Grand Opening Weekend

Canvas Grand Opening

Canvas Church will celebrate its grand opening at a new location (Mission Bay High School) in just two days, January 13^th.  A lot of work and preparation has gone into making this successful.  Hours were spent in setting up the auditorium, lobby, and all the kids’ classrooms.  About fifty people came to the first setup and donated their time in order to make everything work as efficiently as possible and to make the environment attractive.

As I was contemplating this, the Lord reminded me of how the Israelites built the Tabernacle in the wilderness, following the instructions that the Lord gave Moses as he met with him on the mountain.  (Exodus 23-28).  God gave Moses explicit instructions and told him to build the Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly as He had told him.  The Israelites brought offerings of all sorts of materials and they built the Tabernacle according to the pattern God had given Moses.  Then they held a dedication.  Ex. 40:34-35 (NLT) says “Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle and the glorious presence of the Lord filled it.  Moses was no longer able to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the Lord.”

It is the awesome presence of God that makes the difference.  Without God’s presence the Tabernacle was just a beautiful structure make from boards covered with gold, beautiful embroidered curtains and furniture covered with gold.  But when God’s presence filled the place, Moses could meet with God, sacrifices were offered for the sins of Israel, and they could have communion with God.  Later in Ex. 33:12-21 Moses entreats God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

That is our prayer also. We have done our best to prepare an attractive, comfortable place for people to meet with God.  We have done prayer walks, placed billboards and ads in local papers, and sent out mailers.  But without God’s presence when we meet on Sunday, it is just an attractive, comfortable place to meet and nothing more.  It will be the presence of the Lord in our midst that will make all the effort that has been expended worthwhile.  It will be the presence of the Lord that will touch the hearts of people, causing them to yield their lives to the Lord so that He can transform them and give them the abundant life that He wants them to have.

Many members are praying and fasting, and we fully believe that God’s presence is going to be present in our midst as we meet on Sunday.  As we offer our sacrifice of worship, reach out to our neighbors and friends, and hear the anointed preaching of God’s word by Pastor Ben, God’s presence is going to fill Canvas Church and it will indeed be a Grand Opening.

God is good all the time,

Naomi Brinkman