The Lauries Discuss Faith, Family, and More!

Go ahead and grab a seat.

Wasn't that fantastic? Here's Kathy Laurie. Here, here you sit. Here you sit here Kathy. You sit there. Okay. And then.

Is this good? That's good. Yeah. It's all good. Let's all be seated.

Okay. I just want to be able to see Brittany. I couldn't have done any of this without Kathy Laurie by myself.

I've been just hanging on to his coat tails for 50 years and I'm not going to change that. So here's Brittany Laurie, our daughter-in-law, and Jonathan Laurie. So we just thought we'd reminisce a little bit and think back. I remember one story when we were first starting. So I started preaching when I was 19. I started pastoring at 20.

So we had moved in this little church up on the hill. And I had a friend named Eric. And he played piano.

Eric Nelson. And so we hung out. We had a lot of fun together. And so he started playing this kind of gospel beat. And there was no one around. So I climbed up on top of the piano. Like on the piano.

It's one of those upright pianos. I'm standing up there. I've got long hair.

I've got a long beard. And I'm preaching like I'm a Pentecostal preacher. There's no one there.

And people do not. In the middle of this, two little old ladies come walking in. And I'm standing on top of this piano.

Oh, hi. And they look up and they said, excuse me, is the pastor here? I said, yeah, he's upstairs.

Just go up there. And I sent them to some associate pastor because I was too embarrassed to acknowledge it. I was a pastor. But we were just a bunch of crazy kids.

I mean when you were 19 you were still a kid. Right? I remember one guy had a Mini Cooper.

Not the kind you see now. The original Mini Coopers were so little. And so he parked it outside and went, wouldn't it be funny to pick up the Mini Cooper, carry it into the church and put it in the middle of the sanctuary.

So that is exactly what we did. So he goes out, where's my Mini Cooper? How did it get in here?

How do I get it out? We don't know. We're off to do more pranks. So you know everything sounds so spiritual. And it was spiritual. But we were still kids. Kind of having fun. Living our life. But Kathy, you had some great insights. We were so young.

Okay, you have to imagine. I got married and was a pastor's wife the day after I turned 18. And I just thought I was marrying Greg. I like this guy. He loves Jesus and he knows what he wants to do.

And I'll just be married to him. And then I realized I was a pastor's wife. And we moved into a little, well actually it was a big house. It was a Christian commune that had kind of disbanded.

And it was an empty commune. And so they said, well you can live there for really cheap. So we moved in there. And I got my first water bill. And I did not know you had to pay for water. I was like, my dad never told me that you had to pay for water. How are we going to do this, Greg?

I don't think we have this in the budget. Somehow we survived all those years. And it's been really wonderful to be, I mean, it's just as you look back on your life and it has been like a flashback tonight. Every step of the way what we see is God's faithful hand on our lives protecting us and guiding us and keeping us on the straight and narrow. And what I love about this night is that it gives us a chance to really thank him for what he's done.

And it is all about his faithfulness. But I have my grandchildren here. And they are that generation that I'm thinking of. And I want to tell the stories to them. Yes, they're waving to me somewhere. There they are right there.

Hey, guys. You know, they need to know the stories of how we started and that we didn't always walk with Jesus and we didn't always love Jesus. And Christ saved our lives and changed the course of our entire family and changed our son's life. And he is the one who is giving us a reason to do all of this. And it's because of him that we're here today. And I love the fact that we're here saying thank you. Thank you to the Lord and thank you for the faithfulness of this ministry and all of you that have been a part of it for so many years.

One thing I remember growing up, you know, I was born in 1986. So at this point, Harvest was in full. I mean, we wouldn't use the word megachurch necessarily, but it was a big church.

So we're in the sanctuary. And so I came in and it was just this huge machine. And Dad, you were so well known. And everybody knew who I was, but I didn't know who any of you were. And you all knew my name and knew stories about me, like when I was scuba diving, like everybody's coming up to me after church today.

Oh, so you were scared scuba diving? I'm like, yes, I was eight or I was 10 years old. And it was an interesting place to grow up in, in one sense, but it was also the most amazing place to grow up in because everybody here had such a love for one another. And that was something that I always sensed, even at a young age, where this is a church that loved each other and knew each other and blessed each other. And I'm so thankful. You know, it's no secret. Pastors' kids are some of the weirdest kids that you will ever meet.

And I am just so thankful that I do not have a reason to be weird, except that I'm just a weird person. This church has blessed me and blessed my family and now my children. And I'm so thankful to be a part of that. And I will attribute that to, first and foremost, two parents that did not neglect their first ministry. And that was to their family. My dad to my mom and my mom to my father and to my brother and I. And you've heard it said that people can sacrifice their family on the altar of ministry.

That was not the case. From a young age, I remember traveling all over the place and going everywhere with you guys and staying up late, pushing two seats together at a Coco's restaurant so I could sleep in the chairs while you guys talked until late into the night. And so just a lot of great memories and I'm so thankful to be a part of this church. And now we're a part of it and we get to be in leadership. Brittany, you get to lead small groups along with me and partner.

And so anything you want to share? So I came into the picture a little while later. So how long have we been married?

Thirteen years now. So Jonathan and I, when we first started dating, Harvest Orange County wasn't a thing. So we would drive up on Sunday morning and we would drive up for the young adult ministry on Friday night.

Yeah, two hour traffic. So we were dedicated. But I met some of like my best friends there, like my best friends that are still my best friends to this day. And I think they were like, what's the, you know, like what's a highlight of, you know, harvest for you? And I there's so many amazing memories and so many amazing moments because we get to go to this church that does amazing things like their crusade and harvest America and what we did at Honda Center.

