We have been to four different churches in the last four weeks. It's been fun to visit other churches and I've made some observations.
We have seen the offering taken up in beach buckets, paint buckets, and traditional offering plates. We have sat in chairs and pews. We have sung praise music, hymns, old songs and new songs and in one church we got to hear a southern gospel quartet. We've had music led by women and men, guitars and full orchestras. Piano's and organs.
I guess because of the time of the year I have heard two "vision" sermons. They weren't really sermons, but the pastor's vision for the church. Oh, how I long for a sermon! I can't wait to sit in a pew on Sunday in my own church and hear my own pastor preach!
I realized that people worship in all kinds of ways. I knew that already, I'm not a total dingbat! The subtleties in a couple of the worship services were just enough that neither church family could have changed churches and felt comfortable. The service was made just for their members.
A couple of the churches had a mixture of races, the other two were all white congregations. I must say I love when many races get together in one place to worship the Lord. I think its the way its supposed to be done.
Two of the churches I loved. One of the churches I would go to if I lived there. And the other church I never plan on visiting again! Although I didn't enjoy that one church, the people there loved it. It was exactly what they needed to worship the Lord.
I'm so glad our God accepts worship in so many different ways. We don't all have to hold a hymnal, look at a screen, or just listen to songs being sung. We don't all have to sit in pews to worship. Our God allows many different types of worship and I am so very glad!
How do you worship?
Comments
I primarily worship through music, so that part of the service is very important to me. I learned that about myself in my early to mid-20s. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to be above average. Otherwise, I can't seem to get beyond it and really worship. It's one of the most important parts of a church search for us - and we've gotten good at searching given the number of times we've moved in the past few years.