This is a phrase heard often here in the Remnant Fellowship Church. Whether it is Gwen’s latest message that convicts and encourages everyone, the latest song written by Michael Shamblin that hits us just at the right time, or the event that fires everyone up and charges us to go further in our relationships of love for GOD, the statement continues to be true. And this certainly can be said for our just-completed “Passion of Christ and Passover Celebration of 2014.” Saints from all around the world traveled to Nashville during the third week/weekend in April to observe, rejoice, and commemorate together. The videos and pictures speak a thousand words, and you’ll find a brief “re-cap” video at the end of this article that will give you just a glimpse of how amazing Festival was! Beyond the experiences as they were lived out and captured on video, audio, and in pictures, the Saints’ testimonies are pouring in…and we thought it would be a blessing to share some of those heartfelt sentiments on this Remnant News website. Keep in mind, these people came hundreds…and in some cases even thousands…of miles to honor GOD and His son Jesus Christ…and to celebrate with the Saints.
This year’s Passion of Christ and Passover Celebration was the best ever! God provided an amazing concert full of worship and praise to God to kick off the weekend. He sent perfect messages through Gwen to spur us all to look inward even more, to take full responsibility for the spiritual health of our family, and to reach out to the hurting more. Another very generous blessing from God was the amount of fellowship that He allowed throughout the weekend. It all flowed so beautifully and was SO peaceful! I know we are personally so thankful for Godly Leadership and examples to imitate!! What a beautiful way to start off God’s new year!! – Marc & Tish Dunn
Our Passion of the Christ & Passover Celebration 2014 was PHENOMENAL!! Every year just gets better. I loved the vision God gave Gwen to start it off with a spiritual jump start week, which allowed us to be together almost every evening for two weeks. In the past, being with that many people that frequently would not have gone well, but instead of being annoyed I was amazed, and instead of leaving empty I was energized and encouraged. To top it off, each time Gwen spoke I was convicted and inspired to go further to lay down ANYthing that holds me back and to give what it takes to find and deepen this relationship with The One True God. What can I say, but this was truly THE BEST PASSOVER EVER!! – Naomi Howell
This weekend was so amazing and I learned so much! A huge thing that stuck out to me was the fellowship with all the saints! It was so powerful and the love for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ is so evident because everyone is so humble and selfless! I loved being able to be around all the saints because it always convicts me and encourages me of what I need to be doing better and how I can change to become more selfless and humble! The words Miss Gwen spoke this weekend were so beautiful and powerful, and I am so humbled that I, being dust, could have an opportunity to serve and glorify The One and Only God of the Universe and His Son Jesus Christ!!! – Sarah Spoon
This Passover had been amazing for our family! The experience of being here for the festival is life changing because the love and joy here is real. It is so powerful that the only way to comprehend the magnitude of this love is to experience it firsthand. It is so humbling and exciting to experience being able to talk to people you have never met like they are your best friend. We know that it is from God and that He is allowing us to connect like this because of the obedience and love and the suffering that has united us because we have been taught here to follow the footsteps of the true Jesus Christ. Only through being connected to that ONE spirit could that even be possible! Being one is spirit and united as a body of believers is truly something amazing and we have never experienced this kind of unity until coming to Remnant Fellowship. Acacia (age 7) said, “What I loved most about this Passover is all the music and the new song and how I got to learn about God and love even more!” Greg (age 10) said, “The best thing about this Passover was getting to fellowship with everyone no matter their age and getting to play with friends – new and ones I have had for awhile.” – Lynn & Tanya Woolsey family
We have celebrated the Passover in the past, but it was full of rules and legalism. As new members, this was our first Passover kept in unity with Remnant Fellowship Church. It was absolutely beautiful, so much fun, and full of freedom to just love God! I love the unity of this church! Everyone sharing in the Passover meal Monday night across the miles, the night time prayer vigil, everyone learning about fasting together on Wednesday night at the You Can Overcome Show, everyone waving their palm branches as an offering to the Lord and worshipping Him in unity, everyone getting dressed up and color coordinated for the special assembly, everyone communing together and fellowshipping together and going after God wholeheartedly together! The unity is beautiful, and I have been convicted that we need to go farther in our unity in righteousness! We need to be able to stand before God as one man, with Christ as our head! I am SO thankful for Gwen Shamblin and the leadership of this church, for their godly examples, and for the sweet conviction that comes from watching them live this out this message! I came home from the Passover weekend with a long list of conviction points, and I am so eager to CHANGE to be more like Christ and to be unified with the righteous! – Rachael Purdy
The Caruso family was inspired and deeply moved to go further with our relationship with God as a result of Passover 2014!!! Gwen’s teaching was Amazing!!! On our way back to Virginia, we were recalling her words to lay down our lives fully and to “voluntarily” pick up our cross while we have the opportunity to do so! The music was so anointed of God!!! Michael’s new song “Chasing Stars” is our new favorite; it is so telling regarding this generation. The fellowship with the Saints was sweet and so blessed; we got to meet new members from near and far with united hearts for Purity! We kept hearing words like “this is it; this is the Truth that I have been searching for”, and “the people here are so loving”! We Praise God for this Message, the Messenger and the Remnant Fellowship Leaders!!! Thank you all for making Passover 2014 the most memorable ever!!! We love you all!!! – The Caruso family
