Bob’s thoughts:
Sometimes I am a little apprehensive when we get a re-direct on the way to church, but then I remember how well God orchestrates our lives and rewards our faith for following. Christ used the Pastor for a message we all needed to hear.
The Chancel is in the form of the bow of a boat with a masted sailing vessel portrayed on the rear Chancel wall and the pews are in a V shape oriented to the ship. I appreciated the adequate spacing when people needed to get past.
The choir and the Pastor were way louder than my hearing can handle, but both were worth the discomfort. Not only did the choir sing with passion, but they smiled and sang with attitude as they worshiped God.
We were recognized as visitors during the service and warmly welcomed as brother and sister in Christ. The prayers were offered with passion and truth, as if they were conversations with God.
The Choir’s rendition of “Holy, Holy, Holy” rivaled what I have heard by the Malawian choirs, and was much appreciated and enjoyed, along with the instrumentals.
The congregation was presented with the option to “bank” their money towards a future dinner to honor their Pastor.
Though I was somewhat confused as to which offering benefitted what, I liked the readings and coming forward to present the tithe.
The Scripture reading was from Ephesians 6 on the Armor of God. The three points, Are you willing to fight to reap the benefits? Are you willing to take orders, will you obey? and Are you willing to exercise your faith? If you will be strong in and for the Lord, He will give you power.
Again I was presented with another similarity between Christians and Marines…I have waited for this one. When Marines hear gunfire we run towards the fight, the full armor of God does not cover your back. Go forward in Christ.
Today began with a simple plan to worship at a particular church, but as has happened several times lately, we encountered a detour (that congregation was worshiping at a different location during August), so we drove around a bit, came across this church, and decided to worship there today.
I noticed the huge anchor outside in front of the building, and the helm on the wall when we first entered, but I couldn’t possibly miss the Chancel. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen anywhere with the bow of a boat in place of a pulpit and on the rear wall was a floor-to-ceiling mural of a large ship on choppy-looking water. The only musical instruments I noticed were an electronic organ and drums. The choir was gifted and energetic.
This service was just different enough from a Presbyterian service that there were a few things I was unsure about; however I’m fairly certain that the ushers were women and they were dressed alike in white suits, hats, and gloves. I thought they made a classy presentation.
The building was modest, but plenty large enough. There were speakers built into the front walls, so there was more than sufficient volume.
There was an enthusiastic announcement regarding the upcoming celebration of the Pastor’s 30 year anniversary in the ministry.
At one point visitors were asked to stand and introduce themselves. We didn’t realize we could have declined, so we stood and said a few words, after which everyone greeted each other (the Passing of the Peace”). I think we were hugged by 1/3 of the people there…I felt very, very welcome!
The collection of the offering differed from the Presbyterian tradition…I should say, the American Presbyterian tradition, because it was similar to the Malawian Presbyterian format in that everyone stood and walked to the front to deposit their offering/gift. It brought back great memories from my trips to Malawi.
I enjoyed hearing everyone who spoke began by saying, “Good morning, Church!” What a great reminder.
The passionately-preached sermon was based on Ephesians 6:10-17 about the Full Armor of God. I cannot recall the last time I heard a sermon that even mentioned spiritual warfare and our role in the invisible battle that rages between good and evil, so I hung on every word of this message. The Pastor started out by asking three inspired questions:
- If we are soldiers of God, are we willing to fight? (In truth, most of us would rather not if we can get out of it.)
- Are we willing to take orders…willing to obey? (Again, most would prefer not to.)
- Are we willing to exercise our faith? (Depends…how tough will things get?
Several of his superb points included that sooner or later in life we must know Jesus for ourselves, we must have a one-on-one personal relationship with Him; other Christians (I would add, of any denomination) are not the enemy…Satan is the enemy of all Christians; and a dark kingdom DOES exist.
When he spoke of verse 17, and “taking the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God,” he declared that “A soldier can’t be effective if he can’t fire his weapon!” YES! What a great analogy!
He made many more excellent points, but suffice it to say that this energetic, enthusiastic, Biblical sermon got my spiritual juices flowing and was precisely what I needed this morning. Praise God for directing us exactly where we needed to be.
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