I
was back in the West End this morning. It seems to be something of a hub for
vibrant churches in the city…
Church: Re:Hope
Denomination: Good question! Not sure!
Date: January 20 2013
Time: 10am
Service: Morning Service
Congregational Make-Up: Re:Hope
has a real student feel to it. It
seems to be made up predominantly of young people although there were one or
two older people present (including me!).
Central Feature(s): On arrival at the church I was offered
coffee and croissants. The fellowship is onto a winner right there!
The
service opened with the Pastor inviting people to testify to answered prayer during the previous week. I admired this
bold approach and yet recognised it was a very vulnerable moment for him. What
if no-one spoke up? Two people shared ways in which God had helped them in
specific response to their prayers over the past seven days.
The
band then led in a time of worship and this was followed with the Pastor
continuing the current teaching series on the Old Testament prophet, Elijah. It
was a very engaging, Bible centred message on the theme of testing. His
closing comment captured me – “I want God’s
people in this generation to elevate obedience to God’s Word and commit to
personal integrity of character.”
Stand-Out Moment: I could mention a couple of things
but one that has made a big impact on me was the use of an old song during the worship time. The band sang, “Jesus paid it all,” a 19th
century song that I haven’t heard since childhood. They wove this beautiful
song seamlessly into a set of modern worship songs. It was wonderful to see
this young (in age) church express their faith in language that captures
something of the kingdom of God of which we are part.
Conclusion: The 10am would be repeated at 12pm and 6.30pm. I
understand this is to accommodate the numbers attending the church. With all
the recent chat about declining church attendance it is refreshing to see one
that is bucking the trend.
Coffee
and croissants are not the answer to this growth but they do helped to contribute
in a small way to a warm and welcoming church family.
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