They all drove to the eatery in their cars with other fellowship members tagging along. They were 8 in number because some couldn't make it to the little get together even though they were in church. Rose drove with Kirk since he was the only one she knew.
"Here we are, the others should be here any moment from now...okay"
He spoke to the waiter and told him the number of people they were expecting. Shortly afterwards, they were joined by a group of vibrant people, talking and chatting amongst each other. They occupied the booth with as many seats as possible.
"So Rose, this is Bro.Shine sitting beside you, next to him is Bro. Timothy, Sis. Jane, Bro.Jake, Bro.William and Sis.Pearl(who sat right opposite Kirk). Everyone meet Sis.Rose... Nice to meet you Sis Rose" they all said cheerfully except Rose noticed that Pearl wasn't so glad about having her there. "It's nice meeting you all too" she responded with an even smile. They ordered two large family size pizzas and soft drinks to accompany it.
"So Rose where do you live?" Jane asked trying to make Rose feel comfortable
"Some blocks away from Kirk's house...nice, so you live with your parents?" Rose looked at Kirk and he came to her rescue "She lives with someone but is looking for an apartment to rent so if you know of one, kindly let her know... Oh ok, sure I will".
"I think Sis.Rose can speak for herself or?" Pearl stated, looking unconcerned. William who was close to her, tapped her beneath the table for her to behave herself and tried to make light of the situation "Don't mind her Sis.Rose, hunger makes her talk a lot sometimes...it's fine".
They talked among themselves and asked Rose questions till they realised it was getting late. They argued as to whom to foot the bill, apparently they all wanted to pay for everything but Kirk ended up winning.
"Bro. Kirk, I'm going to corner the waiter and pay the next time we go out, it's not fair that you're always footing the bill" Shine pointed out.
When they got to where the cars were parked, Pearl went ahead to open the front door of Kirk's car after he unlocked it
"Bro.Kirk, can you give me a ride home?...I thought you came with Bro.William...yes but he's dropping Jane and Bro. Jake off" William stated that there was enough space in his car and besides Pearl's house was on the road to his. "Sis.Pearl, I would be dropping Rose and go home from there so kindly go with Bro. William... I see you don't want me around you...see you at midweek service" Kirk said and told Rose to get in. Pearl eyed her and went to join the others.
"Rose I'm really sorry about that... don't worry, I'm okay but is she always like that?... oh no, she's a nice person when you get to know her, I don't know why she behaved like that towards you, I'll have to talk to her...I'm fine Bro.Kirk...oh come on, you can call me Kirk please...okay...and about your parents, you never told me where they are...well it never came up in our conversations...okay so where are they?...they are no more...oh I'm so sorry Rose...it's okay...what happened to them?...my mum died shortly after having me and my dad died while serving a sentence in prison...sorry about that, would you like to talk about it?...maybe some other time...okay, anytime you're ready and I'll reserve other questions for then...okay" he sent her home and headed towards his house.
"Long day huh_how was church?" Erasmus asked from the couch, Rose thought he would be in his room
"Oh it was so great, you should come with us next week...you're planning on going again?... yes, why not?...well I thought it was just to get Kirk off your back, you know, just go once and that's all so he wouldn't disturb you...why would you think that? I genuinely wanted to go to church, it's been awhile I did and I was looking for a good place to fellowship, I think I've found that...well, good for you then. Do they take that long at their services?... not exactly, we had a little get together after church, everyone was so nice to me...oh I see...were you able to rest?...yeah...okay, I'll just go in and change, have you had anything to eat?...I'm okay" Rose noticed Erasmus changed his demeanour after hearing about her decision to keep fellowshiping at The New Creation Realities International but she wouldn't let anyone influence her otherwise.
She changed into some comfortable clothes and went through her notes from church, Kirk surprised her by getting her a notepad for church. The preacher, Pastor Dan, gave a sermon on Life in Christ.
"A Christian is not just a sinner saved by grace, a Christian is one who lives the life of Christ he has received within, after being born again, inside out. It means after you make Jesus the Lord of your life, you begin to live by the word of God that you're being taught, the word that you study for yourself and meditate on. That word dwells in your heart and therefore you literally live what you have on the inside, outside for everyone to see and glorify your father which is in heaven. Let's take our scripture from Matthew 5:13-16, I'll just read from the NIV version:
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
So you see, being a christian means your life is now an exhibition of the righteousness, holiness, grace and glory of God on display for all to see, and this makes them glorify Him. You may not know this but once you accept that call to become a Christian and live the transcendent life in Chist, people begin to watch your every move. There are some, you become an example to and others look out for your flaws but in all this, see to it that you please no one else but your maker. God knew your flaws and every other thing that could make someone give up on you but he still chose to die for you in order for you to live this life of absolute success and victory in him with no sense of guilt whatsoever because he declared you not guilty and acquitted in christ. Now you're a new creature, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, you have never lived before so begin this new life living for Jesus and just enjoying real peace and tranquility that surpasses human understanding. Now you're not ordinary, you're special. I'll end my message with this scripture, 1st Peter 2:9 from the amplified version, it makes it clearer:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Don't let anyone make you feel less of yourself. If I continue, we may have to call for an al-night" Everyone burst out laughing.
Rose knew that she couldn't turn back now and she was glad to have found Christ, though she used to attend church, it was just because it was Sunday and everyone was going but she never had the revelation she was getting from this church and she didn't know how special she was to God until now. Now more than ever she sought to find her own place because she knew living with a man wasn't the best for a Christian lady and she needed to find it in her heart to forgive the man who raped her. She left that aspect for later in her life, it was too painful to even remember.
YOU ARE READING
Heaven on Earth
SpiritualRose thought she had a good life, had it all figured out, until she lost everything, then she met Erasmus while battling with amnesia and thought maybe he was an answered prayer but it turned out he wasn't the one to help her in her walk of faith. A...
