It's Saturday here in Nizhny Novgorod. Last night was the opening night for the celebration of the second anniversary of Cornerstone Church. About 250 people attended, which would make this the largest gathering of this church in it's two year history.
As usual the church was filled with people either going through drug rehab, or pastors and leaders who were former drug addicts and convicts. Also as usual, the worship was vibrant, loud and enthusiastic. Several of our friends from other churches were the musicians for the worship, and Cornerstone Church provided all the vocalists.
Karen was also a part of the worship team. Here is a photo of her playing her flute during worship.
Our friend Dinara led several songs. It was her first time to do this. She was so nervous and excited she was bouncing up and down. She did a great job. It is hard to believe that a year ago she was a hard core drug addict.
This morning we had a gathering of over 50 people at the Social Center. It was a combined group of leaders, pastors, rehabilitants and guys from the homeless center.
One of my friends, Pastor Anton from Novosibirsk gave a challenging message about Peter and Jesus. Anton challenged all of us to "leave our boats", that thing which gives us security, and trust and follow Jesus. Anton told us that Peter left everything to follow Jesus after meeting him for the first time. Anton warned us that the longer we knew Jesus, and the more encounters we had, the easier it becomes to not really follow him. Anton told everyone that it is our responsibility to follow Jesus, preach the Gospel, plant new churches and not live a life wrapped up in materialism. AMEN!
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