During my time in Michigan (as a young 21 year old pastor) my Mother prayed diligently for me. She shared with me one of her prayers was based on John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
I had only been in Marysville one time since I left in 1981. Our family had gone for a visit around 1994 (25 years ago). We had been there on a Sunday and the church was without a pastor and so they asked me to preach. Some of the same families were still in the church and they had built a building and been in it for several years.
Before Nathan and I arrived in Michigan this time, I had done some research on the internet. I discovered that Gracemont Church no longer existed. Of course, I was sad that the church had not been able to go forward. Gracemont Marysville did exist for 35 years and one of the original families was still in the church when they closed. But knowing churches and people, I realize that things change over time and this is not that unusual.
But through my research, I also learned that a new church was meeting in the building that Gracemont Church had built.
We arrived in Marysville on a Saturday and we were planning on attending the services the next day. But I decided to drive by the church building Saturday afternoon and take a look. There were some cars out front and the doors were open and it appeared from the looks of things that it was a work day at the church. We approached the building and met a man who confirmed what we thought and he told us the pastor was inside.
We did meet the pastor and found out quickly that we had some things in common. We were welcomed back the next day and anticipated meeting more of the members. That Sunday, May 19, 2019 was a special day for me. Their were several families attending the church and the spirit was uplifting. The dress was modest, the music was uplifting, and the orchestra consisted of 10 or more young people playing several instruments. The preaching was challenging and the spirit of the church was a blessing.
After the service, there was a meal prepared and we were invited to take part. Then shortly after the meal, an afternoon service began. After the morning service the Pastor had asked me if I would be willing to share for a few minutes in the afternoon service. Then before the service began, he approached me again and shared that I could take as much time as possible to share my thoughts about how the Gracemont Church had begun and my experiences from 1979-80.
As I sat there for those few minutes during the song service, I pondered what I could say to these folks who were meeting in the building that the church I had helped start had built so many years ago. My heart was overwhelmed with joy. For you see, the church that I had helped start never really became the church that I would have wanted it to be. The principles I had learned during my time there about how a church should be functioning had not become the practice of the church after I left.
But in my short time in this new church, I could see that many of those principles were at the heart of what this church was about. And I could not help but be greatly blessed to see what was happening right here in Marysville, 40 years from the day I first arrived.
Really, the only known fruit that seemed to be left now from the church I helped establish was this building. But on Saturday, and again on Sunday, I heard the story about how this new Church had prayed diligently for this building to become their building and they saw the answer to that prayer as a great victory for their church.
My mother went to heaven in 2016, so she is not here for me to share with her what I am sharing with you. But you can be blessed knowing, that God does answer the prayers of faithful mothers, who are praying on behalf of their children.
And now I was sitting in the church building that my church had built and worshipping with Christians who were living out the Christian life as I had been learning to do since I had left Marysville many years ago. I could not help but think of my Mother’s prayer. That “your fruit should remain.”
And why does God answer a Mother’s prayers. Because God is such a loving Father and He wants so much more for us than we could possibly imagine. 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
