Our God Works Miracles

Our friends Mike and Anita have a tale to tell:



A few weeks ago at Grace Community Church, Pastor Mike preached a series on “Miracles” - whether God’s miracles are still for today. We, as a congregation, prayed for God to do miracles in people’s lives and did He show up in our family!

Shortly after the series, we received a call from our family in Indiana that Mike’s sister (Mary Jo) was in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery and was not expected to live. When we arrived, we were told of situations that only could have happened by God’s hand. Mary Jo had been experiencing severe abdominal pain. An MRI revealed a spot on her intestines, and the miracles began-

1. She was already in the hospital due to another situation.
2. After the MRI they determined surgery was necessary. The surgeon on call, a Christian, prayed over her before she went into surgery (how cool is that!).
3. The surgery revealed one perforation in her colon and two in her intestines. They had no idea how long they had been there, with poison leaking into her system. It was necessary to do three colostomies. The surgeon told the family that it was a very dire situation and all that was left to do was pray, but he did not expect her to live through the night. She did!
4. Day 2 they began trying to take her off the ventilator, but she was not able to breathe on her own. Again the doctor said if they were not able to wean her off of it soon, she would not make it. She already has COPD and emphysema. On day 3, she came off the ventilator. Thank you Jesus!
5. Later on day 3, her kidneys started to fail. After a time, they were preparing to put her on dialysis when her daughter happened to notice there was no output from the catheter. Lo and behold it was stopped up – No dialysis. Praise God.
6. All of Mike’s family rallied around and prayed over her many times. It was awesome to see God work in each person. One doctor even commented that if she were ever in the hospital, she would want this family praying over her. Only God could have brought this family together in faith.
7. We were there for a week and watched as Mary Jo recovered a little more each day. By the time we left, she was able to walk some and was starting to eat. Her surgeon said several times that God must have plans for her because as sick as she was, it was a miracle she was alive.

What a wonderful God we serve! Two months later, Mary Jo is in rehab with a long recuperation ahead, but we know God will be faithful to continue His work and there will be a time for the “rest of the story.”

God has also placed on my heart that there is no question as to whether He still does miracles – they are in every breath we take because only through Him do we live and breathe and have our being.
Mike & Anita Hughes
April, 2009
Acts 17:28 It is in Him we live and breathe and have our being.

Dust of the Rabbi

In our church service, pastor Mike Hooper's sermon discussed reckless abandonment--being sold out to Jesus. He used the phrase "dust of the rabbi's feet" and it resounded within me. I don't have Mike's excellent explanation but a Google search produced this:“Follow the rabbi, drink in his words, and be covered with the dust of his feet." Disciples followed so closely that they would actually become covered with the dust kicked up by the rabbi’s feet.

We, too, may become dust-covered disciples by following in Jesus' footsteps. We won't always get it right, but He's given us the opportunity for such a close relationship. Wow! We serve an awesome God.

Psalm 95:7-- Oh, that you would hear Him calling you today and come to Him!

God's "Cool" Breeze

Heather Roberts wrote: Okay, I have a cool GOD story for you. Can I just tell you—God is amazing! Three significant things came out of a recent trial my family experienced.
Gary and I were put on the church prayer chain at Grace Community Church because our air conditioner went out in the house. We all were pretty sweaty and stinky! With four boys you can probably imagine! It was looking at costing us $4,400 to fix it...that alone would make you sweat right?
# 1~NO doubt the prayer chain was a huge blessing! A contractor friend (no names will be mentioned to protect the innocent) from church sent his AC guy over to our house and this stranger took my husband step by step through the process of fixing this unit. God gave us a better gift than just fixing it, He gave Gary the knowledge to do it himself and it only cost us $35 for the replacement part! The stranger, however, would take nothing!
# 2~After months of prayer and petition the Lord told us very clearly just recently “Without delay!” for Gary to undergo a vasectomy reversal. To make a long story short (‘cause this is another sermon altogether): We stepped out in faith and obeyed. In November, Gary will have this surgery. For the last three months we have been saving up money for the procedure. Had we needed to pay for the AC it would have drained our savings.
# 3~The first air conditioner company Gary called to get the $4400 estimate was a company he really just randomly picked from the phonebook. Come to find out the guy who answered the call was my old best friend’s younger brother. He gave me her phone # and she and I have been playing phone tag after years of no communication! Her brother told me he never works on this side of town! He thought it was pretty weird that he ended up being the one to come to our house. She had actually been on my mind for the last couple of weeks! WILD HUH? It was just a God thing.
The message: So often God wants to bless us but we just don’t have the patience to receive it or the faith to believe it. I learned that YES we will need to go through some HOT STINKY days... but, boy, is the reward all worth it in the end. God tripled the blessings in our life and He showed Himself in 3 special ways!
# 1~God the Father who is our provider!
# 2~God the Holy Spirit who leads us!
# 3~God the Son who heals the broken hearted!

Let It Be So

www.gracesanantonio.com *The photo depicts Grace Houston.*

Our church's official GRAND opening happened this morning. Wow, what can be said? The Spirit showed up and we were blessed. It was GRAND!

Cameron and Desi Hall, pastors of Grace San Antonio, stepped out in faith and arrived in Bexar County a little over a year ago knowing no one. With the help of friends from Grace Houston, and total reliance on God, they rented a KC hall and services began. That location served as our home for a year. Lovers of Jesus began to filter in and form a core group: a family!

One year later--we've moved: the 8600 block of Huebner Road, San Antonio, TX. Come and join us. Jesus will be there, waiting.

Going MY Way

Denise attended church faithfully and expected her girls to go as well. But one of them balked. "Mom no one in our high school class goes to church."

It was the catalyst Denise needed. She knew her family needed a change The “darkness” in their city was real. So, on faith, she packed up her two children and moved to San Antonio. They visited a mega-church near where they lived, but just didn’t feel plugged in. It was a bit overwhelming. Still, Denise was determined her daughters would have a Christian influence in their lives.

The last Sunday in September, Denise pulled protesting kids into the car and headed toward church. She prayed as she drove. “Lord, show me how to get my daughters connected. Show me where we belong.” Stopping for a red light, she saw an A-framed sign on the corner. Grace Community Church. She pointed it out to her girls. “Want to try that church?” Both agreed.

Denise made the turn and arrived at a KC Hall where the church group was meeting: for their very first service! They visited, and now over six months later, Denise’s girls enthusiastically attend worship services.

Seems like God sent them a real sign!