A message from Pastor Ranjith

 

Our Divine Assignment

​Welcome to the Church of Philadelphia. Whether you stumbled upon our website by chance or have been seeking a spiritual home, I believe you are here by divine appointment.

​Every church has a story, but the story of this ministry is a testament to God’s relentless pursuit, His infinite patience, and a calling that could not be outrun. I want to share with you how the Lord brought me from a life of worldly success to this exact altar in Winter Park, Florida.

​The Seed on the Road

​For the first part of my life, I did not know the Lord. I had never read the Bible, and my beliefs were deeply rooted in a completely different faith tradition passed down by my forefathers. I went on to become a very successful businessman, entirely focused on building my own career and livelihood.

​But God had a plan.

​One afternoon, I passed a small child walking with an adult on the road. Out of nowhere, this little girl looked up at me and asked, "Do you know Jesus?"

I answered politely, saying I knew Him as a Christian God.

Then she pressed further: "Have you experienced Jesus in your life?"

​Right there on the road, she began to sing a beautiful song of praise. Moved by her innocent faith, I agreed to her invitation to ask Jesus into my heart. It felt like a brief, fleeting moment, and I soon forgot all about it, returning to my busy professional life.

​A Miracle and a Blueprint

​Ten years passed before that seed finally broke through the soil. Through a series of undeniable encounters, I truly came to know the Lord and experienced His power in my life. For someone so deeply rooted in a different faith to be transformed this way was an absolute miracle.

​A few years into my walk with Christ, He gave me a specific passage from the Book of Revelation. He instructed me to print a name—The Church of Philadelphia—to date it, and to wait until He spoke to me about it again.

​Then came His terrifying, beautiful directive:

​"Take your hands off all that you are doing, and be ready to serve Me."

​Running from the Call

​I walked away from my businesses and everything I did for a living. But great fear soon gripped me. Stepping into the unknown without a financial safety net was terrifying. To survive, I began to slip back into the world, engaging in various vocations just to make a living. I was putting my hands back on the things God told me to leave behind.

​Like Jonah, I was trying to run from a calling that felt too heavy.

​But God does not let go of His servants easily. Exactly 21 years after He first gave me the name of this church, the Lord shook my life to its very core. He plunged me into a physical crisis that left me in a coma for seven days.

​During that week in the hospital, while my body lay still, my spirit was in a fierce reckoning with the Almighty. In that quiet space between life and death, I was thoroughly convinced of the truth: I had to activate the name given to me more than two decades ago. My delay wasn’t a lack of a calling; it was my own lack of responsiveness.

​Winter Park: The Purpose Resumed

​Jonah tried to flee, but God redirected him through the storm. My storm was a seven-day coma, but the redirection was perfect. Truly, nothing is impossible for God.

​Today, the businessman is gone, and the servant remains. The Lord has initiated the Church of Philadelphia right here in Winter Park, Florida, for a specific, holy purpose. We are a ministry born out of resurrection, built on the patient, unyielding love of a God who never gives up on His promises.

​If you are running from your calling, if you are searching for your purpose, or if you simply need to experience the miraculous power of Jesus Christ, our doors are open to you. Come and discover what God can do when we finally take our hands off our own lives and surrender them to Him.

​In His Service,

Pastor  -Ranjith Thalakiriyawe]