One Church

In this day of churches competing for membership, and churches trying to find the best way to reach those who don’t regularly attend church, debates often rise among clergy as to what the most effective outreach method is.  When such debates arise, an outsider would be hard pressed to realize that Bible Believing Churches worship the same God, made known through Jesus Christ who brought salvation to all who believe, and the Holy Spirit who convicts us to come to faith and remain faithful.  It seems our differences overpower our unity.

It is also said that 11 AM on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week.  Racial groups are separated during the worship of the God of all of us who created all of us in the Image of God.  At one point in our American History this was due to overt racism where the blacks were not welcome to worship with whites.  Obviously, this was unbiblical, unethical, and sinful.  In modern day, because of this initial segregation, various races have developed different worship traditions.  While it would be wrong to say that racism does not exist, we have come a long way.  We still have a long way to go.  But when it comes to worshiping the same God, we stand unified more often than we are divided though our traditions of worship remain different. Add to that mix the various other traditions that have come to the United states over the years including the Latino population, and other populations including (but not limited to) Korean Christians, African Christians, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and so on.  Each group worships the same God but does so in their own unique way.

Tonight, June 30, 2013, something special happened in a small town in North Carolina.  Liberty, NC is a very small town. But a miracle happened here. The Spirit of God descended upon the churches of Liberty and led us to realize that though we worship in different buildings, we serve the same God.  Though we worship in different traditions, our goals are the same. Though we are of different races and ages, God has called all of us to a deeper relationship and to serve God with our lives.

Tonight, June 30, 2013, the various churches of Liberty gathered at the Church of God of Prophecy to worship in music together and celebrate our unity in an event called “One Church Singing” sponsored by the Liberty Association of Churches.  For about 2 hours, there were no traditions. There were no races. There was just one church and Jesus, our Savior!

As a parent, I was humbled as my 6-year-old son played “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” on his violin to praise God to open the service. As a pastor, I don’t get to use my prior training as a musician very often, but my wife (a musician as well) and I played some songs.  We then sat back and sang along as other churches shared music praising God.  The music was joyful, the music praised God, but the miracle was that everyone in that room (I would estimate there were at least 100 people if not more), realized we were ONE Church worshipping ONE God!

As a group, we laughed, we clapped, we sang, we shed some tears, but most importantly, we worshipped.  Those things that divide us – denominations, race, gender, age – became unimportant.  We were truly One Church!

As the music continued, my daughter who just turned four was caught up in the joy and danced.  Maybe now she doesn’t realize what caused her to dance, but I’m convinced the Holy Spirit had a hand in her dancing! Yes, she is an active child, and she does at times dance to music, but this was unlike anything I’ve seen before.  The Holy Spirit was at work!

My prayer for any town or city is that all churches realize that we are all ONE church! We worship differently, but we serve the same God. Tonight, Liberty realized that, and I pray this is just the beginning of our growth into God’s plan.

The pastors and people in the pews may change, but God will always remain the same!