“We are that Church.” I was curious about the church’s motto. What does it mean, being “that church?” It was much bigger than I had expected, and there were those gathering when we walked in the doors. They had offerings of coffee and breakfast items, and people were chatting and greeting those coming into the church. I picked up my order of service and read some of the items that were hung around on the church walls. I noticed the words very big G R O W up on the wall. This stands for God, Relationship, Opportunities for Ministry, and World. I was intrigued to what all this meant to them, and what it meant for me. A gentleman kept standing out to me, as we passed by a few times. He was casually dressed, well groomed and had this relaxing air about him. Later, I found out that this was the lead Pastor, Bill Wright.
We went to take our seats as the band prepared. There was a large stage in front of us, and a movie screen. When service began they played testimonies of those that were part of the church professing why they were “That Church.” These people are strong in their faith, and strong in their convictions. Inside the order of service there is a prayer list. It lists their prayers for our Nation and its leaders. There were prayers for physical healing, for cancer healing and recovery, for those having to endure surgery, and for their spiritual needs and their salvation. Lots of names were on this list. My heart went out to each person on this list, as to their family and friends that support and care for them. They passed around a hat to make an offering to the church. This is the first church I have visited that has done the offering first. I found this to be very interesting, since I have never experienced it this way.
Pastor Bill Wright began by telling us the process of selecting new leaders, and new deacons. He brought three individuals up, and asked for others to come up and lay their hands on them and pray for them in their new role and the directions they are taking within the church. This was moving for me, as each person’s energy flowed throughout the room. It brought tears to my eyes, listening to others pray for these three individuals and their new roles within the church. These people putting their prayers and hopes into these three individuals supporting them and lifting them up.
We then sang three or four songs. I had never heard these songs before, and I followed along as best as I could. These were deep songs of praise, with a lot of meaning, a lot of prayer within them. At points of time I just stopped and listened to the voices, the men singing one part and the women another. It was truly different than any other spiritual music I have heard.
Pastor Bill began to speak about “The God who makes us blush.” (John 4) He told us a story about his little child who goes through the stores in front of people singing God’s praise. He compared it to as we enter teen years and adulthood where we don’t want to be seen with our parents or certain people we don’t like. He said we begin to feel ashamed and vulnerable. We become ashamed to be around certain people for who they are, how they dress or even just being around our mom and dad around our friends. He talked about how we become afraid to show who we really are, who we want to be. That we become embarrassed to talk about God, we hide our religion from others, and we do not spread the message of Jesus and his love for others around us. Whether we want to admit or not, our lack of actions and words speak for themselves. We have not supported our Almighty Creator in the way we as Christians should. He spoke of the scripture Rom 9:1-21. He told of a woman who was Samaritan and who had everything against her. She was a Samaritan and she was a woman and she was an outcast. That didn’t stop Jesus though; he didn’t care about those things. The others went around the city of Samaritan, going into Galilee. Not Jesus, who took the time to speak to this poor woman in the middle of the afternoon who was going for water. Jesus wanted to share the word with her, to teach her and to convey the wisdom of his father. She was taken aback, she wanted to know why Jesus was being this way with her when he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. The pastor said we should broaden our view of who Christ died for. Jesus wasn’t judgmental, he just wanted to guide her. Pastor Bill said that every conversation can be turned to speak of Jesus. He said don’t think that someone isn’t ready to speak of Jesus, because you don’t know this. Someone may want to learn, but they just need guidance. He said that we are not saviors, we cannot save people, and this is God’s job. Our job is to lead people to Jesus, to speak of Jesus and to share with our fellowman the stories and teachings of Jesus. It is up to God to do the rest. He told us that we shouldn’t allow anything to get in our way, that what we carry around with us daily (burdens) should not hinder us from sharing the word of God and leading someone else to Jesus. He emphasized that we should be real, not fake. He said that we should not continue doing destructive things that we do. That we are not alone in this world and that if we only have faith and share in our faith in Jesus that he will lead us to where we need to be in life. He encourages all of us to tell our story, to be honest and to show others how we have been forgiven and how God has healed our lives. Pastor Bill went onto to say that we should embrace the fact that there are so many people out there that just need to be reached out to, and that we were all created for something beyond this world. That we should talk to someone we love about someone we love. He said that we deny Jesus with the sin of silence. His talk was a very powerful one, with so much detail and so much history of the bible. I had never heard those scriptures spoke of that way and I found it to be very intriguing.
After Pastor Bill spoke, we sang some more songs. He then told us about a video. This video would be how we would close the service. It was called “The Letter from Hell.” This by far was the most powerful video I had ever seen while attending a religious service. It was very intense to say the least. I am a very eclectic person within faiths, and I have an open mind to all religions. In their faith I can see their energy and their purpose and their dedication and love for their holy savior, Jesus Christ. I see them, gathering themselves and creating armies to spread the word of Jesus. I see a very strong, loving community in which they help one another as they spread the word of Jesus and honor him in all their walks within this life. I can see why their motto is, “We are THAT church.” The service was close to two hours long, and both my son and I learned a lot within this service. It opened my eyes to parts of the bible in a different light, and also allowed me to see another religion and their practices. I’m leaving with you a thought that astonished me when listening to Pastor Bill speak. He mentioned that only 5% of the people within the churches ever lead someone to Jesus. 5%...
Things to reflect on:
Morgantown Community Church
Evangelism
Roman 9:1-21
James 4:17
Corinthians 5:20
You are Holy-Michael W. Smith
Lord I Lift Your Name on High
Take Me In
Born Again
Revelation Song
Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord
Letter from Hell
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