Our First Corporate Worship

When the founding couples asked the three coordinators to bring our ME1 classmates to our class reunions and worship, I was doubtful that it could be done. We were strangers to one another before the ME weekend. I hardly spoke to them during the weekend. I could not even associate names with faces. When we called to invite them to our first reunion, some avoided speaking to us and did not return our phone calls.

But they eventually came. Why?

For a time, we thought that BLD’s growth was due to its leaders and its system. Then we encountered God’s word in 1 Cor 3:7, “Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who causes the growth.” It is God and not man who built and grew our community.

One of the first teachings we received was to pray for our classmates every day. We lifted their names, their persons to God. We acknowledged in prayer that unless the Lord built the house, we labor in vain who build (Ps 127:1). It was the Lord who drew our classmates to our reunions. In our reunions, we recalled our unique experiences of God during and after our ME weekend. Having tasted that the Lord is good, we wanted to have more of Him, and so we sought Him in our community worship. In the worship, we received grace upon grace from the Father who delighted that His children lovingly yearned for Him. God Himself planted us in this community.

It is clear to us that the two movements of community- communion and mission – begin and end with worship. Worship binds us together as one people with God; we are in communion with each other because of our worship. Worship is also the place of our empowerment: it prepares and sustains us to pursue and fulfill our community mission. As a worshiping community, the foundation of our communion and mission is the Lord Jesus Himself.

We still remember well our very first corporate worship at the St. Therese school library in Kenilworth. We were overwhelmed with excitement as we gathered together for worship. We looked forward to our appointment with God, to our time of communion with Him. We had invited all our classmates to join our first worship, but we were unsure if they would come. As they trickled in, our hearts were filled with thanksgiving. While not all came, we knew that it was only a matter of time before the others did. With exuberance, we greeted and welcomed our brethren. We felt a kinship of hearts as we began to worship our Father. It was sheer grace that in that little library, God whom the whole universe could not contain blessed us with His presence. In that little room, we became a family in worship. God's family, God's community.

For 17 years now, our community has faithfully worshiped God on Friday nights, save for Good Fridays, Christmas and New Year's days that fall on Friday, and in rare cases when severe weather makes driving to our venue dangerous. We can be sure that through these years , the Lord kept His appointment with us as well. We know this to be true, for the BLD "house" that He built is strong.

Several years ago, one of our new members asked how our community grew from the original three founding couples to several hundred families, not counting the dozen or so districts it spawned on both coasts of this continent. Having been eyewitnesses to His works of wonder, how can we not know the answer? We replied: GOD!