A crowd worships during a service at the 2010 North American Christian Convention in Indianapolis. (Photo ©Tom Patrick)
By Mark A. Taylor
Holy, holy, holy,
All the saints adore thee.
I looked down at the floor of the convention hall, almost full with fellow-saints singing the old words, and I thought about Heaven.
I glanced down my row at my wife sitting beside Pat Merold who sat beside her husband, Ben. My preacher, Tom Moll, was on the aisle in the bleachers below me; beside him were Allan Dunbar and his wife. Bob Russell was a few rows ahead of them. All around us were people I didn”t know, and they were singing too. The scene made me think about how wonderful Heaven will be.
Wonderful, of course, because we will be awestruck by a face-to-face encounter with the God we serve now only by faith. But that”s not all. All of us will be there too, along with a crowd like the NACC worship service multiplied a hundredfold””a thousandfold!
What a grand reunion it will be!
But until then, we will look to meetings like the North American Christian Convention for opportunities to enjoy worship with saints from across the country and around the globe. It is a unique experience, one I feel privileged almost never to miss.
But it”s not just seeing and hugging and reconnecting that are so wonderful. It”s not just singing and praying. It”s not even the stirring content of so many sermons and workshops.
It”s the reminder of what others are doing in Christ”s name that challenges me most. Too easily I get consumed with my little world, and I forget how God is using so many others like me to accomplish so much for him.
The NACC reminds me that God is doing great things in California and Philadelphia and Maryland and Kenya. It spotlights models of sacrifice and service and encourages me to imitate them.
In the convention”s closing session, NACC President Ben Cachiaras spoke a prayer he had repeated throughout the week and leading up to it: “Dear Lord, disturb us.”
“The measure of a convention isn”t whether we had a great week here,” he said, as the Friday morning session was ready to close. “What matters is whether this convention helps us transform the face of the church in our world.”
That in itself is a thought disturbing enough to move me toward new ways of serving God. I”m already looking forward to next year”s NACC for encouragement not to give up on that pursuit.
This column is adapted from a blog post at www.gotonacc.org.
0 Comments