When the Lord Spoke Through the Thunder

Little did Br. Lance know what else the Lord had in store for that hay shed when he began building it on the hillside of his Toodyay property.

Before we get to the hay shed though, we’ll begin with our anticipation of Br. Jerry’s visit. Since his first visit to the West there have been folk ready and waiting to be baptised whenever he comes. Consequently a visit from Br. Jerry is becoming synonymous with baptisms. No wonder we look forward to his coming.

Who will it be this time?
After his safe arrival on the 17th of October the first get-together was on Friday evening when the youth gathered together for their regular meeting. They all eagerly shared their witnessing experiences and their encounters with the Lord since they saw Jerry last. This was a precious time of praise, prayer and study.

Sabbath was a very joyful day and a great blessing was received from the study of the lesson and sermon. Our company numbered 39 for the Divine service. The afternoon meeting was also attended with power through a Bible study and personal testimony of one of our youth. A beautiful walk to the rapids capped off a very blessed Sabbath.

A decision was made to have a special retreat for the second weekend of Br. Jerry’s visit. This caused Br. Lance to rally quickly to complete the shed. Br. Lance, Sis. Brenda and others worked very hard in preparing the shed with chairs, digital piano, hay, flowers and backdrops to create a delightful place of worship in nature. Without the side walls on the shed we were able to look out onto the green paddocks and blue sky and feel the breeze gently wafting along.

On Sabbath the 26th of October we all made our way to the hay shed where Br. Roy led out in the preliminaries, Br. Jerry delivering the review and lesson and Br. John the message for the day entitled “Your Encounter with the Rock”. The Spirit of God strove mightily upon us through these messages.

This was a very special weekend for three precious young people, Ariadne, Kerensa Grigson and Paul Godfrey. They planned to make a public stand for Christ on Sunday the 27th of October. These young people had studied the Word of God deeply and their decision to leave the world and all its practices and associations was not lightly made. It has been through much prayer, study and tears that the Lord has had final victory in their lives and their personal testimonies testified to this struggle and their desire to continue the battle of Faith in the name of Jesus.

We were all hoping for a bright blue sunny sky for Sunday. Although the Sabbath was very hot and dry, Sunday dawned cloudy and cool with the threat of rain. Still this did not dampen our joy and enthusiasm in the Lord.
It was a blessing to have twelve visitors who came especially to witness Kerensa, Ariadne and Paul’s public statement for Christ.

After Br. John’s opening address that pointed us to the Word of God as our only foundation of Truth, Br. Jerry went through the statement of beliefs with the candidates. We then made our way down to the river’s edge. By this time dark foreboding clouds had gathered together and a gentle spatter of rain began to fall (symbolic of the latter rain). Quite providentially, Sis. Dawn had a supply of umbrellas that she passed out while we were making our way down to the river.

Just before the first candidate entered the water there was a great peel of thunder. One by one the candidates went down into the water and symbolically showed that the prince of this world was cast out and Jesus Christ was being lifted up. After they came up out of the water the sprinkling of rain ceased and there was no more thunder. Keren-sa’s father, a Sunday keeper, was very impressed at how Biblical the whole scene was and many indicated that the thunder was the voice of God’s approbation upon these young people.

In truth this was a reality and not just our own desired interpretation. The Lord confirmed it twice the next day through His Word, to a sister, that it was indeed His voice of approbation because she wondered to herself if it really was the Lord speaking or just a coincidence.

We had hoped for sunshine and blue sky but the Lord outdid our expectations far more than we could ask or imagine. He came to us personally in the rain and the thunder. Praise His Holy Name.
After the candidates dried and changed we came together again to welcome them into fellowship and hear their testimonies. Many tears were shed and much praise ascended to the Lord that afternoon.

The service was followed by a delicious lunch and in the afternoon just before the communion service two recently baptised members, Camron and Michelle, brought their two little girls, Christal, 4 years old and Elizabeth just over a month old to the Lord. Br. Jerry knelt with them and prayed a prayer of dedication to the Lord for the little girls and for both Camron and Michelle as parents. How the angels and all of heaven rejoiced with us over that scene of commitment to the Lord The communion was a sweet experience as we sought forgiveness one with another and washed one another’s feet and of course a very new experience for our newly baptised members as we ate from the one bread and drank from the one cup.

The weekend closed on a very high note with a testimony time. Many praises to God were expressed and tears flowed as we sensed the preciousness of the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit in the midst of our fellowship.
Praise be to our Father in heaven for a wonderful weekend.
AMEN.

Chris Godfrey
Perth, Western Australia