“This is what the new Heaven and new Earth are going to look life! Every nation, tribe and tongue, worshipping together! This is a picture of Revelation 7:9!” – Transformation Church Senior Pastor Derwin Gray, August 5th, 2012
Growing up in the South, I never saw an adult conversion to Jesus Christ until I was in my early 20’s. Our energies were always directed to reaching children either in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.
With that as my background, August, 1998 became a defining moment in my life. A group of leaders from our church attended the Willow Creek Prevailing Church Conference in South Barrington, IL. It was there that I was exposed for the first time to the passionate pursuit of adult conversions to Christianity. The culmination of that conference was Willow’s baptism video set to the song “I Will Never Be The Same Again” by Hillsong.
Nothing now moves me emotionally like baptisms and baptism videos. It is such a compelling picture of people who were dead spiritually and are now alive. On August 5th, 2012, Transformation Church celebrated baptism and had a tailgate party. It was there that 53 people got baptized! They will never be the same again!
For those of you unfamiliar with Transformation Church, it is absolutely one of my favorite churches in America! I deeply love this church and their leadership team.
Led by their incredible Senior Pastor Derwin Gray, the vision of Transformation Church is to be a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, mission-shaped community that loves God completely (Upward), themselves correctly (Inward), and their neighbors compassionately (Outward).
As one of America’s fastest growing churches, they are pioneers in showing us the value, beauty, and potential of being a true multi-cultural, mult-generational community of faith.
For more on my dear friend and one of my favorite people in ministry, Pastor Derwin, click the links below and then enjoy their inspirational baptism video. It will move you to tears.
- The 25 Greatest Leadership Quotes On Cross-Cultural, Multi-Racial, Multi-Generational Ministry I’ve Ever Heard
- The Most Naturally Gifted Pastoral Leader I Have Seen In The Last 35 Years
Pastors and church leaders, what were your thoughts as you watched this incredible video?
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