"Solio Deo Gloria,” which means “Glory to God Alone” in Latin, was the theme of the 2014 Grace Retreat held at Virginia State University in Petersburg, VA from June 25 – 28.  There were 60 plus Timothy students, counselors, parents, and pastors attending the Grace Retreat from NCFC this year.  My first Grace Retreat was two years ago with a handful of VA Timothy students, and I was tremendously blessed.  So though I was physically tired from having attended the Promiseland Retreat just a few days prior, I was looking forward to the Grace Retreat.   Additionally, with Pastor Brian unable to attend due to the short-term missions to Ecuador, I felt I needed to be there to take care of the Virginia students and witness whatever the Lord may be doing in their midst. 
There were over 450 people in attendance, representing 38 different churches, from as far as  North Carolina.  That’s an average of about 12 people per church.  If you take NCFC and other large attendance churches into consideration, this means many of the churches sent fewer than ten students. The Grace Retreat indeed is a big blessing and spiritually eye-opening event for the students from these small churches.  They are not likely to be able to afford nationally renowned speakers and experience worship provided by the “Hillsong quality” worship team. 
As expected, the retreat was packed with awesome keynote speakers and seminar leaders, many of whom NCFC has already heard from through the past revivals and retreats.  These speakers included Pastor Q, the Senior Pastor of HOPE Church, the organizer of the Great Retreat since 2001, Pastor Carlos Reyes, Pastor Bob Hartley, and Pastor Stephen Chandler.   In addition, there were other pastors and missionaries from YWAM in Hawaii, Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and other local churches.  One surprise guest speaker was Pastor Esther Chang, who used to attend NCFC in the mid-90’s.  She gave the best ‘sex talk’ I have ever heard.  She was direct, transparent, and engaging with a great sense of humor, keeping the audience’s attention the entire time.  I’d love to invite her to NCFC during our next ‘True Love Waits’ campaign.   Thanks to Pastor Esther, I will never be able to eat IKEA Swedish meatballs.   Ask a Grace Retreat attendee to find out what I mean. 
I am thankful for the many powerful testimonies of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing that many of the retreat attendees experienced. I also hear that many of our own Timothy students have encountered God in a new, more intimate way.  Indeed God alone deserves all the glory!  I too experienced spiritual renewal through the times of powerful corporate worship and challenging messages from the anointed servants of the Lord.  However, the greatest message that I walked away with from the retreat was not presented in any of the main sessions or seminars. It was not preached or taught, but demonstrated, and its impact will remain with me for a long time.
It turns out that the Retreat registration fee barely covers the cost of room and board the hosting university charges.  So HOPE Church members raise over $20,000 throughout the year to cover the airfare, honorarium, and room and board of the retreat speakers.  Though they can reduce the expense by inviting only local speakers and having a fewer number of speakers, they believe in investing in the youth and go all out. 
What really blew my mind was the fact that HOPE Church has fewer than ten youth members who attend and benefit from the Grace Retreat.  In another words, they are not organizing the Grace Retreat for their selfish gain, to bless their Youth Ministry members. If they were concerned about their youth only, they could take an easier and more cost effective approach to accomplish the goal.  The Grace Retreat was born out of and continues to operate in love, love for God and love for God’s people.  No wonder God’s favor and powerful anointing are upon the Grace Retreat, and many next generation Kingdom workers are being raised through it!  Do you also want to become a history maker?  Here is the first step: Practice selfless love where God has placed you.

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
July 6, 2014

This weekend, I attended my second wedding of the year.  My wife, Mina, and I are at the stage in our lives where weddings take up a good deal of our social calendars.  We have potentially six this year though at our peak, I believe we once had eight in a year.  And though weddings can be fun, with two babies at home who will wake you up at an ungodly hour with no regard for what you did the night before, our days of staying out late and hitting the after party are way behind us.  I hope Josiah and Connor appreciate all the sacrifices Mommy and Daddy make for them!  P.S. please let us sleep.
That said, I find weddings somewhat… boring.  Whether it’s because I don’t like getting dressed up or I’m getting too old for this stuff, I’d rather be at home eating fried chicken and watching Josiah run around the house in his diapers while Mina slowly loses her sanity.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m extremely happy for the couple getting married and it’s always good to see friends.  But every wedding seems the same.  Everyone is dressed the same (bride in a white dress, groom in a suit), the sermons are all similar, food is the same (especially at Korean weddings), and awkward dance circles always inevitably take shape amidst a ring of clapping people.  Been there, done that!
One thing that even a cynic like me can recognize though, is what a special day it is for the bride and groom.  One of my favorite things to do at a wedding is look at the groom when the bride walks into the room.  While all eyes are on her, I like seeing how the groom reacts.  If he looks unhappy then, it’s probably not a good sign.  But usually, his face doesn’t disappoint.
This day is all about the bride and groom; it’s their special day!  The wedding day is supposed to be the best day of their lives.  Until marriage begins, in which case every day thereafter is better than the last one, right, guys?
Our approach to church in general and Sundays in particular is similar to my attitude towards weddings.  For those of us who have been going to church for some time, Sundays can be boring – same sermon, same people, same songs – just a routine to go through.  But for the person who comes on Sunday and encounters the living God for the first time, it’s so much more.  It’s their special day – a day of powerful meeting between them and the true lover of their soul.
At weddings, I’m always reminded of my own wedding and how happy I was that day.  I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to be partnered with a woman who knows all my flaws yet still believes in me and supports me unconditionally.  This Sunday, let’s remind ourselves of our own times when we, too, fell in love with Jesus.  Let’s look back and remember how blessed we are and pray that God would rekindle our love once again.  And let’s also lift up a prayer that today would be a special spiritual “wedding” day for a brother or sister next to us too.

From Pastor David’s Heart
June 29, 2014