Sunday service

Today's service at church inspired me, so I thought I'd share some thoughts about it here.  The worship team went acoustic today, and the message on two of the fruits of the Spirit (kindness and goodness) was right on, but the most important factor to me was that God's presence was there.  My faith has tended to be intellectually-based, so I know the first thing a skeptic would say is, "how do you know?"  But I have faith that Jesus said he is with us whenever two or more are gathered in his name.  Also, there is the idea that God "inhabits the praises of his people," which is hard to explain to a non-believer but is a fact nonetheless.  It wasn't just that I was familiar with the songs and felt lifted up by them, which is true, it was more that I felt aware of God's presence.

And God's presence was the inspiring thing about the service -- it wasn't just the music, or the preaching, or the way it worked together.  It was the way the people who gathered in church this morning truly invited Him in.  I have felt in previous worship services that lifting up Jesus' name produces a burden -- as if the enemy is actively fighting to keep Jesus' name from being lifted up, which, of course, he is.  But today that burden felt light, and the presence of God was so strong that it really would have been hard to deny to anyone who was there with an open mind.  I spoke to a man after service who had been dealing with a heavy burden, and he said he was going to surrender it to Jesus.  There was a strong response to the pastor's call for those with a need to raise their hands.  And the church really dug into the word and learned a little during the preaching.  It was a powerful move of God.