“You’re the God of this family!”

“He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.” (Acts 16:34)

Sometimes, the circumstances in my life seem surreal and last night, God reminded me just how blessed I really am.

I had been saved for about 3 months when I heard about a special service that was going to be held at Gateway Church called “Beyond the Veil”.  Having grown up LDS and intimately familiar with the happenings within the Mormon temples, the idea of breaking down the steps in Old Testament temple worship and then looking at how they were literally fulfilled in the final hours of Christ’s life peaked my interest.  It was a night I don’t think I will ever forget because I gained a deeper understanding of the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice for me.  It became so very personal.

Fast forward to last night…the once-a-year “Beyond the Veil” service was happening again.  I had anxiously waited months for this night to arrive.  I sat in my chair, so expectant that I could not keep still.  The desire to worship my King was building up inside of me and I had to let it out.

One of the things I love about Gateway is their desire to hear and follow God.  They always expect Him to do “a new thing”

Isaiah 42:9 – See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

As the service started, there was something noticeably different; the worship band was not on the platform as usual.  With his mic in hand, Zach Neese begins to tell us about a vision he and the other leader had in preparation for the night.  They saw a group of people worshiping God and scattered in the group were some with instruments.  With no clear leader to focus on…they all were able to focus entirely on God and direct their worship to the only one worthy of it.  Throughout the crowd, Zach had placed his group of worship leaders just as he had seen them so we too could focus all our praise on God.

For me, that change was significant but welcome.  I had never really noticed how much I look at and focus on those who are leading worship until they were not there anymore.  With the band all around, we all became worship leaders and there was a sense of added freedom to express myself.  There were times when I knelt, laid face down on the floor or danced without any apprehension.  My only care was that my Father would have no doubt that I love Him.  I have always enjoyed worship but nights like this make it that much more special.

God spoke to me early and often and I tried to write down everything I could.  There was a moment…more profound than all the rest.  It is what moves me to type today and is the essence of the opening verse from Acts.  Also with me last night was my wife and 8 year old daughter.  About 2 hours into the service (that actually went 3 hours), we were singing “God of this city” by Chris Tomlin.  As we made our way through the song, I changed the words to “You’re the God of this family.”  As I did that, I looked to either side of me and saw my wife on my right, and then my daughter on my left.  Both had their hands held high, declaring their belief in God and proclaiming that “there is no one like our God”.

At that moment, I was overcome with gratitude.  To have my family at my side, all of us equally yoked and wanting more of God seemed too great to fully comprehend.  It hit me so hard that I had to sit down, put my head in my hands, and pour out a sacrifice of thanksgiving from the deepest parts of my soul.  It seemed so little to offer for such a remarkable blessing.  He had taken me and my family out of certain death and gave us certain life, affecting generations to come.

God has worked in our family so much in the past two years and it is easy to see when I look back.  After pouring out my heart, I stood, spread my hands over my family, and as the leader of my home I proclaimed the words of the song that came next…

”For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done In this city [Family]
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here”