This is a post for Tuesday at Ten!, where each Tuesday morning Karen Beth posts a  “prompt phrase” on her blog Finding the Grace Within and you finish the phrase and write how that phrase fits you and your life or your thoughts, in whatever creative way you choose.

There are many people whom I admire, but the first person to come to my mind as I read today’s prompt was our pastor, Dr. John Morgan. Since Sagemont Church began nearly fifty years ago with a core group of 16, until today when the weekly attendance ranges from 4,500 to 5,000 people, Dr. Morgan has led our church with wisdom, integrity. and humility. No man is to be put up on a pedestal – Pastor Morgan would be the first to say Sagemont is God’s church, not his – but I esteem him highly for the work he has done.

I remember the first time we met Pastor Morgan. After services, he invites all guests to come to meet him in the “Connection Center.” We got into a fairly long line that Sunday, introduced ourselves, and talked with him for a few minutes. The next Sunday, Pastor Morgan came up to us, addressed us by name, and asked Mitch how work was going at Daystar where he worked at the time. In a church of thousands, I was impressed that he remembered us out of so many people attending, and before long we became members.

In the almost six years that my husband and I have been members of Sagemont Church, we have grown spirtually under our pastor’s leadership and preaching. I personally appreciate Pastor Morgan’s teaching on financial freedom, and his emphasis on the authority of Scripture as the foundation of our faith and our pattern for living in this world.  And I’m challenged by his frequent reminders that as Christians we are to be “living proof of a loving God to a watching world.”

Jesus promises in John 12:32 that if He is lifted up, He will draw all men unto himself. In February, 2009, Sagemont Church claimed that promise in a unique and tangible way with the construction of the 170-foot tall cross that has become a spiritual landmark for the church and surrounding community. Many lives have been touched by this outward sign of the message faithfully taught, and weekly we see more people drawn to Jesus by the cross. Then when our current worship center was completed in September 2012, the empty tomb was added. Together, these are a vivid reminder of the price Jesus paid for our sin and of the victory He won over sin and death on the Cross.

The Cross and the Empty Tomb – Our Savior is Alive!