Anticipation!!

Mercy VineyardBlog

Hey Mercy Vineyard Church of the Quad Cities!

When I was just a grade school kid, there were these commercials on television for Heinz Ketchup.  You’d see this bottle on its side and ketchup would very slowly be coming out of the opening to make it’s way onto the juicy burger below, all while Carley Simon’s “Anticipation” was sung in the background.  The commercial did a terrific job of conveying a sense of expectancy and high hopes.  You just couldn’t wait for that burger to have the ketchup on it so the guy could finally enjoy it!

I totally feel like the burger guy right now.  Seriously, as we get closer to our launch date, I feel like a kid on Christmas eve.  I lay awake at night imagining all the things God is going to do through us and in us.

I can’t wait to invite other people to the party! We’ve had a great time as a launch team, and I’m so looking forward to adding new people to our church family.  As our launch date approaches, it feels like I’m about to get a bunch of new family members and I can’t wait to have a wonderful with them all!

I can’t wait to have “proper church”. I know we’ve been meeting and worshiping together, but I’m looking forward to getting into God’s word (beyond training materials), praising with our new church family members, and seeing our hospitality and prayer teams in action.

I can’t wait to see new ministries launched. I know this one is a little further off, but launching Sunday mornings brings us one step closer.  Community groups, youth ministry, community outreach, etc. are all parts of a healthy, growing church.  That’s going to be us before we know it!

I can’t wait to help others begin following Jesus! This is why we’re doing this!  This is why we’re giving sacrificially, working long hours, and saying goodbye to an existing church that we all love dearly.  This is what keeps me up at night with excitement.  Our hard work and giving is going to make a difference in peoples’ eternities.  People will get to spend forever in heaven because of our church helped them get there!  There is nothing greater!

1st Timothy 4:10 says, “This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God.”

As we work toward our launch, let me encourage you to do one thing: get your hopes up! Dream big!  Get excited!  Look forward to our launch with major expectancy!

It’s going to be awesome and I’m so honored that I get to share this experience with all of you!

What are some of the things you are anticipating?