Week 2 – Crossings Community Church

This is supposed to be about what I learned each week, but I think I’ll start first with just observations. This was our first visit to this church. For starters, this is a really big church. They have 5 services. We attended one of the two “blended” services on Sunday morning. They also offer “contemporary” and “traditional” services. The service we attended was packed and we were told they have 5,000 members. This falls into the category I refer to as “mega” churches, but they managed to not really make it feel that way. We were warmly greeted upon entering and had a lovely, encouraging conversation with a woman staffing the information desk. The full orchestra, very large choir and worship team did a fabulous job of mixing traditional hymns, contemporary Christian and even a little accapella. The sermon was led by pastor Marty Grubbs. It was reinforced for me that I have a “style” of learning even in church. First off, he used visual aids. I am a strong visual learner and I loved that. He was relaxed, humble, structured without appearing so and delivered a fabulous message. He made me want to come back and hear the rest of the series. Another observation was that the members really worshipped and seemed to respond as God inspired each of them individually. When a few people stood, hands raised, the whole congregation didn’t follow. Those who felt led to stand stood and those who didn’t stayed seated. It seemed perfectly acceptable and comfortable to do either. One older gentleman really caught my eye. He was worshipping with his whole body and seemed like he was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, occasionally to the point of tears. I would love to know his story. I would like to learn to be less inhibited in my worship, just responding as I feel led and not worrying about what people will think. Today was fun. I can’t wait to see what God has prepared for us next week.