The Detroit Easter gathering finished the Friday night of March 25 with the first lecture and a prayer meeting attended by all the participants. Nicholas Haman of Des Moines Sophia Church delivered a lecture from Mark 14:21-42, describing the preparation of Jesus Christ in Gethsemane for a new kind of deliverance for all of mankind through His sacrifice.Nicholas began, “Jesus offered His blood as the atonement of our sins, and His body as the eternal lamb so man could receive righteousness. Peter thought that he would die before denying Christ. But Christ revealed that only He truly knew the situation currently unfolding, and that all the disciples would abandon Him in the direst of moments.”
The message sought to encourage believers to seek their confidence in Christ alone, not in their own strength and merit. This was proven as the disciples couldn’t even stay awake with the Lord when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. The preparation Jesus had was fellowship with the Father, and man should seek this kind of relationship as well. One where God’s will is the most important even in the most impossible of situations.
After the lecture, members gathered in small groups to give their reflections with one another. One brother from Des Moines, Tim, shared, “I am thankful for the fellowship and opportunity to be in church these three days. I can really feel like the Word of God will change me during this time and give me the strength I need to live life for God.”
Brother Yoon from Columbus offered, “I really want to reach a deeper and more intimate relationship with the Lord at this time. I want to seek more and more love from Him, and I can feel this through the fellowship we have had already.”
A prayer meeting closed the night, with Pastor Sharon from Des Moines Sophia Church leading the night with prayer. Members began by praying individually for repentance and to have grateful hearts full of praise. They then began to break up into cell groups and offered prayers for one another based on their requests. God really moved each of the groups to meet and share deeply.
During sharing, Brother Joshua from St. Louis expressed his heart towards the renovations going on for Jubilee World. “We really need a lot of prayers to manage it well, we want to have fearful hearts that seeks to bring many to Christ through what we are preparing there.”
The Detroit gathering continues to move forward and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit. Members are looking forward to the next day and all the works of God that will come.