Have you ever caught a glimpse of Heaven? I think I did this past week.
This past Sunday I made the trip over to Fort Wayne, IN at the invitation of Pastor Jim Keckler at the Parkwood Church of God. This congregation has opened their facilities to a number of other congregations over the years and this past Sunday they hosted a combined worship service with the four congregations that presently meet in their facility.
Parkwood has a beautiful facility near the Purdue University – Fort Wayne campus. The brothers and sisters and Parkwood utilize the building on Sunday mornings and throughout the week for their services and activities, but they’ve also made the commitment to bless others as the Lord has blessed them. Because of this commitment, they open their doors to three other congregations that use their facilities for worship and other activities.
The other three congregations are FirePoint Church – a bilingual Spanish and English church, New Hope Korean American Church and Myanmar Brethren Assembly – a Burmese congregation. To say that Parkwood is getting a lot of mileage out of their facilities is a bit of an understatement!
Recently, Jacob Clagg, director of communications for the CGGC sat down with Pastor Jim to hear more about what’s happening at Parkwood. You can view that video Here.
Sunday morning was one of the most beautiful and moving worship experiences of my life. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Revelation 5:9-10 and the scene around the throne of God.
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
I had the opportunity to get a small glimpse of what every tribe and language and people and nation looks like and it was absolutely beautiful! The richness and diversity as each individual congregation brought a piece of the worship experience was unlike anything I had ever been a part of before. It was inspiring to hear brothers and sisters express their love for Jesus and worship him in their native language. I was so blessed to be a part of this beautiful time of worship.
If four congregations under one roof is good, five might be even better, right? Pastor Jim shared that an Indian congregation has asked for a meeting with him that might result in another congregation using the facility in the future. May their tribe increase!
I’m so grateful for our brothers and sisters at Parkwood and their willingness to be a blessing to other brothers and sisters from every tribe and tongue! God is moving in a special way in Fort Wayne and I was blessed to be a part of this special celebration.
I know that not every community affords the diversity that might make this kind of gathering possible, but I do wonder what would happen if more of our congregations might open up their facilities to immigrant congregations in their communities. The Lord is bringing the world to us and there are more and more opportunities for these kind of beautiful partnerships in Gospel work.
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
CGGC eNews—Vol. 16, No. 47
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