I've always wanted to visit Elevation Church, but it's located in Charlotte, North Carolina and I live in Fulton, Mississippi. I wondered if it was worth the eight-hour drive it would take to get there. Well, I can answer that for you now!
Yes! A million times yes! I visited two of the eighteen locations (Ballantyne and Blakeney), and here's what I experienced.
As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I was greeted and welcomed! Wow. How many churches have greeters in the parking lot? Not many. They asked me if it was my first time, where I was from, and how long it took me to get there. I genuinely felt that they wanted me to feel welcome.
After that, she took me inside and got me seated and said: "enjoy the experience." Let me just tell you, I felt so at home, and I definitely enjoyed my experience.
When it was time for worship, tears literally filled my eyes. I love to worship the Lord through song. And at Elevation, I felt so free to be able to express myself by raising my hands or moving back and forth. No one was worried about what I was doing. They were just so caught up in the Lord's presence.
The amount of love and energy bursting from everyone in that room was incredible. So not only did I experience an amazing welcome, I experienced the Lord.
After the worship team left the stage, Lisa Harper taught from Acts. The Lord spoke through her in mighty ways. There were so many good points made through Lisa's willingness to share what the Lord laid on her heart. Some of the things I took away from the message were...
1. Love hard even when it is hard!
2. It's not about YOUR capacity. It's about JESUS'S compassion!
3. Allow opposition to stir up compassion in you.
4. Being liked is not a prerequisite of being loving.
Love Hard Even When It Is Hard | Elevation Church | Lisa Harperyoutu.be
Okay. That last one really hit me hard because today everyone is worried about being liked. I have always struggled with trying to please everyone. I want everyone to like me, but I learned really quick that those wants are never going to happen. I just knew I had to strive to love people, no matter their personality, views, or anything else. I struggle with that every single day.
But what if we just started loving everyone, even when it's hard or they don't necessarily deserve our love?
That's what Jesus did. He loved every single person: the leper, the tax collector, the Jew, the Gentile, the Samaritan. He didn't care what they looked like, how much they weighed, or what they had done. He just loved.
He loved the WORLD enough to suffer a sinners death. He took our punishment so that we can live a life filled with grace, forgiveness, and redemption.
Wow. I want to be like Jesus so bad. I want to love hard.
Elevation impacted me. Well, let me rephrase that. God impacted me through what I experienced at Elevation. Without God, Elevation wouldn't matter. They are allowing God to move in mighty ways, and I am so thankful for that!
So, my experience at Elevation was phenomenal. If you ever get the chance to go, GO! You will experience the church, but more importantly, you will experience God.
