Video breve della cerimonia
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Greetings and welcome to all.
Today is a significant day for our small church. We will make public the symbolic act of laying the "First stone" for the construction of a "meeting house" which purports to be, at the same time, a place of worship, a center of culture and space to serve the whole town of Caltanissetta.
We are very grateful to our God and Creator, our only God in three person, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because what is done today is made possible only because of his mercy, his grace and his providence.
In a similar situation, just before the construction of a temple far more grand and glorious, King David prayed, saying:
"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. “But who am I and who are my people that we should [h]be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours." (1 Chron. 29:11-16).
And with the same words we pray our God to watch over all the work that will be done, in order to protect all workers who work by ensuring that the work is completed quickly and providing as necessary.
Now Giovanni Marino, one of the deacons of the church, will read a brief account of the history of our church:c
Our church was born in Caltanissetta in 1998 out of the need, felt by a small group of people, to "reform" our faith and our practice of worshipping God and living closer to the principles expressed from God's Word, the Bible, in line with those expressed in the 1996 Declaration of Cambridge. We legally constituted in March 2000 and then formally as "Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica Sola Grazia" on November 17 of that year by tightening on the sight of God and with each other a "church covenant". Our church follows the path of historic Christianity, as it was expressed in the "Apostles' Creed," in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381), Chalcedon (451), and in the great confessions of faith of the Protestant Reformation, especially compiled as part of Puritanism in the seventeenth-century English Baptist confession of the said Second London Baptist Confession of Faith, or of 1689. The purpose of our church is contained in these words we read from our rules:
The purpose that justifies the existence of this church is to glorify the God of the Bible (Eph. 3:21), to promote his worship (Ex. 20:3-11, Jn. 4:23-24; 1 Co. 3:16-17, 1 Pet 2:5), to evangelize the lost (Acts 13 and 14; 1 Cor 14:24,25; 1 Tim. 2:1-4 and 3:15), to build up the saints (1 Cor 12:27-28, Eph. 4:11-16), to establish new and strengthen local communities (Acts 11:29,30, 15:3, 36, 41, 16:5 ) and show kindness to all the needy (Rom. 15:26,27; Gal. 2:10, 6:10). Therefore we commit ourselves to promote the proclamation of the glorious gospel of his grace in the world (Luke 24:47; Acts. 20:20,21,27; Ro. 1:15-8, 39), to defend " faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints "(Jude 3), and to celebrate faithfully and ordinances in their purity of the New Covenant.
Recognizing that this is our thirteenth year of our walk toghether as a church, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to God for his support for peace and that has kept among us, and for the prosperity that has given us.
Within our church has been developed the work of Alpha & Omega Publishing House, which has already published over a hundred books and distributes its production throughout Italy.
If we were to mention the names of people and churches who have helped, encouraged and supported over the years, we would be forced to make a long list. At this time we just want to remember only those who have been from the beginning with us, and that wanted to see this day, but didn't see it because the Lord has called them to himself. The dear brothers Calogero and Antonio and sister Crocifissa.
By the grace of God we are confident that the best part of our history is yet to come, and we keep closely linked to the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said: "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it".
Now the deacon Franco Palmigiano will reads two messages from two sister churches:
Message from the Past. Alan Dunn (Flemington, NJ, USA)
Dear Brethren,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. Your brothers and sisters of Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington NJ are rejoicing with you on this occasion of laying the first stone in your building project! We give thanks to the Lord for His faithfulness to you as we've witnessed His grace in you over the years that we've known you and your beloved pastor, Reno Ulfo. We see our Lord being faithful to His promise to build His church against the gates of Hades in the victory of His resurrection and the power of His Spirit.
May you ever build on Jesus, the cornerstone. May the Holy Spirit ever dwell in you and fashion you into living stones in His New Covenant temple. May the light of the gospel go forth from you all over the island of Sicily, through Italy and to the four corners of the globe.
And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 2:4-5).
Message from the Past. Geoff Thomas (Aberystwyth, Galles, UK.)
A man once sent a letter to Italy. It was the greatest letter ever written, and it changed the course of human history by changing the lives of millions of people who read it, took in what it said, and afterwards lived fulfilled and happy lives pleasing to God. The writer was the apostle Paul and the letter was the one he sent to the gospel church meeting in Rome. The congregation of Italians there did not comprise the members of the faculty of the University at Rome. It consisted of women, children, old people, teenagers, slaves, illiterates, soldiers and people on the staff in Caesar’s household. They had heard about Jesus Christ and had put their trust in him and had a great hunger to understand more and more what the Christian faith was all about. This letter of Paul’s explained that to them in the most thrilling, and heart-expanding way. Because they were Christians they each had the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth and illumination and by his presence in their lives they were able to grasp the height and length and depth of the love of God that passes knowledge. This came to them the more they read the letter – what Paul was saying to them. He also gifted their pastors and preachers to explain the Christian gospel to them both publicly and house to house. What a letter is Pauls letter to the church in Rome!
