Seventh Year of Miracle Focuses on Message of Jubilee

For the seventh year in a row, more than 10 congregations joined in a community Thanksgiving celebration as part of the Miracle on 127th Street service at Moraine Valley Church. This special night of worship on Sunday, November 20, brought together the different ministries that line 127th Street from East to West. The two-hour celebration, sponsored by the 127th Street Ministers’ Fellowship, featured:

• a parade of nations featuring the children of the 127th Street ministries,
• Scripture reading by Pastor Gerald Miller (New Hope Church),
• invocation and hymn by Pastor Sam Hamstra (Living Hope Church) and the Salvation Army Bass Band,
• worship in song, led by Chad Negley (Moraine Valley Church) and other worship leaders, including Peter Holtrop (Living Hope Church), accompanied by the Praise Dance Team (Glorious Life Worship Center),
• spoken word presentations by three young people (Moraine Valley Church, The Lighthouse Church, Progressive Missionary Baptist Church),
• worship in song (Healer) by the mass youth choir (directed by Kristin Cavins, The Lighthouse Church),
• a love offering for Operation Blessing in Crestwood,
• a keynote address by Pastor Pat Peglow (Moraine Valley Church), and
• worship in song (You Are Worthy) by the adult mass choir, directed by Pastor Mary Gaye Steel (Life Church).

A complete photo gallery of the evening can be viewed on our facebook page.

Pastor Peglow began by looking at Deuteronomy 15, which speaks about the seventh-year Jubilee. He chose this text to recognize the seventh year of the Miracle celebration. He then spoke on the ministry of Jesus and why he came as a Jubilee.

“We have all been released from something, and to something,” Peglow said. “Every one of us has been released—we have new hearts with new capacities to love. We have a whole new set of blessings.

“You are richer than you think,” he added. “Let me tell you who you have become. You are salt of the earth, light of the world, branches chosen to bear Christ’s fruit ... You are a royal priesthood and holy. ... God has changed us. He has also given us gifts—redemption, eternal life, set free from the law of sin and death.” 

Peglow reminded the congregation that God has chosen each one as his child, and to each one, grace has been freely given.

“Yet we still feel like slaves,” Peglow said. “We don’t feel released. But—believe and receive the gifts God has given to us. Stand on the documentation of God, the Bible. Jubilee is a picture of Christ’s ministry—of release and rest. ... There is rest and release. Praise God.”

The “Miracle on 127th Street” began more than seven years ago when Pastor Dan Willis, of The Lighthouse Church of All Nations in Alsip, IL, called Pastor Sam Hamstra, who was, at that time, serving the Palos Heights Christian Reformed Church. Willis told Hamstra that he had traveled 127th Street from beginning to end and discovered that, on that 10-mile road, 10 congregations gather for worship. Then Willis asked, "Do you think God would be glorified if all the churches on 127th Street could gather as followers of Christ for one service?" Hamstra's positive answer to that question led to the first "Miracle on 127th Street," hosted by the Palos Heights Christian Reformed Church on the Sunday night before Thanksgiving Day in 2005. More than 600 people attended to share the "miracle" of a diverse group of Christ-followers, from many tribes and nations, crossing over denominational barriers, for an evening of fellowship and praise in the name of Jesus Christ.

“Once again,” Pastor Hamstra said this year, “we experienced a little bit of heaven on earth as Christians from many tribes and traditions gathered in one place, at one time, to thank the Lord for His goodness and grace. I have never been in another setting where both the unity and diversity of the church have been celebrated with such enthusiasm.”

This year's participants were: Christ Spiritual Way of Truth, Glorious Life Worship Center, Grace United Methodist Church, Life Church, Living Hope Church, Moraine Valley Church, New Hope Church, Palos Heights Christian Reformed Church, Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, Salvation Army, The Lighthouse Church of All Nations, True Spirit International Ministries.