Week 9 - Life Church

Today we set out for Life Church, Edmond campus. We were really intrigued by this church because we had heard that the sermon is televised to multiple campuses and there is no “in-house” preacher. Everyone in their community of churches hears the same message from the same preacher each week. Each campus also has a “site” minister that leads everything, encourages, prays, etc., but the actual sermon is televised. There are 4 services, one on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. There is also a multitude of other activities going on here. The auditorium has “movie theatre” style seats, complete with cup holders. Coming from a church that discourages food and drink in the auditorium, we thought this was fun and fit the casual atmosphere. But these people were certainly not worshipping casually. The worship was enthusiastic and energetic, complete with a band led by a fabulous singer. A young couple with a baby turned around and enthusiastically greeted us and welcomed us there. They asked if we had been coming to Life Church long and we told them it was our first visit. Turns out it was only their 3rd visit. They already felt at home there. The sermon was entitled “Once Upon a Marriage.” While marriage was certainly discussed, the bottom line of the lesson was we will have trouble (in our marriages, with our kids, our jobs, just in life) and we will walk through the “valley of Achor (trouble).” There is no way to avoid it. But, at the end of that walk is always a door of hope. In a time when running away from trouble and looking for something better than what we have, is the message of society, his message was to stick it out. Let God provide the solution. Interestingly enough, he invited audience participation and talked as though he was standing right in front of us. What I learned today is God is not bound by conventional methods to speak to his people.

Week 8 - Edmond's First Baptist Church

Our good friends Mike and Janet were kind enough to save us a seat and show us around their church home this week. First Baptist members were already grabbing hold of us and showering us with love and attention before we ever found Mike and Janet. The worship, complete with a fabulous choir and band, was filled with familiar songs. It’s amazing to see how worship and the music God inspires has crossed all denominations that we’ve visited so far. Once again, a meaningful sermon delivered a distinctly personal message that made it clear that God is directing us each week. There is no where we can go that He doesn’t have something to show us. Pastor Day said every sermon is designed for me. I believe him. First of all, the title of the sermon was “My Heart, God’s Home.” This just happens to be the title of a very special drawing we own given to us by a close friend who is an architect (thanks Larry Schwab!) In his drawing, made to look like a real floor plan, Larry carefully planned out all of the rooms of our heart as if God lived there. A blueprint for the heart if you will. After all these years, that generous gift is still speaking to us in ways we never would have guessed. Second, we were reminded and convicted to make our hearts a suitable place for God to reside. He wants to move in and bless us, we just have to invite Him in and prepare as if He’s an honored guest and not an afterthought. Imagine what God could do with and through us if we could do that. I think I’ll be doing some “house cleaning” this week.

Week 6 – Stillwater Church of Christ

Today we visited Danae at her college church in Stillwater. The people were extremely friendly and it was very reassuring to hear other adults there tell us how much they love our daughter. We could be a little jealous, but we are grateful. We want her to be loved and taken care of while she is away from home. It was also nice to see some of the kids she grew up going to school with there. At a time when a lot of kids lose interest in church their freshman year of college, these kids have all chosen to be involved in a church of their own. We were also very excited to meet the group of “young adults” (we can’t really call them kids!) who are going with Danae on the mission trip to Africa this summer. These young people have become fast friends and will be travelling halfway around the world to share their faith. They are doing this without the benefit of chaperones or other adults as in the days of high school trips, but completely on their own. Yes, that makes us a little nervous but we couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them. We will take any and all prayers for their safety we can get! A couple of the guys in the group led the communion portion of the worship. It was really nice to see the way these college students were given prominent rolls to play and also to see the maturity of their faith as they led. There were no bells and whistles at this church. It was traditional church of Christ and all that goes with that. What God showed us today is that a very important aspect of church life is relationships. Danae didn’t choose this place because it was a church of Christ. She didn’t choose it because of the preacher, the worship style or the ministries. She is there because of the unconditional love and acceptance that was extended to her when she arrived at college. We learned that finding a place where we can be involved and develop great relationships is very important, but also that we must extend that same unconditional love to everyone we encounter and love them into the family of God the way these kids loved our daughter into this congregation.

Week 5 – People’s Church

We really struggled to decide where to go this week. A combination of fear of the unknown, sliding back into uncertainty about continuing this journey and plain old not feeling any strong leading to any particular place. Once again, God led us exactly where we needed to be. As soon as I heard the topic of the sermon, I had to smile. It was about our lives at work. This just happens to be our biggest source of stress right now. Before we even heard the sermon, God provided confirmation that He knows what we need, when we need it, but most of all, that He really cares about us. Work is God’s plan for us and as the pastor talked about the kind of employees God calls us to be, I was thinking “boy, there sure are some people at work that need to hear this message.” By the time he was through, I had to admit, I was one of those people.