So in my little letter to you I can only say how glad I am to be writing to a church which understands and wants more of that knowledge that the apostles of Christ wrote so comprehensively in the New Testament. How delighted I am that you have now been led to work together to put up a building at whose heart will be the Word of God, and whose meetings will be characterized by the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ strengthening and comforting you all each time you gather by his Spirit. May your congregation become a magnet which will draw people from all around the area to hear more of Jesus Christ and him crucified, risen and exalted. May you love one another with a pure love. May God give you grace to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace and keep you while the building is being erected and then ever after when you meet there.
Message by the Italian Evangelical Alliance (read by the coordinator for Sicily: Vincenzo Paci, Catania)
Dear brothers and sisters of the Church of Caltanissetta Sola Grazia,
authorities and friends,
Today is the first stone of a Gospel church in the city of Caltanissetta. The Italian Evangelical Alliance is pleased that this project will enrich the life of the city with the values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Where the Word of God is preached and lived, there are benefits for the community around. In the very year in which Italy remembers its 150 years of its unity, it's nice to see how the evangelicals, who were among the supporters of that unity, continue to bear a faithful witness in the nation with renewed energy and enthusiasm. We encourage all of you to continue to see the new place of worship built.
Brotherly and friendly greetings to all
Past. Roberto Mazzeschi
Message from the Reformed Evangelical Baptist Churches in Italy (CERBI) read by the Past. Francesco Stelluti from the church of Cinisello Balsamo.
Dear brothers and sisters of the evangelical church "Sola Grazia"
Today by the grace of God you have the honor and responsibility to lay the first stone of the building, in short, will be a vibrant center of the testimony of the gospel in your city and throughout Sicily. After having established and built up the local church, now the Lord allows you to build the place of your meetings in the middle of a beautiful district of Caltanissetta.
We want to share our joy for this project and pray that God will bless you with the construction work.
In our country, we usually see projects started but never completed. The Lord does not work that way. He brings to completion the good things he has begun (Philippians 1.6). May his blessing continues to be upon you, supply to your needs and promoting the various steps of the building.
In the fellowship that unites us as believers in Jesus Christ and, specifically, sister Reformed Baptist churches, we greet you dearly in the name of the Lord of Glory.
Yours in Christ Jesus
Luigi Dalla Pozza, Leonardo De Chirico, Matteo Clemente
on behalf of the Chiese Evangeliche Riformate Battiste in Italia (CERBI) www.cerbi.it
Greetings from other pastors:
Pastor Samuel Scandurra (Apostolic Church of Enna)
Pastor Rafael Drieiyer (Waldensian Church of Riesi and Caltanissetta)
Pastor Enzo Caputo (Adventist Church in Piazza Armerina) sent the following message (read by Pastor Ulfo):
To Pastor Nazzarene Ulfo and the Church "Sola Grazia" of Caltanissetta.
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The day of laying the first stone might be for you all a sincere and fraternal good wishes from me and the Evangelical Adventist Church in the ecclesiastical district of Piazza Armerina.
We are bound to you and your pastor by a sincere and fraternal friendship, the common profession of faith in "Scripture alone" unites us . Today's symbolic gesture has for you all unique and special meaning: the "Stone" is Christ and the Church will be built for Him.
Our hope is that the new church, you will build, will spread to all the area of Caltanissetta the grace alone of our Lord, that you are proclaiming with conviction and perseverance.
A sincere appreciation goes to the designer that remind us, in its style, the ancient Armenian Churches. Armenia was the first nation to accept Christianity.
Finally, may the love of the Lord unite you ever more, that you may be recognized by all as the Temple of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
with affection
Past. Enzo P. Caputo
Greetings from Pastor Phil Johnson (read by Johnny Gravino)
Greetings from city authorities:
The former Mayor of the town Dr. Salvatore Messana
The Provincial Councillor for Social Policies Gianluca Miccichè
The city councilwoman Adriana Ricotta
Composition of the "Stainless steel box": a copy of the Holy Bible, a copy of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, a copy of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (a Baptist version), a copy of the first book published by Alpha & Omega "Daily Bread", a copy 1996 Cambridge Declaration, and a CD with the Exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians made by the past. N. Ulfo.
The tenor Angel Villari sings the Lord's Prayer by A. H. Malotte.
Deposition of the stainless steel box.
The tenor Angel Villari sings Amazing Grace (John Newton)
Closing Prayer: Pastor. Luigi Cutri.
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SEE ALSO
The new church building
SEE ALSO
Complete video of the cerimony
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