Welcome Home!
February 24, 2019
“This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven…”
Colossians 1:23
The mission team hiked to the top of the highest point in the city – Mount Kennesaw – and prayed over the great city of Atlanta!
To gain a greater vision for this lost city of six million people, the mission team hiked up Mount Kennesaw –the site of a major Civil War battle! (For us on the team, this is a physical foreshadowing of our spiritual battle against Satan for the souls of the men and women of Atlanta!) After a “sermon on the mount,” we prayed to the“Lord of harvest!” Our Father has already begun to answer our prayers, as our attendance soared last Sunday from 26 to 40! Amazingly, during this chaotic time of finding jobs and setting up homes, “the Lord added to our number” three restorations and three place memberships! And to God be all the glory!
After 9 months of sharing their faith, Ron and Tim baptize their good friend Rick 1 week before the Atlanta sendoff!
Our collective Biblical convictions referred to as our Five Core Distinguishing Convictions are unique:
1) We believe our Savior Jesus is the Son of God risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4);
2) The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God
(2 Timothy 3:16);
3) Only “SoldOut” baptized disciples compose God’s church universal, of which we are striving to be an active part (Acts 2:41-42);
4) Every disciple is called by God to participate in daily discipling relationships, thus creating family (Hebrews 3:12-13); and
5) The mission of each disciple is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), and we believe wholeheartedly in building a movement of “like-minded” congregations (1 Corinthians 4:17) whose motivating vision is the evangelization of the nations in this generation! (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
Our historical roots can be traced from the Reformation Movement of Martin Luther and John Calvin in the 1500’s, to the Restoration Movement (Mainline Churches of Christ) of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone in the 1800’s, to the Crossroads Campus Movement (Total Commitment Movement) of Chuck Lucas in the 1960’s and 70’s, and finally to the Boston Movement initiated in 1979 by Dr. Kip McKean, whom we have the honor of having with us today! In 1994, the Boston Movement officially became known as the International Churches of Christ (ICOC).
Restored to the fellowship were Destine Morgan and the parents of Jamal Ellis – JJ and Malinda!
After the fall of this great family of churches in 2003, the Holy Spirit provided a spark of hope in Portland, Oregon through Kip & Elena McKean’s new ministry! This renewed hope of Jesus’ dream reignited the fires of remnant disciples, such as my wife Tracy and me! The Spirit gathered the remnant from the four corners of the globe, thus re-establishing God’s Modern-Day Movement through Kip’s refined leadership and reaffirmed vision!
Matt & Helen Sullivan scoped out “Tech Tower” at Georgia Tech – the flagship campus for the ATLICC – as they spy out the land with Ron & Tracy!
Beginning with the planting of the City of Angels International Christian Church on May 6, 2007 by 42 Portland disciples, astonishingly in just under 12 years, God has multiplied His New Movement to become 7,000 disciple sin 98 churches in 37 nations on all six populated continents of the world!
The incredible account of “our story” can be read in my newly published book entitled, THE CHRONICLES OF MODERN-DAY CHRISTIANITY! You will find this book at our book table today along with four others on spiritual growth: ELEVATE – Jesus’ Global Revolution For Women by Dr. Elena McKean, which teaches about Jesus’ revolutionary elevation of women and women’s leadership; THE BATTLE THAT EVEN KINGS LOST by Dr. Raul Moreno, which expounds on the Scriptures on purity; MONEY IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING by Joe Willis, which is a Biblical view of finances; and 20-20 by Dr. Tim Kernan, a 20-Day Devotional on building a “Jesus ministry!”
The sendoff of the Atlanta Mission Team on December 16, 2018!
Today we say to all those visiting, “Welcome Home” to the Atlanta ICC Family! As God in the Parable of the Prodigal Son rushed to hug and greet his lost son returning home, so we welcome all those who need to find a home in God’s house. To those who remained faithful to the Lord, but are wandering in a spiritual desert of lukewarmness and apathy, we also say “Welcome Home!” Prayerfully together we will now fulfill Jesus’ dream by evangelizing Atlanta, the United States and the entire world in this generation! Then someday, we will surely hear a heavenly welcome home, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
Ronald C. Harding, Jr.
Lead Evangelist