Gospel Chapel: Sunday April 30 2006

30 April 2006
An invitation to a friend’s church, and a reunion with my old coffee shop team took me to a gospel chapel, traditionally a brethren style church. Of course, it wasn’t to be a typical brethren service – there was a woman preaching. Walking in to any other church, at least for me at that time, was strange. I was the guy who was reliable at being at my own church morning and night every week. It was where I was meant to feel comfortable.

But I walked in, and recognised no-one. Spotting a good pew half way down the hall with no one else in it, I took a seat. It was typical of our old church buiding – low roof, yellow carpet, cream colored walls. A stage barely raised. A nice, comfortable little building. There was music on cd playing, and I spent a few minutes just relaxing. I didn’t have to greet anyone, I didn’t feel compelled to do a head count, or make sure there were attendants for the offering. After a few minutes, some friends came in and as the service started we engaged in a little small talk, the classic ‘Hey, how are you” chat.

The service wasn’t particularly special – the music was tame, the sermon wasn’t anything new to me, the bible reading was one that I know well. But there was something different in church that night, something very special to me. For the first in a longish time for me in church services, I worshipped – openly and wholeheartedly. When the service ended, the fellowship meant something to me. We all went out for dinner, and it felt good to be talking with these people. We shared, we prayed, and we mucked around a heck of a lot.

This had been a night like I hadn’t felt in my own church in a while – in my own quiet times, I still felt great ways of worship, I hadn’t actually felt God’s deliberate presence for a while. In our prayer meetings, I knew God was answering us, but in my own heart wondered if God was listening. I never doubted Gods presence, his authority, his majesty – but in my heart, I doubted his love. This night was different. This felt like church should. Unencumbered by the responsibilities of servant hood, I found interaction.