A dream come true!
Actually, it was a vision, not a nighttime dream. My wife just shared it with me yesterday afternoon, and I remembered her original 'vision', back in 1990, when we were in the process of launching CLC through a series of telemarketing to 14,000 families and follow-up mailings to about 1,900 who expressed interest in this 'new church' starting at Tinley High School. During a time of prayer and fasting, the Lord gave her a vision of automobiles lined up, one after another, all waiting to turn into the parking lot for one of our services. She shared the vision with us back then, to encourage our little group of 50 adults that God was going to honor our efforts and that people were going to respond by attending. In fact, we thought the vision would soon be fulfilled after the opening at the High school.
Of course, that was not to be, and even though we tripled our little group on the opening weekend, our growth as a congregation was slow at best in those early years and didn't really accelerate until the late 1990's.
However, yesterday Chris was here at CLC Tinley before service, putting the finishing touches on her sermon to be delivered in Shorewood. She left the office here just after 9am and walked into the parking lot to drive to the Shorewood campus, when, to her amazement, she saw a line of cars on Ridgeland Avenue, one after another, all waiting to turn into our parking lot for service. As she drove around the lot to enter 183rd street and head towards Shorewood, it was more of the same - as far as she could see, one car after another with their blinkers on, all waiting to turn into CLC's parking lot for service (all a little late for worship, I should add!)
Besides her excitement of seeing all those cars lined up, it hit her - the vision from 17 years earlier - is now being fulfilled every Sunday!
I wonder how many other 'visions' God has given you that perhaps you've forgotten or thought were never going to come to pass, since there's been such a long delay from the time you received the promise until now. Maybe you've given up hope of ever seeing it fulfilled. But we would urge you today to keep the faith - because of this!
Now if God is fulfilling visions from 17 years ago during this season of acceleration, what do you think He's going to do here next? I'm ready to GO!
Of course, that was not to be, and even though we tripled our little group on the opening weekend, our growth as a congregation was slow at best in those early years and didn't really accelerate until the late 1990's.
However, yesterday Chris was here at CLC Tinley before service, putting the finishing touches on her sermon to be delivered in Shorewood. She left the office here just after 9am and walked into the parking lot to drive to the Shorewood campus, when, to her amazement, she saw a line of cars on Ridgeland Avenue, one after another, all waiting to turn into our parking lot for service. As she drove around the lot to enter 183rd street and head towards Shorewood, it was more of the same - as far as she could see, one car after another with their blinkers on, all waiting to turn into CLC's parking lot for service (all a little late for worship, I should add!)
Besides her excitement of seeing all those cars lined up, it hit her - the vision from 17 years earlier - is now being fulfilled every Sunday!
I wonder how many other 'visions' God has given you that perhaps you've forgotten or thought were never going to come to pass, since there's been such a long delay from the time you received the promise until now. Maybe you've given up hope of ever seeing it fulfilled. But we would urge you today to keep the faith - because of this!
Now if God is fulfilling visions from 17 years ago during this season of acceleration, what do you think He's going to do here next? I'm ready to GO!
posted by Pastor Jerry McQuay at 12:22 PM
5 Comments:
Pastor, I have to say those words were a good motivation for me. Definitely things in my life that haven't come to fruition yet, but I know will come to pass. So thanks for sharing. Also, how cool it is for CLC right now. I don't get to services as much these days, but I feel an excitement just reading about it. Justy keep GO-ing!
This may have been a dream, I can't remember, but I saw our worship team on the platform of the theater just around the corner. Whether it was a dream or perhaps some event there, I leaned over to our friend, BC, whispering that would be the CLC home someday; a place for the nations or the world to worship.
I always liked the look of the Tinley Park Convention Center should we need to relocate our 183rd and Ridgeland venue. The outside of it makes me think of an embassy. I can see the Christian flag flying outside of it and the flags of the nations hanging from the raftors inside. And it's located right off the highway too. Talk about cars waiting to get into CLC. That's hot!
I was just reading my devotions and read Neh. 2:20 and continued to read when the Holy Spirit checked me and had to go back and reread it -- and applied it to CLC (this was after the leadership meeting 7/27). ...... The God of Heaven will prosper CLC... therefore his servants will arise and build.....
So, w/ the exitement of all our prophetic words and all that is being fulfilled, the people of CLC need to realize that we all are "owners" of CLC, we ARE the ones to take part in this awesome wonderful time that God has placed each one of us - in this day and time - we have the priviledge to be a part of this growing church, and as Pastor Jerry has said, we are , each one of us ministers. What an honor!
God chose ME, lil ol me to do the work in Tinley Park.
I am humbled to be a part of this!
Donna B.
All I got to say is, I hope you're all present at one of our services at any of the campuses on the last weekend of August....we're getting ready to GO!
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