Only If God Would Be With Us
by Cory McTague
“I wonder if they would let us baptize there.” As we walked past the historic Baptist church, I made this off-hand comment to our group of men. We were going through the neighborhood putting out Gospel literature. One of our men mentioned he knew the pastor, and after a few weeks, introductions were made.
As I spoke to the pastor of the historic stone church building, I inquired if they ever rented to other congregations. Space in Toronto is very limited and extremely expensive so host congregations often rent the sanctuary during times it is not being used. The pastor indicated the sanctuary had been rented in the past and it was a possibility. After a few weeks, we agreed to begin renting the first Sunday of November.
We started Sparrow Baptist Church seven years prior and had met in a community center a few blocks away. They had been very helpful to us through the years. During the pandemic, the staff allowed us to meet, only opening the building for our church. Imagine the government paying their employees so a church could rent the space! God is good. But it was time to take a step of faith as our highest attended services filled the current room to capacity.
One time I was showing the sanctuary to my wife. The pastor began clicking on the auditorium lights and only a few flickered on. I thought he had only turned on a few. Come to find out, approximately 80 percent of the light bulbs were burned out! The host congregation could not afford to replace them. We began to pray about this need.
After a few weeks of prayer and negotiations the electricians changed all the lights for LEDs in just a few hours. It was thrilling to see our people sacrifice generously for this project. Though we recognize the church is not a building, we also understand that the unchurched do not yet know this valuable truth.
A few months ago, we prayed we could rent this space only if God would be with us. It is God’s presence among His people that is most valuable. That is why we meet, to be with Him. If a building would hinder that or become the object of worship, we would bypass this opportunity. Thankfully, God is using this building to bring honor to Himself in a city that desperately needs His presence among His people.
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