Movement...

the ministries we are sowing into

We are about facilitating the gathering of the diverse church (denominations, races, walks of life) for the purpose of glorifying God, hosting His presence, encouraging each other through psalms, hymns, spiritual songs both old and new, serving the Church and completing good works he prepared in advance for us to do. Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you….I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one…so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” This is our motivation, to fulfill the desires of our Lord Jesus. We want to honor the distinctives of the various streams of the Body of Christ and as the Apostle Paul put it, “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) In Luke 11 and Matthew 6, when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, we hear: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Revelation 5:12 reveals a vision of a heavenly scene where the unified body of Christ is united in declaring “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” and “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb…(Revelation 7:10)” Clearly this is the one Body of Christ spoken of in Ephesians 4:4 and the diverse makeup of that body is seen in Revelation 5:9-10, where it says, “by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.”

In Matthew 12:25 we read “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” Our desire is to focus on what unites us.

Through all of these Scriptures we glean that the intended state of the Church is a united voice declaring the saving grace of Jesus and declaring His holiness and glory. We also glean that the position of this united Church is in submission to Jesus, loving others, and living out of a position of authority. While we value the benefits of denominations, we believe the “universal” Church (all those that proclaim the salvation by Jesus alone) is intended to come together on Earth, routinely, to give glory and honor to Jesus, and to unite our voices in proclaiming His truth, Gospel, and His Kingdom come.

What’s a NoW look like?

While there is a core team of worship leaders from a couple local churches that help maintain continuity through the events, Lampstand events are hosted at various houses of worship through the PA/MD/DE area.  The leaders for a NoW are a mix of members of worship teams from Lampstand and the host church.

We set up “in the round” as a way of expressing that we, the church in attendance, are pursuing His presence together.  While the leaders have a planned set-list for the evening, we value following the Spirit’s leading.  We have often found ourselves moving into unplanned songs or spontaneous worship as the diverse body worships together.  We maintain several “open” microphones and encourage those that feel the Spirit’s leading to share Scripture, testimony, or join in singing with the leading team.

While child care is not typically provided, we welcome the whole family.

What’s this look like?

Monthly, we solicit local churches and ministries for prayer requests.  We establish a date, and set-up a zoom call for the month.  During this call, we take the list of prayer requests, and encourage attendees to pray for churches/requests not their own.  

If you’re interested in joining us, or having an opportunity to submit prayer requests, please reach out to Paul Stock.

How?