Pastor Mark's sermon from this last week was about Mary and Elizabeth's miraculous conceptions and how the Bible views the gift of life. He covered the contentious and heartbreaking topic of abortion from a Biblical and pastoral angle. That is one of the reasons we preach expositionally through the Scriptures; you can't avoid the difficult passages but instead have to tackle them. In a congregation as young as ours, in a city as un-churched as ours, it was sure to lay heavily on us. And yet, in the midst of such a painful topic, we saw repentance, reconciliation, and redemption in the form of both men and women being baptized. We also got to see how our community loves each other as the women in our Redemption Groups stepped up to counsel younger women. In one of the most powerful moments, Pastor Bubba Jennings interviewed Pastor AJ Hamilton. Pastor AJ shared his testimony and gave a strong encouragement for men and women considering abortion that God can redeem any situation.