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 As lead pastor, Larry Crawford, welcomed everyone. He said,
"Thank you for celebrating with us today. We love this community and
are committed to serving it. In order to better serve, we prayed for
a larger and better ministry facility and you are experiencing God's
answer to our prayers."
Pastor Crawford said when they began looking for a new facility,
they specifically prayed that it would:
- be easily accessible and highly-visible.
- have sanctuary seating for at least 250 people.
- be over 10,000 square feet.
- have more rooms to expand NextGen Ministries (for youth).
Crawford said the new facility has everything they prayed
for.
Open Arms Christian Fellowship has been meeting in the new site
since July 19 and Crawford said the church has experienced a
sixty-five percent increase in attendance since the move from
the former location on Broadway that they had been in since June
2008. Crawford said, "numbers matter because every number
represents a person."
Andre and Aaron Hinton provided special music with the song,
"God has a purpose." Before the song, Andre Hinton prayed that
God would bless this community.
The morning's message
Crawford's message was "'Father's House' There's No Place Like
Home." Crawford said, "God wants to bless your home and he is
preparing an eternal home far better than what is here. It will
be beyond what we can ever imagine. God wants to give us a
little bit of heaven to go to heaven with."
Crawford said, "[our] Father's house is a house of hope." Many
feel hopeless, but God has a plan. He transforms lives for the
better.
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Crawford also said, "[our] Father's house is a house of
healing." God will heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and set at
liberty those who are oppressed. Crawford said that if you are
broken-hearted, God can heal you. We fight for lives in this
country, but Crawford said, "God will restore us."
In closing, Crawford said, "The Father's house is a safe place full of provision
for all, where you are expected, accepted, forgiven, and celebrated." It does
not matter what you have done. There will be peace. Crawford said that when the
prodigal son came home, he was welcomed with open arms.
Crawford ended the message by thanking God for 'this house' and praying that it
may always be a safe place. He said, "I want to see this community blessed."
As part of giving back to the community, Open Arms donated $5 each to the Humane
Society of Logan County and to the Logan County Food Pantry for every new
visitor at the service.
After the service, Crawford invited everyone to tour the facility to see what
God has done here already. Though most of the work is completed, the kid's area
is still a work in progress.
At 11:30, Logan County Chamber/Alliance Director Nicole Cox led an official
ribbon cutting. Pastor Crawford and his wife Wendy cut the ribbon with the
assistance of Mayor Marty Neitzel and several community and church members.
Before cutting the ribbon, Crawford thanked the many people who donated time and
supplies to get the renovations done and the many who worked so hard on the
building.
The ribbon cutting was followed by a fellowship time with hors d'oeuvres served
by Lincoln College Catering.
Next week, the church will hold their Fourth Annual Community Thanksgiving
Dinner at the VFW on Fifth Street. Everyone in the community is invited to join
them for this special time of thanksgiving.
[Angela Reiners] |
