Hail Jesus! You're my Lord! I will obey your Word

Because I want to see your kingdom come

Not my will but yours be done.

Hail! Hail! Lion of Judah

Victory chant by Donnie McClurkin

The idea sprung from a winter retreat: Why couldn???t three or more small churches in the Ohio-Indiana region meet together for a combined worship to encourage each other in our common size and struggle?

After a few weeks of planning and a little bit of driving, the Fort Wayne Church of Christ (our Indiana hosts), Dayton Church of Christ and Toledo churches last week experienced an awe-inspiring morning of worship that deeply moved the hearts of all who took part. We share a common size (all less than 50 disciples, though in some cases with nearly as many children as adult members) and struggle (to rebound from various spiritual setbacks) but we also have a common Savior. And he received the glory at the April 29 Tri-Cities worship in Fort Wayne.

We wondered how the event might come off, but as some remarked in leading the Sunday worship, the glory was all God???s???and exceeded expectations. Fort Wayne did a marvelous job as hosts???housing disciples, hosting meals, and putting some of the kingdom???s best singing leadership talent on display. Toledo???s Ryan Painter gave an inspiring message (on Epaphras and his love for the local church, out of Colossians) and some Dayton brothers shared, including Greg Van Arsdall delivering a powerful, personal communion.

When Toledo???s Rob Segovia led the Donnie McClurkin song referenced above, the hotel ballroom in downtown Fort Wayne couldn???t hold the power. The song can be seen as a victory chant, a victory march of sorts, and to this participant, it felt exactly as though a triumphal procession was being led, as though 2 Corinthians 2:14???God ???always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ??????was being experienced. And it was.

???I think God stood back and smiled,??? said Andy Cromer, a Dayton disciple. ???We, as children in his kingdom, lifted his name through song and acknowledged him as our Lord and Father through worship together???something words cannot express.???

How do you top a day like this? You guessed it???with a baptism. Fort Wayne evangelist Dana Perkins??? 14-year-old son, Kyron, was ushered into God???s kingdom in the hotel swimming pool on the other side of a glass separation wall from the ballroom. How cool is that? When his older brother K-Sam, already a disciple, told Kyron just before the baptism that he would always be Kyron???s best friend in the kingdom, there were nearly enough tears to baptize the young man without the need of a swimming pool.

The New Testament clearly shows a pattern of churches that were not independent of each other, but interdependent, and???in many cases???even dependent on one another. We see this in Colosse, where the early Christians??? faith had been heard of in other regions and was contributing to a quick spread of the good news of Jesus around the known world (Colossians 1:3-6). In the latter part of the letter, in Colossians 4, we can see this interdependence through the believers??? relationships with one another, including Epaphras??? care for the disciples in the church in which he had no doubt helped start (see 1:7); with relationships with leaders like Luke and Demas; and in friendships so deep that Paul???who, it is believed, had never actually been to the city (2:1)???would personally know of a woman who hosted part of the church in her house (4:15). We see it through the gentle encouragement of Paul to a brother whom he cared enough for to encourage him to ???complete the work you have received in the Lord??? (4:17).

Last Sunday, we honored a modern-day Epaphras who has helped lead the Dayton church in a revival since the start of 2006. To understand at least part of this story, in mid-year 2005 the Dayton leadership had considered turning the church back into a region of the Cincinnati church. It was about four months later that Hampton Roads??? Jim Loney???who had been in the Dayton church with his family for one year, in 2000???decided to begin traveling to Dayton as often as possible, which was about every four to six weeks. He and his wife Eleanor would either drive 10 hours each way or fly standby through Atlanta, all to visit the church and provide leadership, advice, and encouragement. The full story of Dayton???s return to health can???t be told here, but suffice it to say the Loneys are still traveling to Dayton (now about every three weeks) and led us on a March campaign in which three people were baptized, three times as many as all of 2006 and one of the most fruitful months in the church???s history. And, at the first of this year, Dayton hired the Loneys as part-time leaders with hopes for a full-time hiring in the future when events allow.

One of the challenges for all disciples in these three churches is how we continue these relationships and build on the unity we shared and celebrated last week. We???re going to plan more combined worship services and hope to link with more small churches in the region.

???How is your love for your church changing people???? Ryan asked those of us in worship last week.

We can only say we were challenged to change even more. And we can add: Hail, Lion of Judah . . . Give to us . . . the victory, again and again.

??? Bob Irvin, Dayton church