Last Sunday morning I saw missional unity, and I want you to hear about it and celebrate with me!

I walked into a Lake Worth building that years ago was the gathering place for Romanian Christians to worship God. 

In recent years, the building has been the home of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches, led by Senior Pastor Darryl Nelson (pictured above). Some of you may know that Pastor Darryl’s earthly journey ended in February. 

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When I first moved to South Florida in 2012 to start a church in Delray, I met another Pastor, Daniel Williams, who was also starting a church in Delray: Redemption Church. For the past 12 years, I have known Daniel as a friend, as a humble man who loves God and His Word – a pastor who connects with and serves and encourages and blesses other pastors. His life embodies the missional unity I am always talking about.

One of those pastors Daniel connected with and served and encouraged and blessed (of course the blessing was mutual!) was Darryl Nelson. The two leaders are pictured below ministering together a decade ago.

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As the leaders of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches prayed about how God was calling them to move forward after losing their beloved leader, they reached out to Pastor Darryl’s friend, Pastor Daniel Williams. 

Then, something extraordinary happened.
You might call it an answer to Jesus’ prayer for unity.
Over the next few months,
God led Redemption Church
and Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches
to become 1 congregation. 

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Last Sunday I was honored to experience Pastor Daniel being installed as the Lead Pastor of that one new congregation.

So many beautiful stories to tell from that service . . . but I will mention just two.

Duane Roberts, the Pastor of Calvary Chapel Boynton Beach, told the story of how he attended Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches two decades ago. He wasn’t even devoting his life to following the Lord, and he had hoped to sneak out before anyone talked with him. But Pastor Darryl didn’t let that happen, and that conversation turned into a mentorship that led to Duane eventually becoming Pastor Duane. So it was so beautiful to see Pastor Duane standing at the pulpit where his mentor used to preach, and offering words from his heart as a charge to Pastor Daniel. 

Pastor Daniel invited me to stand with a handful of other pastors as Pastor Daniel’s father prayed a prayer of blessing over Pastor Daniel’s leadership of the new united congregation.

At the end of the service, those same pastors stood at the front of the room to pray for anyone who wanted prayer for the Holy Spirit to work through them as God continues to work through Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches. What a beautiful celebration of Pentecost Sunday, a day when we remember how God’s Spirit was poured out on everyone – not just on the leaders!. 

As Pastor Darryl’s wife Aimee said, what happened on Sunday happened on the foundation that God led the Romanian Christians to lay years ago.

On that foundation God led Pastor Darryl and the congregation he led to build a household of God.

Meanwhile, God had been leading Pastor Daniel and Redemption Church to build a household of God a few miles down the road.

God was present and working every moment, accomplishing each part of the physical and spiritual structure he had designed. No one but God saw the master plan, but it was so beautiful for me to see part of the master plan unfold on Sunday.

Just imagine the part of the plan that isn’t yet visible. Imagine what God can do when brothers dwell together in unity. I hear God commands his blessing on that, so I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do next.

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