Spontaneous Celebration at Church

Written Sunday afternoon

This morning I attended the 9:00 service at Willow, and I’m still glowing hours later from what I witnessed God do among us.  I knew that we were celebrating baptisms (with our new large pool Gene Appel calls a jacuzzi for Jesus).  But I wasn’t prepared for the opportunity Gene gave for those who heard his message and decided right then to be baptized today.  I would guess at least 40 extra people - who had not arrived at church planning to be baptized – walked down front, briefly met with one of our pastors, and then lined up to be immersed.  Throughout the entire time of the baptism sacrament, a worship team led by Matt Lundgren guided us through songs of celebration.  The congregation joined in, but also erupted in applause at various moments as people joyously rose out of the water.

Towards the end, as the service was growing a little longer than normal, a few more stragglers made their way into the water and we just kept singing.  By this time, the congregation gradually rose to their feet until the entire place was rocking with joy.  I don’t think I saw anyone leave early.  It felt like the Holy Spirit had so powerfully anointed the room that everyone there knew that something deeply significant was taking place and we wouldn’t dare miss it.  Talk about standing on Holy Ground!  It’s a rare thing for several thousand people to respond spontaneously to such a God-moment.  With tears in my eyes, I stood there once again in awe of the wonder of transformed lives and the scandalous story of grace.  I’ll never get over it…

Comments

[trace]

our church had originally planned to do something similar yesterday but decided against it due to being unsure how to handle the last minute counseling portion.

do you have anyone i can contact at willow to find out the logistics of how you guys orchestrated this? we're almost there!.. just need a little kickstart.

thanks!!

[Nancy Beach]

Trace,
Yes, you can contact Garry Poole at gpoole@willowcreek.org He is one of our area pastors and focuses on Evangelism ministries. He can most likely help...

Nancy Beach

[Rindy]

I still get chills when I think of what happened back in June at our church. 3 were scheduled to be baptized for the weekend--163 were! This is in a church where a couple at a time, a few times per year usually are--a church of 800-900! It was amazing and yes, the feel of the Holy Spirit was so apparent and incredible! Way to go God!!

[Nancy Beach]

Rindy -
Thanks for such an inspiring story of what God did at your church - WOW!
Nancy