August 2011

Grace Baptist Church

Waterloo, IA

I traveled to Waterloo, Iowa on Sunday, August 26, 2012 to preach at Grace Baptist Church pastored by Rev. Ray Williams.  Pastor Ray has been leading the church for many years and has done a wonderful job of leading the people in Loving God and Loving people in and around their community.  A couple of years ago they made significant changes to their facility and God has blessed them with many new attendees.  I spoke on the topic of “The Demon of Debt” and the message was well received.  The folks at Grace are generous and hospitable people with a special commitment to reaching the children in the community through an aggressive AWANA club.  At Sunday noon we were able to spend quality time with Pastor Ray and his wife Barb.  God is good.  Dr. Lou Petrie

8/26/11 Share +

Mona Shores Baptist Church

Muskegon, MI

The Sunday morning service went very well.  The congregation filled the sanctuary.  It was great to see so many people.  Many of them were old acquaintances, having spoken at a banquet here several years ago, and a majority of the people knew about our Cornerstone Fund.  I spoke on the feeding of the 5000 from the Gospel of Matthew and entitled the message, “God will meet your needs.”  Muskegon is facing very extreme economic challenges in this downturn.  Unemployment, lay-offs and housing defaults are all present in this summer vacation destination.  A great many people responded openly to the message.

At noon hour we were invited to meet with a group of people to fellowship with Dr. Jerry and Dee Sheveland who preached at Lakeside Baptist Church in Muskegon that morning.  It was a beneficial time as Jerry asked me to report on Cornerstone and Jerry made mention of some wonderful highlights of our Converge Worldwide ministry.  I informed the pastors that today (August 22, 2011) was Cornerstone Booster Sunday and that 50+ pastors throughout Converge specifically made Cornerstone material available to their congregations.    - Dr. Lou Petrie

"Dr. Lou challenged our church about trusting God to meet our needs even in tough times.  This was very relevant to our community since we have been hit hard by the economic downturn.  Lou's energy and enthusiasm were a great boost to our people.  We are grateful for his open heart and biblical challenge."    - Pastor Tom Siefert

 

8/22/11 Share +

Temple Baptist Church

Rockford, IL

This Church is a historic and storied congregation within the movement of churches of Converge Worldwide.  On July 31st I spoke on ‘God taking care of all our needs’ as demonstrated from Matthew 14, the story of the feeding of the 5000.  One man came forward and told me that he had lost everything in his life.  He realized that morning that he needed God desperately to take him back.  It was my joy to pray with and for this man.  Many years before he had made a commitment but had not followed after Christ as he should.  How many people in the multitude which listened to Jesus would have had the same testimony?  God wants to meet our needs both as individuals and as congregations.  Our opportunity is to put our resources into the hands of King Jesus and let Him multiply them for His glory.     -Dr. Lou Petrie

"Dr. Lou provided words of encouragement and challenge for a congregation going through significant change.  He is very appreciated.  We look forward to a his ministry again. He is an excellent communicator and his message resonated with us."  - Pastor Bill Patterson

8/5/11 Share +