Church United celebrated its annual Night of Worship and Celebration 2022 on November 30. Joining the festivity was special guest Dr. Tony Evans, senior pastor to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX and founder of The Urban Alternative, a Christian Bible teaching and resource ministry. Pastors from Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach also came to share the evening of praise and glory of God.
Christians flocked to Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale to join the special evening and spend time in reflection on what God has done through the Church in South Florida.
God’s presence will be seen to the level of our unity. God’s presence will be absent to the level of our disunity. —Dr. Tony Evans
Evans started his sermon with an analogy between an NFL game and the Church. He likened the group of officials representing NFL in the game to the Church. He said the seven NFL officials have a book containing the rules to be followed when making decisions on the field of play. They are the authority and make final decisions on a chaotic game. Just like Christians having the Bible as a guide in life.
The evangelical leader reiterated the importance of unity among Christians throughout his sermon. “God only operates in unity.” He explained that Christians, working together as representatives of God, can make adjustments on what’s happening on earth. He advised the crowd that instead of picking sides, whether by race, skin color, politics, or other preferences, Christians must choose the Kingdom of God. “We must wear uniforms that represent the rule of heaven in the chaos of history.”
Evans focused his sermon on the three commands Jesus gave after His resurrection: make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to think Biblically. This is most commonly known as The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20.
The tragic day of September 11, 2001 was mentioned in Evan’s speech. He challenged the audience that if 19 men following a wrong god could change the future of the most powerful country in the world, what could Church United do in the name of the true God?
“God’s presence will be seen to the level of our unity. God’s presence will be absent to the level of our disunity.”
Evans also urged Christians to become representatives of God on earth. “Jesus wants you so identified with Him that you can piggyback on His authority representing it in the chaos on the field.” He made an example of the reproduction of his sermons and teachings on CD. The church has one master copy and thousands of copies to be given to those who wanted one. The contents of the copies are the same as the master CD that the reproduction could be mistaken as the original copy. He said Christians must think and act just like Jesus, especially when in public so people can see the glory of God through Christians.
“It’s time now that we represent the king and His Kingdom,” Evans urged the audience.
In closing, Evans posed a challenge to the audience. He said as a Church facing a dying culture at the door, there are only two options: one is to be the church that Jesus died for and to continue doing God’s ministry, or two, to take down the sign that says “Church United” when it is not making a difference and not doing anything to impact the culture.
