It's Sunday evening and we've just returned home from our second worship service of the day. I sat down to write about it and just for fun, checked the stats on blog hits. It surprised me that one of my older ones was in the lead today. It was my "Does Membership have it's Privilege's", written in December of 2010. That was very appropriate since our family declared this a visiting Sunday. We love to step outside the box every now and then. There is nothing more enjoyable than a little variety in Worship.
There is a long story about our visiting different churches. Fact is, I've written a book about it and it's almost ready to be released to the world, if someone will publish it. On the way home last week, we were laughing about some of our church visits. Someone brought up the fact that we hadn't been to a Presbyterian church. We all agreed to attend Briarwood Presbyterian Church, the largest and oldest one in our area for our next worship.
Briarwood has a rich history, being the oldest Presbyterian Church in America. They broke from the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1973 when delegates from 260 congregations met at Briarwood in opposition to teachings which denied the diety of Jesus Christ. They formed the Presbyterian Church of America. The local church has a membership of around 4,000 and is pastored by Dr. Harry Reeder. They have a beautiful facility near the Acton road exit on Interstate 459 in Birmingham, Alabama. Briarwood is very involved in local and foreign ministries. They have around 2,000 students which attend Briarwood Christian School and a very good football team which is often in the news. They place a big emphasis on families, and I like that! And looking at the announcement sheet, there is always something going on.
Briarwood has a very traditional worship which the old me(Church of Christ) enjoyed. The singing was good, the sermon by Dr. Reeder was excellent and very motivating. He is, without a doubt, one of the better Bible teachers in the area. The attendance was possibly 1200(we attended the second service) and was somewhat dressy. By that, I mean that I saw more suits and ties than I have in ages! Today's message was from the Book of Nehemiah and was designed to encourage sacrificial commitment. At the close of the service the congregation offered their pledges for a new building program. I liked the verse used on the commitment card, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.. Psalm 78:6,7
Our evening worship was quite a contrast. We drove to the Church of the Highlands at their Grants Mill campus. It was the last worship in their "at the Movies" series. It's a great series where Pastor Chris Hodges uses clips from a certain movie to teach Biblical truths. He calls it a "modern day" parable. Tonight's installment was from the movie Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe. The parable was excellent with some great thoughts on family, adversity, and having God on your side. One of the verses he used was Nehemiah 4:14, After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
Highlands is a true mega church. It started in 2001 when Chris "dreamed of planting a church with a simple goal: help people connect with God in a church without letting structures and programs get in the way." I took that sentence right off their website... Great, isn't it? With that said, they have 7 campuses plus one online. The facility at Grants Mill is top of the line with all the technological bells and whistles. Five video screens, a sound and light system that is impressive, and singers that could be on any radio station in the country. More than 12,000 attend each week at one of a multitude of services. We were at the 5pm service and I estimated over 1500 present. Needless to say, it is a contempory worship style. The average age is probably under 35 with a tremendous number of youth.
Which did I personally like better? That is difficult to say with a short answer, but I'll try. The old me liked the traditional service. The proper dress, the hymns, the deep Bible lesson. But I'm not who I was! I enjoy the more contempory style now, with a blend of all the rest. You should worship wherever you like, but do go to worship. The media in our country wants you to think that no one goes to church anymore. That couldn't be further from the truth!
Today, the most wonderful thing about both churches is that they each preached the salvation found in Jesus Christ. Hey, if you preach Jesus, I can worship with you!
No comments:
Post a Comment