Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking ( Hebrews 12:25 NLT).

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“Are you guys the Harmons?”

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My husband, Cody, and I are standing in line at the movie theater when we hear this question being asked behind us. We’d flown in from Georgia the night before and planned on spending our week meeting with local ministry leaders, driving around and praying, and figuring out what people’s rhythms were like. Hence, why we were at a movie theater at 10:00am on a Friday morning.

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For context, Cody and I believed God was calling us to Alaska, but just like a lot of people, our only frame of reference for Alaska was Into the Wild. (“Hard Sun” would have been the only song on my Spotify Wrapped in 2008.) We wanted to experience it for ourselves before jumping in blindly, and a part of that process was setting up meetings with local church leaders during our visit.

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Through our research, we naturally found ACF, attended a service, and loved it. We had a meeting scheduled later in the week with Pastor Brian to hear more about ACF, but it turns out we didn’t have to wait that long. Brian and his daughter were also in line at the movies with us, and in the midst of buttering popcorn, we were able to get a small glimpse into the heart of ACF. We realized right away we wanted to be a part of what God was calling ACF into.

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ACF had heard God say “multiply,” and we wanted to be a part of a church-body that believes God still speaks, and when he does, we respond.

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Flash-forward two years, and Cody and I are back at the same movie theater but for a different reason. Instead of being asked if we’re the Harmons, we’re being asked questions like, “Which theater is the Easter service in?” and “Have you ever experienced church in a movie theater before?” and even the occasional, “Wait, can I bring popcorn into the service with me?”

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Easter at Tikahtnu paved the way for ACF Northeast, and had we chosen to not listen, we would have missed out on God taking something as ordinary as a movie theater and turning it into holy ground. In the same theater that had a sold-out show on Saturday night, people are giving their lives to Christ less than 24-hours later.

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It’s almost like something ordinary becomes holy when God gets a hold of it.

Would God have still accomplished His plans had we not been listening? Yes.

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Does God need us to make things happen? No.

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Does God invite us to partner with Him in His plans? Absolutely.

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Just like a movie theater, God takes ordinary people like you and me and invites us into something we never could have dreamed of or imagined.

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You and I get the invitation every day to listen and respond.

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Are we listening?

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PS - ACF Palmer coming this Fall!