44 :: Vizion Church

 

Sunday night  I attended my fourth church service of this week. It was yet another powerful experience. I worshiped at Vizion Church in uptown Charlotte. This young congregation is using First Baptist's sanctuary in uptown Charlotte at this time.

I got to the sanctuary in advance of the 6 pm service and had my temperature taken. 

97.6. Good to go,

I entered First Baptist's sanctuary, a place I know very well. As mentioned in an earlier post, I attended services at First Baptist on and off for years. When the boys were little, we attended their Christmas Extravaganza annually. I was so involved that I attended Pastor Charles Page's memorial service there fifteen years ago. He was the First Baptist's Pastor who lost his Earthly life after a protracted fight with multiple myeloma cancer. His eulogy was given by his son, Robert, the current Pastor at Sharon Baptist in South Charlotte. 

It was quite moving stuff to be back in a sanctuary filled with so many memories. 

I watched the videos on the screens as people walked in. 

There were perhaps a hundred of us in the cavernous sanctuary. Every other row of pews was taped off. These two factors ensured that this was the ultimate in socially distanced worship.

A young woman walked up to me. I immediately recognized her. 

She asked me a question. "Hi, you go to Freedom House in South End, right?"

"I do, my fiancée and I have been going for a little while. It's nice to see you," I replied, smiling.

She reminded me that her name was Christine.

Christine and I had a good conversation during which I recalled that she serves in the coffee bar at Freedom House South End. We had both been at Freedom House that morning, so an obvious question emerged. 

I asked it. "Are you a member here at Vizion, or at South End, or both...?"

She smiled and answered, "I just love worship! I go a bunch of places. The preaching here is amazing, you're going to love it."

Her enthusiasm was impossible to miss.

The lights darkened across the sanctuary as the band came out. Christine and I retreated to our respective pews.

This band was really solid. Excellent praise and worship music.

The band performed multiple songs to an enthusiastic crowd. Hands were lifted up. We all knew the songs well. Multiple of us left our pews and worshiped in the wide central aisle. The massive sanctuary become Spirit-filled.

After the band finished up, Pastor Tyson Coughlin came up on the stage. 

As Tyson started his message, he was excited to be back in the pulpit. Two weeks ago, he and his wife had just had their first child! He was very enthusiastic about being a father. It was infectious. A first-time father is really a wonderful thing to see.

Tyson then announced that on February 21st, Vizion would be holding service first service at their own church at 1134 West Boulevard. There was thunderous applause from the small congregation.

Then I took a step back and took note of what was so unique about this situation. 

A new and growing church that meets in a borrowed sanctuary. 

A reasonably good turn out on Super Bowl Sunday.

The church was headed by a recent college graduate.

This congregation had enough momentum to buy a church building after only a couple years. 

And all of this happened during a pandemic. 

Seeing a church with all of these unique characteristics is rare. In fact, I've never seen anything quite like it. I developed a quick sense of how unusual this church was.

I knew that what was happening in front of me was deeply interesting and important.

Before I proceed, watch this video "Our Story" from Vizion Church's YouTube channel:

This young guy Tyson clearly has an anointing on him. Additionally, his personal testimony is very compelling. We met briefly after the service and I will also say he is very polite and extremely nice. I will also point out that the level of enthusiasm he brings to preaching is uncommonly high.

Tyson preached a sermon titled "When the Wine Runs Out." It was an exploration of Yeshua's first miracle during which he turned water into wine. He brought themes out of this story that candidly reflected an exceptional preaching ability.

It was really, really impressive.

There was one main theme that I found especially compelling. 

Tyson pointed out that it's common for people in other countries to have radical experiences of divine transformation. Many of these are spiritual transformations. There are also many experiences of physical healing. Put simply, radical transformations happen outside of the US more often than they do inside of the US.

Tyson pointed out that this is often because those people have no other options left. They are always closer to the edge, so they have fewer barriers to depending on God. In short, most people on the planet right now live in a place where the wine has run out. Because of this, they are more open to having their empty vessels filled with the new wine of transformation...

Then, he said that he hoped more people would run out of options. He said it would result in cutting us down to the place where we would seek solace in the only place it can be found - at the foot of the Cross.

Boom! It was a deeply compelling message. Tyson preached for about forty-five minutes, after which the band performed one final song. 

As the song played, a man who had been sitting close to the front of the church walked up the stairs of the stage and got on his knees. He wept during the music, pounding his fist into the ground multiple times. Tyson knelt down and whispered to him, checking if he was ok. The man gave Tyson a few words of assurance and Tyson retreated. 

The man poured his anguish out until the singing was done. It was both touching and profound to see.

Let's be honest, we've all been in that spot of desperation. I know I have. That this guy brought his anguish to a church where he could be wrapped in prayer and washed over by beautiful music and hearing a convicting message... well, right on. 

Good choice of venue, brother.

As I walked back to my car, I had a chance to talk to Christine one more time. I said something that summed up my thoughts of the whole experience. 

"Americans love to see a success story. This church looks to be at the beginning of one."

She laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

Vizion Church definitely has a bright future. Seeing the church in its nascent phase was an honor. I'm excited to see where it all goes!.