“Now, brothers and sisters, we ask you to appreciate those who work hard among you, who lead you in the Lord and teach you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12 NCV).
Twenty years ago we held our first public worship service at Wilson Community Church on Sunday, January 26, 1992 at Forest Hills Middle School. I was thirty-three (you do the math). We had 66 people show up that day. I preached a message entitled, “How to Be Strong and Courageous” from Joshua chapter one.
This week we are thankful and joyful to see God’s faithfulness through the years. There have been many professions of faith and baptisms. Troubled marriages have been reconciled, parents have learned to raise up their children in the Word, and families have grown closer to God and to one another. Addicts have been set free, the discouraged have found joy, and many sick have found healing.
Along the way we have joined loving couples together in holy matrimony. We’ve shared the joy of new parents as they lift up their newborn child to the Lord in dedication to Him. And we’ve stood by the graveside with many a grieving family member as we laid their loved one to rest. We’ve worshiped together. Shared testimonies and praise. We’ve gathered at the Lord’s table and remembered His body and blood given for us. For these twenty years, we have lived in fellowship as the family of God.
This past Wednesday evening, Robin and I were invited to the “TNT” (Twenties and Thirties) Community Group. They surprised us with a special dinner and gifts, thanking us for our twenty years of faithful service and for planting WCC. After feeding us dinner (with a menu that honored our “lo-carb” diet), they went around the room and each of them told us what we meant to them.
Tears streamed down Robin’s smiling face. I felt as if my face might break from grinning and my heart explode with joy. It felt great to be so appreciated. These kids really blew us away.
“Kids?” You ask.
Yes, because several of them referred to us as being like a father and a mother to them. And also, because when I asked them where they were on January 26, 1992, many of them shouted, “I wasn’t even born yet!” While others said they were probably still in kindergarten or the nursery.
One of them commented that they had been attending the group for some time and they were finally glad to meet us, but they had not yet attended our church. They said that they were still getting used to all this God-talk and felt welcomed by the group and hoped to someday be ready to check-out our church services.
I was especially glad to hear her thoughts. I told her, “Guess what? You’ve already attended our church. We’re having church right now. The church is not the steeple, it’s the people, it’s the family of God.”
I think she is close to believing. I could see the Kingdom in her eyes.
Being with this group of twenty somethings was the perfect way to celebrate. Our church started out in my living room with seven people. It seemed appropriate that we celebrated our anniversary in a similar manner.
It occured to Robin and I as we drove home that we would never have met these wonderful young folks if we hadn’t obeyed God’s call twenty years ago to “be strong and courageous.”
It also occurred to us that God is still building His family and that with young people like these, the next twenty years will give us even more to celebrate!
Wished I was there 20 years ago. But I am looking forward to the next 20 years. Thank you for letting God be your guide. You are truely a great blessing for us all.