Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

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Pastor's Pulse

by Paul Leggett, Pastor

Fulfilling the Great Commission

May 2010

“And I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb …” — Revelation 7:9

As I write this I’ve just come from the wedding celebration of Yewande Morgan and Bolanle Onodipe.  Yewande is the sister of Elder Ibijoke Alade and has been attending Grace for the past several months.  She and her husband, Bolanle, were actually married in a civil ceremony earlier but wanted to have a church service celebrating their vows.  Most of the family and friends who attended came in bright African dress.  The service included traditional English hymns and African gospel music (this was just a week after our Gospel Music Service).  The wedding was festive with dancing and singing and the congregation coming forward to greet the bride and groom after their vows.  Needless to say, during the dancing I just tried to stay out of the way.  As is the custom in African weddings, an offering was received and Elder Alade, who is a member of the Missions Committee, said it should be designated for the Missions Conference.

Participating in this joyous celebration I was reminded, as we begin our 59th annual Missions Conference (apparently the longest running annual Missions Conference in the Presbyterian Church USA), of the above passage from Revelation.  The goal of Missions is to see the fulfillment of this prophecy of “a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” joining together in praise to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  Please take note of all of the events of our Missions Conference found elsewhere in this issue as we continually seek to fulfill the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

There are many ways to fulfill this great commission.  Once again I will be leading a film series at the Montclair Public Library this spring on Wednesday nights from May 12 to June 9.  The film showings will take place at 6:30 p.m. followed by discussion (we have to finish before the library closes, hence the 6:30 p.m. starting time).  This year we will be focusing on one of the greatest and most spiritual of film directors, Carl T. Dreyer (1889-1968).  Dreyer made a number of film masterpieces, several of them with strong Christian themes.  The films include, in the order of being shown, The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Vampyr (1932), Day of Wrath (1943), Ordet (1955) and Gertrude (1964).  In my opinion Ordet, which means “Word,” is the best Christian film ever made.  The film series is free and open to the public.  This is also an opportunity to invite friends and neighbors. 

Missions takes many forms but it’s always about communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Plan to be with us for the Missions Conference and other events throughout the spring.