s grace and look forward to the many more babies that will be born within the Sent Church family. 

I pray these glimpses of God’s grace would bring us to more joyfully worship our great God and be encouraged in Him and the work He has sent us to. What a mighty, gracious, and active God we serve!