Do you remember the excitement of your 16th birthday? The feeling that you had finally reached another milestone, and were ready to take on the world in a whole new way? This same feeling resonated throughout the course of Holiness Tabernacle’s 16th Church Anniversary, celebrated throughout May and early June.
The Church Anniversary committee prepped and pumped up the saints each Sunday morning with creative announcements to spread the word that Holiness Tabernacle was turning 16.
“When I say great, you say God!” cheered Minister Andre Powell as the congregants got excited over the theme for the Anniversary services, “Great God, Great Church, Greater Expectations!”
Each of the three Church Anniversary services was filled with high praise unto the Lord! From the opening prayer, scripture reading and praise and worship – it was clear that the saints of God had come to magnify and lift up the name of Jesus. What’s more, not only were all financial goals met, it was truly a time of celebration at the many great things the Lord had birthed into the ministry.
On Friday, May 2, Bishop Floyd Brown and the Church of the Blessed Trinity kicked off the annual celebration. A longtime friend of Pastor Eddie B Pruitte, Jr. and Holiness Tabernacle, Bishop Brown praised God for the awesome accomplishments he had witnessed over the past 16 years. He admonished the saints to continue to live holy and sanctified lives.
Administrative Assistant William T. Coles and Loving Church of God in Christ joined Holiness Tabernacle for the second Anniversary service held on Sunday, May 18. Superintendent Coles spoke about “The Blessing of Help” and referenced Psalm 46:1. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” he declared. He went on to describe categories of blessings, both unconditional and conditional.
“God’s unconditional blessings – you can’t do a thing about them!” exclaimed Superintendent Coles. “But the conditional blessings of our great God are given based on the believer’s obedience to God.”
According to Administrative Assistant Tony Campbell of “Yeshua” Church of God in Christ, the God we serve is so great, we cannot even know His true name! He and his congregation closed out the Anniversary services on Sunday, June 1. Just before the Word of God was delivered, two of Holiness Tabernacle’s newest members, Sister Naola Robinson and Brother Johnny Dunlap gave words of expression and shared how membership at Holiness Tabernacle had transformed their lives.
“If I can [achieve] being saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost in just 90 days at Holiness Tabernacle,” said Sister Robinson “that definitely shows that this is a great church! And who knows where I will go from here?”
In his message, Superintendent Campbell pointed out that God’s greatness allowed Him to extend time by stopping the sun midday so that Joshua and his mighty army could finish destroying their enemy. But His greatness was displayed even further when He turned the hand of time backward by ten degrees on Hezekiah’s sun dial (or forty minutes), which has had a permanent effect on the calendar to this day. The Superintendent helped Holiness Tabernacle conclude in a fantastic way.
Throughout each of the worship services the message was clear: the saints of Holiness Tabernacle serve a great God, they are a great church and they have greater expectation for what God will do in the ministry. From start to finish, the Church Anniversary was a sweet 16 celebration indeed! Happy Birthday Holiness Tabernacle!