Author Phyllis Porter Dolislager is part of our Vineyard church family. After attending our celebration service at Clayton Center for the Arts, she sent us her thoughts… Thanks Phyllis!
God Was In the House
God was at Clayton Center that morning. We could feel the holy energy as we walked in. People greeted us by name. We were given helpful information about a personal issue that we weren’t expecting or even looking for at that time.
We found our seats, and the service started. Good—nothing unusual. But when we sang, “How Great Thou Art,” hands flew up all over—praising God, and the tears coursed down my cheeks. It felt like a preview, in 3-D, of heaven.
When Pastor Aaron took the stage—we knew something was up. Even though his stool was there—in its usual place—he never sat down. He was on high alert.
As he shared God’s message for the day, we began to sense his out-of-the-ordinary demeanor. The visual of Pastor Corey covered head-to-toe in paint was strong. What a relief when the film was rewound, and we were told, God offers people a fresh start.
Pastor Aaron began.
1. God offers mercy. He doesn’t retaliate. With all the power of God, He could one-up us for every wrong we do. But Pastor Aaron assured us, God does NOT retaliate.
2. God offers forgiveness. He cancels the debt. He absorbs the loss. With the financial problems that face our country, our cities, and our families—we all got the point. He wipes out the red ink . . . of our sins. Wow! Colossians 2:14, He has taken it away. Vs. 13, we were already dead, but God made us alive.
No wonder Pastor Aaron didn’t sit down. What a thought. What a welcome gift. Then he moved onto the really BIG words.
3. Justification. God cleans the record of our wrongs.
We’re declared innocent.
The story of driving too fast and being pulled over by a policeman “drove” the point home. Pastor Aaron’s first, fast-driving offense had been erased. It was no longer on his record. “Just as if he’d never speeded before.”
4. Restoration. God offers to repair what’s broken.
He can reinvent the present. There’s more to us than our past, bad choices. He can restore to us the innocence with which we were born.
OMG—all that paint—all our sins—all our junk—Jesus takes it from us—so that He can offer us:
MERCY,
FORGIVENESS,
JUSTIFICATION,
RESTORATION
And when Pastor Aaron asked those who wanted to accept this fresh start—many raised their hands—accepting God’s offer. Praise His Name.
People didn’t completely understand our way of doing communion, but most were patient and waited their turn. (Maybe we don’t understand what church is like with so many people, all at one time, at one place.)
BUT when Matt and the band “put the pedal to the metal,” the whole crowd was clapping/rocking/praising God. A person couldn’t stand still with the celebratory music bouncing off the walls, the high ceilings, and any other nooks and cavernous places present. “Our God is Greater, Stronger, Higher, Healer, Awesome in Power . . . for US . . . with US.”
When I lay in bed that night, I recalled our morning worship service at the Clayton Center, and I wept. God surely gave us a whiff of heaven. We can anticipate being a part of the LARGE GROUP . . . led by the angels . . . and our pastors . . . praising God . . . all because of these FOUR, BIG WORDS.
And so it was . . . Sunday, September 16, 2012, in Maryville, Tennessee:
God Was . . . In . . . The . . . House!
1 Our God by Chris Tomlin
by Phyllis Porter Dolislager
9/17/12
