Community Blog

Great Banquet #192 Sherry Hobgood

Almost 3 years ago I said YES to serve as Lay Director on GB 192. To me every opportunity to serve in any capacity The Lord & this banquet community is an honor. Due to circumstances in  the USA & around the world that brought so many things in our culture to a standstill—The Great Banquet Community here & #192 waited with anticipation, expectancy, frustration & constant challenge to our  patience at a red light—for it to GO green. None of us expected  the LONG delay to last as LONG as it did. But God is always working. There were constant challenges with each weekend date approaching  to fill 25% of team spots as individual circumstances demanded priority  over being able to serve plus the unknown question over these years that  was before us all—would we have it this time? Then with a green light & a shout of Hallelujah it was GO TIME for The Great Banquet & fall teams.

But God…for the 2/3 of team that maintained staying power throughout this  red light time frame, plus the newly added 1/3 it was amazing to see how  the giftings & abilities of each person & their skillset was divinely appointed  for such a time as this. (This was confirmed daily on the wknd as guest after  guest @ each table shared their heart issues & testimonies that matched so gracefully the talks/testimonies of team @ each table) While we had paper instructions for everything, we were all stretched to remember the how to details of the little things that we were familiar seeing modeled before us on each wknd. We felt like pioneers forging our way @ times, other times we felt like bears waking from hibernation, & by the end of 9 mtgs & a glorious filled wknd, we felt like faith  filled water walkers responding to the Lord’s beckoning ahead of us to keep our  eyes on Him & keep going forward.

As lay director, the perspective is different. I saw weekly the dedication & hard work  of each team member. The double duties so many stepped up to help in where even in a new “song choir” it turned out to be such a blessing & anointed worship—it was as if they  had been doing it for years. We were a team, praying in agreement, we bathed one another & the guests in prayer who would attend. We worshipped deeply & passionately & His presence filled the house each week. We overcame sickness, we comforted those among us who had lost loved ones, we gave in every way there was a need & encouraged & cheered one another on. To hear each guest on the 1st night & constantly thru the wknd say–“I am so hungry to experience The Holy Spirit, I have heard that I will experience The Holy Spirit here, I am hungry for his presence, I have come to leave here free”, all these expressions  were answers to our prayers. To witness the Holy Spirit meet each one with His grace  right where they were with all that he is left me absolutely amazed & all of us I think  & was an answer to our prayers. Prayer & worship ushered in His presence & Kept the  freedom gate open through this banquet journey. God honored His word. He promised that  those who hunger & thirst for righteousness shall be filled. He carried away all we  gave Him. He filled to overflowing, & He gave beauty for ashes. I was in a store yesterday (which is almost a month since our wknd)  & a man I don’t  even know came up to me & began talking. He said the people I helped sponsor on your  wknd are still glowing & it’s obvious they have experienced something wonderful & I  thought  you would want to know that. To which I say—Lord we lay the crowns of victory at your feet.

I am thankful for the grace God equipped me with for this Gb 192, for a team that stood shoulder to shoulder & poured out love & truth.  for our kitchen crew stepping into greater spiritual freedom as mighty prayer warriors on the wall, for an agape crew that went above & beyond & did it with a smile, for the vulnerability of all who shared testimonies in their talks for table leaders who  allowed Holy Spirit to flow & touch hearts from the start, for 2 assistants that called me the noisiest roommate they’d ever had, for a tech rover who is the best pinch hitter & geek a team could have, for the S.D. leaders who carried His presence well, for all the guests & their personal experiences they  will have forever,  for all the people who served in every area, brought snacks, prayed, for The Great Banquet Community & how God uses this ministry & his people to touch & change lives & do in such short time what can take years to accomplish on one’s own, & thankful that we as “soldiers in the army of God “, when we left—the enemy’s blood was on the field & God won the battle. God gets all the glory. De Colores, Sherry Hobgood

 

Great Banquet #184 Lay Director Andy Bell

Hello GB Community, Being selected as GB #184 Lay Director was an honor and privilege. I was so blessed to be a part of this team and this weekend. I was able to sit back and watch God bring full circle what He had started in my life 11 years ago on Great Banquet...

read more

Great Banquet #185 Lay Director Becca Tiller

I enjoyed every minute of being Lay Director during this fall season. I am still humbled by the whole experience. I am always in awe of how God works through each of us during these weekends. It's always amazing to see the whole community come together and bring...

read more

Community Lay Director Summer 2018

De Colores Great Banquet Community, I am so grateful for the support you all showed the team and the guest this past Spring banquet season.  It is an honor calling you all my brothers and sisters in Christ.  God is good… Let me give thanks to all those who were on the...

read more

Great Banquet #181 Lay Director Mike Eubanks

Great Banquet Community,   Being this year’s spring Lay Director meant the end of a season for me and the starting of a new season. As sad as that may sound, the Joy I received by serving in this role allowed me to reflect back at the journey that brought me to...

read more

Great Banquet #183 Lay Director Suzanne Weir

I was so humbled to serve as Lay Director for Great Banquet 183. This experience taught me so much about obedience to God and allowing Him to work in each and every decision. It was amazing to watch God work in the ladies lives and I am so thankful I was given the...

read more

Great Banquet #182 Staci Noffsinger

Great Banquet Community, It was such a Blessing being asked to be the Lay Director of GB #182. It was Amazing seeing God at work through giving me a team to pray and cry with through the 9 weeks preparations and watching the ones that were on their first team grow and...

read more