And those are all so amazing. But for me, I think just looking back, it was like so many firsts for me, like my first time going to women's Bible study and my first time leading a small group and all of those things really build upon each other. And I really grew up spiritually here and I'm just so thankful. I told Jonathan, I'll probably cry, but I think I'm just so honored to be in this family and be a part of this church. And I know that it's like 50 years, 50 years of people serving, 50 years of people giving like so many stories, so many amazing things that I've learned so much from so many people who just come to our church and who are just being Christians. And that's really awesome and really amazing.

So thank you to all of you guys and we love you. Well, you guys have loved our kids when they were in their prodigal years and you never, you never judged them. You just loved them and you loved them all the way through. And Billy and Bonnie in the front row. Remember Christopher when he was just this little guy. You know, when we first started the church, we were up in that building on the hill that is now, is it children's ministry office or is it HR or school offices? Anyway, and that was the church and we had a tiny little building outside of the church that was once a parsonage and that was the children's ministry and had shag carpeting and the kids were always trying to call out the windows and escape. And so I was, I was helping to do the children's ministry then, but little did I know that those little seeds and the things that we did in those early days would blossom into this amazing, thriving next generation ministry that takes our kids all the way from infancy all the way through high school and intentionally has loved them and raised them. And now I have my son and my daughter in love here serving in this church and it is beyond the greatest blessing. It's been the greatest joy, but I think the hardest thing that we went through and Greg mentioned it earlier was when the Lord took Christopher home suddenly in 2008 and he was married and I don't know if Britney's got her little Georgia here, but she may be here somewhere. Is that you, Georgia crying over there?

Are you there? But anyway, she, she was married to Christopher and when Christopher went to be with the Lord, they were living in Orange County and we had little Stella who was two and she was pregnant with Lucy who was going to be born a few months later. And we were so completely broken and so completely shattered by that loss. And when that happened, people said, you need to go away.

You need to take some time off, go take a vacation, go to Hawaii to do whatever. So we drove up to Santa Barbara. We had a few days up there and it was excruciatingly painful. It was like everything that was beautiful made me miss him more and we couldn't escape the reality of what it was and we had Britney with us and it was just brokenness and heartache and you guys loved us through that. And the thing that I found was the most healing and the most life giving to me was sitting in the pews with you, worshiping God and hearing people teaching the word of God. It's the only thing and out of that brokenness and out of that sadness came this vision to try to, I kept thinking about Britney and her mom, Cheryl, who were brand new believers and my granddaughter Stella and they're living in Orange County and I just thought, I want them in my church, but it's too far and too much to expect them to drive. And all of you here in Riverside came alongside us as we planted a church in Orange County. I said, Greg, we have to start a home Bible study for them. We have to have them, you know, disciple.

We need to help them. Greg says, well, if I'm going to teach a Bible study, I think we'll open the doors and invite a few more people to come. And out of that came the church in Orange County and it really was because of my mother's heart wanting to disciple my daughter-in-law and my grandchildren and Britney has come and so many of you here are visiting, drove up to Riverside from Orange County that are serving with me and, but all of you have made this journey so beautiful to me and there is no other place I'd rather be than in the church with all of you. And I just have to say to all of, all the rest of you, you can just listen in while I speak to the women of this church for a minute.

I love you guys so much. And I knew that when the Lord took Christopher home, the thing that held me was the word of God and the promises of God. And I thought to myself, that is my mission is to make sure that every single woman would have her roots so deep in the word of God that when tragedy hits, you will stand. And, and I got, I always believed in Bible study and always attended church, but I knew how desperately I needed it myself and what that meant to me. And so all of you that have served with me and my coordinators and Christy and Melanie and Debbie and Trudy and all of you are, and all of you group leaders, I can see you all out there. Thank you for partnering with me and discipling women because I believe if you win a woman for Christ, you're going to win the whole family because once she gets rooted in the Lord, she's going to go crazy.

And she does. And we are the backbone of the church. Greg knows it. We are the servants. We're the ones who are first here and last to leave often. And thank you for that, but I could go on. Greg, I want to say, I want to say thank you to our worship team.

They are the best. They have, they have been with us, um, in every phase and stage of ministry from country rock to you name it where we are now. I don't know what we are now, but we are, we Hans Ives has led that team with such faithfulness and stability and this is where lives are changed and where the cycles are made and where ministries are birthed and where the next generation of leaders are raised up and nurtured and it, they've come through small groups and children's ministry and young adult ministry. And this is where God moves. He, he established one organization and that was the church.

And um, and you know what? Greg said it this morning. We are really sad to see that a lot of Christians post COVID attend church on an average of two Sundays a month. Sunday mornings are no longer a thing.

It is not a priority. And let me tell you that that is an anchor in the tradition of the church that goes back 2000 years. You cannot be discipled easily online.

I know some people have to, they can't get out and they're shut in or whatever, but you guys make a point. Sunday morning, be in church and get in a small group. You know, this has been so fun to see so many familiar faces because it's not just people from our congregation, but a lot of friends of our ministry. Uh, and thank you for coming. It's like a family reunion in many ways to see so many of you. And it is so thrilling to reconnect again. You know, we're, we're the family of God, right? And God leads us in different directions and we're involved in different churches, but we're all together. Ultimately we're family and we're going to spend all eternity together and we're serving the Lord together. And I can't think of anything I would rather do. So thank you for coming here tonight to be with us.