Physical Worship from a Pure Heart
With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #27.
I thoroughly enjoyed the worship time at this church. The worship of the song leaders was pure and ushered me into the presence of God.
With arms raised I connected with the Almighty through song.
For me, this was the highlight of the service though I also appreciated the genuine community these folks had with one another and how they shared with and prayed for each other.
Despite this, I also had some concerns, several. The first was them not being friendly. For the most part, they ignored us and the best connection we made was with other visitors. And this wasn’t the first church were this happened.
Next was the message and attitude of the pastor. His words seemed to ramble at times and was hard to follow. He also made some critical comments about our worship, which he deemed inadequate.
Granted, in his defense he was functioning on little sleep, due to delayed airline flights the day before when returning from vacation.
Third was an unpleasant odor near where we sat. It stayed with me the entire service. (Though my wife said she didn’t smell anything, and she asserted I was just imagining it).
Granted, I arrived knowing some of this church’s background and baggage, and my wife claimed I had a bad attitude.
Despite my concerns, I yearn to make a return trip or perhaps attend one of their Thursday night worship times. Of all the churches we visited, they were perhaps the freest in their worship and the most authentic.
I think God was pleased with their approach to him and the way they turned their praise to him.
[See my reflections about Church #26 and Church #28 or start with Church #1.]
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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