Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning......

We searched for churches we might attend here on the internet before even leaving Ohio. The only one that seemed to be fitting with our beliefs was Christ Community Church. At first it seemed that it may be just too big or a typical "almost-mega-church" type. We were pleasantly surprised after walking in! Yes, it is a fairly large church, but they manage to do a good job at being a church anyway! We put the two young ladies in nursery and Ephraim in the three year old class. He informed us that morning that he was ready to go to church to ''find friends we don't know yet''! Although we prefer to keep our children in church for the service, it is nice to have the option of ''child care'', especially for our first day. We really needed to pay attention to the service without any possible distractions or a sudden need for going potty, etc. Anyway, I was impressed with the staff and the appropriate use of technology. We were given a pager in exchange for our little ladies and the staff for the three year old class took my phone number to text if there were any issues. We were also asked if snacks were ok and which ones were ok. That is very respectful towards parents and something that was especially appreciated. 

The worship service was awesome. Nothing distracting. Nothing overdone. Just oddly wonderful. Don't really have a good way to describe it but, if you could imagine how a worship service should go, this would be it. Ironically, the first song was (don't remember the exact name) ''wherever He leads I will follow''... The sermon was on Mark. The type or style of preaching/teaching I enjoy. I am difficult to impress. I have heard enough sermons by enough pastors and rarely remember anything they say. Why? Well, the easiest way to explain it is to use music as an example. You can tell when there is "soul" behind a song. It's weird but at some point musicians end up under pressure to keep producing albums and the soul is no longer there. No passion, conviction or point. Pastors are the same way. I've heard too many soul-less teachings. Today, however, was soul and Spirit filled. I felt quite at home. We noticed many young families and a number of children in church making Bethany and me very happy! Not once did the pastor seem annoyed or distracted by children running around or the occasional yell or cry. 

Of course they also have a worship through song for after the sermon as well. They first sang All Creatures Of Our God And King (one of my absolute favorites) and then Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) which has a phrase about God being before me and behind me.  I actually cried right in church. The closest I ever came to crying in church was in Montana. Worship at the church in Plains, MT was led by a gifted and very humble guitar player who sat in a shadow on the side of the stage. I wasn't able to sing along. A crazy and strange experience for me and yet another way we see God leading! We are looking forward to Tuesday night for family night ice skating with the small group!