From Broken to Beautiful: Real Stories from Fire by Night

Pastor Gary Ritchie of One Way Ministries

I love Fire by Night! Unless you live in or around Damascus, you have probably not had the experience of a powerful Fire by Night service. Last night was the final meeting of the year and I am sad that we will have to wait for several months before they begin again.

Fire by Night was birthed several years ago, when Christians came together for a Call to Prayer. It was a grassroots movement with Christians uniting together to visit backyards to pray. The week-long event started rather small, but every night picked up momentum, with more and more people joining each night.

The theme was simple – seek God’s face with our whole heart. It was not just one church. To be correct, it really was. It was the Body of Christ uniting together under one banner – Jesus Christ! At the end of the week, leaders began asking the question, “What are we going to do with this mighty move of God?” The outcome of the Call to Prayer was to move it to the Damascus Town Park for what would later become, Fire by Night. Over the years, minor changes have been made. But the purpose has remained the same – worship in the public square. The template for the service has always been simple. Someone will open with prayer, share a passage of scripture and welcome everyone.

The Fire by Night worship team is made up of members of the worship teams from One Way Ministries and Damascus First Baptist Church. An open mic is set up where participants may come and share a testimony, share a scripture, or offer a prayer. There has never been a need for a sermon, because the words shared come from real life experiences.

Last night was such a sweet night! I heard stories (testimonies) from some of my own church family. Some shared terrible experiences that involved suffering and plenty of sin. But for all of them, they shared the story of a beautiful Savior who delivered them from their brokenness and their mess. Their stories reminded me that Jesus gives beauty for ashes. We heard several stories of destruction and sadness – but all of them were presented by wonderful and beautiful people. All because of Jesus!

I shared a sermon titled Guardians of the Lost Cause a couple of weeks ago. The heart of the message was that we were all called to rescue the perishing. No one is a “throw away.’ Last night, some shared testimonies that involved prison, drug abuse, and violence. During their pre-Jesus days, many of us would have considered them to be a lost cause. But God didn’t! He pursued them with his love, mercy, and compassion. For we know that no one is too far gone. Even the demon possessed man running around naked and living in the tombs was not a lost cause to the one who mattered most! Jesus! I can only imagine if there were a modern day church during Jesus’ day, Legion (I suspect a name change at this point) was sitting in the seats beside of everyone else. Most would have no clue that this man was once filled with demons, so insane that he could not even be held down with chains, finding comfort living among the dead. The clothes and clean speech would make him similar to all of the other parishioners. A lost cause no more!

Fire by Night has been the venue where we get to hear the amazing and powerful stories of the changes Jesus has brought to so many. I am thankful that Christians are not ashamed of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We understand that worship is more than a song as God draws us to him as the community unites together. It is easy to imagine that one day when we all get to Heaven, worship may feel like another Fire by Night experience. And that sounds like Heaven to me!

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Our website is www.onewaydamascus.org for more information on our church and ministries.

If you would like to reach out to Pastor Gary, he can be emailed at pastorgary@onewaydamascus.org 

May God richly bless you this day!