A Reunion in the Father’s House at Good News Church, Gary, Minnesota

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Worshipping the Lord at the Reunion.

By Tom Shanklin

In April, Susan and I had a wonderful time ministering at services for a church reunion in Gary, Minnesota. This was for the church we started when we first began in the ministry in 1983, which was called Bread of Life Fellowship, and two churches which started out of that original group. The reunion was for everyone from all three of those churches.

There was an atmosphere of love and unity. Pastors who were involved in the three different works came to celebrate—from Twin Valley, Fertile, Cokato, Thief River Falls and of course Mankato, as well as a number of people who had been part of God’s family in the churches over the years. Susan and I had a great time preaching to this bunch. I spoke on “A Reunion in the Father’s House” from the story of the Prodigal Son and Susan spoke a very exuberant message on “Resuscitating Your Dreams.”

Pastor Norm and Lori Gullingsrud and Tom and Susan.

Pastor Norm and Lori Gullingsrud and Good News Fellowship Church in Gary hosted the event and made everyone feel welcome and loved. The music was great! The food was excellent. The fellowship was enriching. We saw the folks from our first church, now with grey hair instead of brown, and young children who had grown up and who now had little ones of their own.

What was so encouraging, though, was to see that the work we had started in 1983 was still continuing, now with a different name and some different faces, but with the same Spirit of God and the same Gospel that we preached over 30 years ago. As Paul said, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58, KJV.

Wild woman preacher.

I also spoke in two other churches in April on the subject of personal evangelism. At For His Glory Church in Spring Grove I spoke on “Leading People to Christ.” One of the main thoughts was that being Born Again is not the equivalent of baptism. When Jesus said, “You must be born again,” he was speaking of a change of heart that comes when a person makes Jesus Lord of their life and believes in his death for their sins and His resurrection. Every Christian should be baptized! But without a true conversion, baptism is meaningless and powerless.

According to Romans 10, salvation is based on the confession of the mouth and faith in the heart. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9, 10, KJV. We can lead people to Christ by giving them the Gospel and leading them in a profession of Jesus Christ as Lord from the heart.

Susan and I also had a great time with our friends at Living Word Church in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Susan spoke briefly on “Getting Out of the Box” and I spoke on “You are the Light of the World.” The message was a word of encouragement to Christian believers to realize that we literally carry the light and glory of God wherever we go.

I’m quite certain that we underestimate the presence of God in our lives. Like Peter, whose shadow healed the sick on the streets, we have great potential. The key is found in our own relationship with God. When we get in God’s presence and soak in His glory, then we can touch the lives around us with the power of God.

Thank you for being a part of this. We love and appreciate you and pray for you every day. What you do for Jesus will last into eternity!