The service was over 2 hours and 15 minutes long because our folks just kept coming up to share all that the Lord had taught them over their time at Rev.  We heard things like – I used to dread outreach, now I dread going to a church and not doing outreach.  One man asked – Lord with all the good things we have done in your Name, why close this church?  What went wrong?  And the Lord shared with him – everything went right, it went very right.  One man said we were all like seed that the Lord had prepared and now was sowing into other fields…

What a massive blessing it was to hear testimony after testimony about the good work God had done in these short 4 ½ years.  It was so confirming and brought such peace.

Toward the end of the service, I shared the following with our family there and wanted to share it all with you – our prayer family as well…

You know, it’s hard to sit here looking back at all the good that the Lord has accomplished here through us and understand why the season and plan for Revelation Church has reached its end.  But I’ll tell you why.  Because this is not a funeral, it’s a birth.  Rev is not a failure; Rev just had a shorter plan.  It’s not an end, but a starting line – a launch pad.

You see, while God’s plan for some churches is a marathon, His plan for Rev was just a 400 meter dash – yet during these brief 4-½ years God has done an amazing work.  He’s taken you and I – and everyone who’s ever come here, and He’s poured into them.  During the short while your lives have intersected with Rev church, God has taken the foundation of your life that existed when you 1^st came and built on that.  We’ve all learned and grown and changed.  We’re not the same people we were in 2005.

We’re stronger, more mature, and more passionate.  Our love and vision of God has grown – and we will no longer be satisfied with the status quo.  Church as usual will not suffice.  We’ve not merely lived with faith; we’ve lived out our faith.  We haven’t just talked about outreach; we’ve stood in storefronts and doorways.  We’ve not only gone to church, we’ve learned to become the church.  Our gracious God has taken this time in our lives and made us new people – more like His glorious Son.  Our brother Darrell Moore agrees.  He wrote:

Mark, … Revelation Church has been a blessing for Amanda and I.  My spiritual journey has taken me to a few churches but never have I felt the Spirit moving as in Rev Church.  What Rev Church does for the community and the Kingdom of God is unfortunately rare.  Dear friends of mine go to church in Woodland Park and they recently told me the church is fighting over whether to buy matching silverware.  It would be comical if it were not so tragic…  Revelation Church has taught me a great deal these past few months but I feel the greatest lesson I can take from our short time together is how the body of Christ should behave, what the mission of the Church should be and what an anointed man of God such as yourself should sound like from behind the pulpit…  Lastly and most importantly Thank You and Susan for giving to the Lord.  Your Brother in Christ, Darrell (Moore)

This my friends is what I am trying to say.  God has used this church – as short as His plan for it is – and conformed us all much more to the image of Christ, the mind of Christ, the passion and priorities of Christ.  And now instead of sending out 1 family to go make a difference in other churches and places – like Darrell and Amanda Moore, He’s got us all on the launch pad ready to send out.  We know more than we did.  We know Christ more than we did.  We’ve got more to offer than ever before.  Our tool-kits or buckets are filled with the things we have learned here and we are better, and ready for a new level of service.  Today is the start of a new chapter for all of us – a new race.  We’re in the starting blocks and God is about to fire the gun.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)  Now is not the time to mourn, but to rejoice.  Now is not the time to be downcast, but to look ahead with expectation.  “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)  We’ve paused.  We’ve looked back and praised God, now fix your eyes firmly on the Author and Perfecter of your faith and say – “What’s next Lord?   For what have You prepared me?  I’ll go where you send me!”

Well that’s what I shared at the end.  we watched a video together, gathered up front for a prayer and a commissioning – and I sent Revelation Church out, my heart bursting with pride – to go Make the Invisible God Visible!

We’ll update you all more on what is going on with Susan and me next week.

I love you all so much and appreciate your continued love and support, MD

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.  (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NIV)

Pastor Mark announces the closure of Revelation Church with a message from Ecclesiastes.  Rev Church will meet again next week for a final special service.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children.”   (Psalm 103:11, 17  NIV)

Pastor Mark presents a Valentine’s Day message with a lesson on the overwhelming love of God.

(Includes video of Rev S.M. Lockridge’s My King).