This church started out conducting services in a movie theatre and when you walk in, it still feels that way a little. But this is definitely not a movie theatre. They have 3 services every Sunday morning. We found the people there genuine and passionate about worship. They had a fantastic praise group that played contemporary, energetic music. I started off feeling a little awkward and out of place, but ended up feeling this was one of the best churches we’ve visited so far. The funny thing is we’ve felt that way nearly every week. Going somewhere new each week is so far out of our comfort zone that we face each Sunday with a certain amount of anxiety. Right now I confess that I gravitate towards the bigger churches because it’s easier to walk into a big church as a stranger and just blend in. In the end, we leave each church we visit inspired and happy we were there. While we were standing in the lobby visiting with friends after the service, the pastor introduced himself to all of us. He was friendly, approachable and really made you feel like he was glad you came. That made an impression.

As a side note, we have some friends who sometimes join us at the different churches we visit. One of their family members had previously expressed an interest in visiting this church so they joined us also. God clearly had a plan this morning I never intended. Why am I surprised?

(Comments from John):
It’s hard to add to Vicki’s comments. I agree with much of what she wrote. We typically discuss our overall impressions, feeling’s, etc. The message was on target as Vicki mentioned and I feel the need to spread this message to others at work from leadership to 1st line workers. I truly enjoyed the overall experience of the congregation (passion, excitement, friendliness) and felt very free to worship. I have to admit that I’m very conservative, yet I did something I typically don’t during worship--I raised my hands in praise and felt comfortable!! I can’t wait for the next place that God leads us. He definitely has his hand in our journey.

Week 4 – Memorial Road Church of Christ

Greetings. I guess I have to change the title of my blog to 52 Churches in “however long that takes!” For the one or two of you actually reading this, I woke up last Sunday extremely sick. I didn’t figure this into my plan. My lesson last week was to quit worrying about things I cannot control. Humm, I wonder how many times I have tried and failed to learn that lesson. So, enough of that. Let’s move on to week 4.
We attended Memorial Road Church of Christ. We have never attended this congregation, although we know many people who do. It was certainly familiar territory in terms of worship style and order. They have two services and about 2400 members. A large congregation by most people’s way of thinking. This week, the lessons to be learned here were all in the sermon. Even though this is only the middle of January, the year 2010 so far has been filled to the brim with stress. We have found ourselves dealing with one problem after another and focusing completely on our own drama. It has crossed my mind, frequently, that I don’t think I have the energy, emotional or otherwise, to keep this project going. I think this morning God said hold on; let me remind you of some things. When we turn our attention away from “life” and towards God, we find comfort and hope. The question in the face of trials is not “what is the purpose of this” but “what is MY purpose in this.” God wants us to receive His comfort so we can come alongside others and provide hope and comfort. This means I have to look beyond myself. Coming alongside others in their time of need is the best distraction I know of to my own problems. I would really like to be the kind of person that faces trials with joy and perseverance. That’s a fantastic goal, not always easy to live though. If we didn’t know better, we would have thought this preacher had been watching us and said, “I know exactly what they need to hear.” The mission now, is to actually live out the lesson.

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.

Week 1 - New Hope Church of Christ

From Vicki: Ok, I have to confess that we kind of took the easy route this morning. We attended New Hope Church of Christ. We’ve visited there once before and we know a lot of people there. I learned a couple of things right off the bat. I really miss a lot of these people. We attended church together for many years before our church split into two congregations. I don’t personally know each of their motives for making the change to New Hope, but what I do know is they were friendly, welcoming and clearly a group who loves each other—a lot. That’s a good thing to find in any congregation. The next thing I learned was that I really have not been paying enough attention in church each Sunday. Something about knowing you are going to write about what you learned makes you a more tuned in worshipper. I have learned that I should attend church actively seeking to know what God wants me to learn that day, not just warming up the seat. I was reminded also that we aren’t the only ones who have felt lost and out of place since our church split. I have encountered several people, one this morning, who still haven’t settled in a church home after the split. I will pray for them this year. The last thing I learned is that Satan is already trying to get me to abandon this project. As I sat in church this morning, more than once I thought “you know this is a great congregation, with great friends. I could be very happy here and just forget this whole 52 churches in a year thing.” That would indeed be easier. For now, we’re sticking with the plan.

From John: Mark’s discussion about stewardship of our gifts and resources was a much needed reminder about letting God be in control. This is a lesson we all need on a regular basis. To see 1st hand the closeness of this congregation, I can only guess as to what drove this unique love, caring and involved congregation. They truly have elements of what I believe existed in the early church. Today’s visit made me ponder if I truly wanted to embark on this journey. I was able to see several good friends and re-kindle relationships. But, I still feel as Vicki does the need to finish what we began and see where God is leading us.