In a fairly recent sermon series, Andy gave a great definition of a hero: a hero "has the clarity to see what needs to be done and the courage to act upon it." We have lots of heroes at Catalyst. People who see what needs to be done and aren't afraid to do it. And it's time for you to know about them.
This week's hero is Mike Ross. A few months ago, Mike was not very keen on the idea of going to church. Like most people, he endured it at best. Then Mike hooked up with Catalyst and things began to change.
First, he started serving on our parking team and now he serves in UpStreet, our elementary-aged kids environment. The kids love him and it's obvious Mike loves them.
But here's the biggie...at the volunteer appreciation event we held a week or so ago, Mike wrote down the name of a friend he wanted to invest in, pray for, and invite to Catalyst. I challenged everyone to do that over three months...Mike did it in a weekend!
The next day, Mike worked with his friend who's name he had written down the night before. As part of their conversation, Mike invited his friend and his friend's wife to come to Catalyst with him the next day. To Mike's surprise, his friend agreed to come!
Mike felt what I wish everyone could feel at least once in their life...the feeling you get when you turn into the parking lot with a friend that you invited in the car with you. Here's what Mike said about it...
"...the weird thing is, i was nervous as crap on the ride there and the walk to the building, but once we walked in, it was cool."
Clearly, no one told Mike that "crap" is not an acceptable word on jayhardwick.com! :-)
Here's the best part...his friends LOVED their experience at Catalyst. They loved the music, the people, and even loved the weird video sermon. Both of them said they want Mike to bring them back to Catalyst!
Mike, props to you for taking advantage of the opportunity that was in front of you to invite your friends to church. Thank you for trusting what God does at Catalyst enough to bring your friends into it. You are a hero...at Catalyst and in the Kingdom! Oh...and in our city...Mike's a firefighter, an emergency responder, and our resident Anthrax specialist! :-)
Way to go, Mike!
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