My heart is full of PRAISE to God for getting to worship again with friends and family another year!!!! Every time I get to travel to the Church leaves me joyful, convicted and changed. The theme for me was the momentum I’m seeing in my life and others’ lives as to going for purity. Revelations of the heart (because we all look inward) and changes in actions like never before because of what is taught by Gwen and lived out by leaders – then us down to the smallest child. It’s so dynamic yet unified! Moving as one but carrying out our purpose each in his own town. I heard so many amazing stories of God changing people and also the lives of those around them, the miracles abound!!! Seeing the faces of my brothers and sisters glowing and loving God is so life-changing – GOD IS WITH THIS PLACE! His Spirit of Joy, peace, direction, clarity and unity abounds!!!! Getting to share our stories like little children is THE BEST—-This is the ONLY place I have experienced this kind of fellowship, a taste of Heaven, and fellowship IN Christ. I feel like He was right there with us, as we have shared in his suffering and choose to walk in the light. Thank you God for your Festivals!!! I love this place!!!! I miss everyone already!!!! Love you!!! – Beth Smiley
I praise God for such a blessed and meaningful celebration. I am in awe of God’s truth that was poured out, especially Gwen sharing how the voluntary death to our own will immediately destroys satan’s intended sting. Victory is in the unwavering love for God, full of humility, and wholehearted surrender to His will. I am also forever inspired by the music of Zion.” – Chris Ancona
I thank God & this Precious Leadership for even the opportunity to share the gratitude within me from getting to be a part of Passover 2014. It was and continues to be so powerful. For me the You Can Overcome show was Monumental, it continued to build from there as we got to hear how that event changed so much for so many. Then I was given the opportunity to talk with the participants of that show and that has helped me to right-side some things in my heart which is so exciting. The concert was thrilling, the testimonies over the top! But what brought tears to my eyes was when Gwen so powerfully talked of taking This Message Out! The mention of perhaps seeking vacated church buildings moved my heart deeply. It is a beautiful vision to imagine. Being from out of town, being a small part, perhaps, of bringing that vision to fulfillment is humbling and moving and I cannot wait. Much love and respect to you all, thank you so much for every detail of this Passover 2014, it was Perfect. – Nan Malinchok
This Passover 2014 and Passion of Christ celebration feast was awesome! I am in awe of God for showing us in this Remnant Fellowship Church that He wants these festivals to continue and for bringing them back for us to experience. The message we got to hear opened my eyes even more to this beautiful relationship with God through Jesus Christ, His obedient Son! My response to God’s love is so clear! What a joy to get to gather with Gwen, our Leadership, and all the Saints for this festival and singing praises to God with the most beautiful praise songs!! My heart is still soaring! – Gayle Mahnke
The Shepherd family is totally in awe of our Most High God’s glorious Passion and Passover Celebration 2014, and we are forever grateful to have been able to share and worship at this glorious festival! My 14 year old daughter, 12 year old son and I were highly blessed to be able to travel to Nashville, and were welcomed into the home of a very Godly family, experiencing amazing sisterly and brotherly fellowship and love for one another. We prayed and gave tremendous thanks for all of the abundant blessings that we have received with this Message of Truth – from our beautiful Messenger and the heavenly Zion Music – throughout this weekend and always, and we praised God for the hope that is in our hearts for my children’s future godly families in the Remnant! As we returned home to Denver, we flipped any sad thoughts of missing the Saints, which we have only learned at the Remnant, and we humbly prayed and asked God to keep us strong as we walk in Jesus’ footsteps and shine so that we might point hurting people to God’s incredible Truth for His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven! – Jackie Shepherd
Total conviction that there cannot be a hint of pride in my life. Before this Passover weekend I loved this message. But after this weekend I love it even more because I realize that I was still holding back. My heart was convicted that I cannot have any pride and that I must reach out to this leadership and to the men of the church and emulate their lives. I can’t be afraid to talk with the men and gain their Godly insight into things. I was confronted with the fact that I need to do more for the saints and for this message but ultimately I need to do more for God. I was convicted that there is still a level of pride and self-focus that prevented me from going deeper like God was wanting. I was convicted that in my home there CANNOT BE ANY SIN at all. I was convicted that as the leader of the house I need to focus on teaching this message to the children, not having any expectations that the children to be fully on board, and allowing God to work in our lives. These thoughts didn’t come from one specific instance. They started on the drive down with the listening to the “Vision Series.” The conviction continued with the services Friday through Sunday. The conviction was from various conversations that either I or my wife had with various saints. The conviction was from the music and worship. The conviction continued on the drive home during conversations with my wife and children. I am totally overwhelmed that God would allow me the opportunity to testify to His greatness and be part of a weekend that was totally focused on Him, His will, His desires, His glory and we still get so much in return. Coming home I’ve been convicted that I can’t be lazy about focusing on God. I can’t be looking for my own comfort but must focus on God’s will and desire. I can’t be focused on myself but need to be focused on teaching the children and being a Spirit-led husband who desires to serve. Thank you for this opportunity to express these thoughts. I am humbled. Please let me know how I can support this message and further the kingdom either here in Indiana or wherever. – Tim Purdy