When I'm out of town, it gives me a chance to go check out some other churches. I've found I can learn something from just about anywhere. Being here in the DFW area for the weekend, we had a lot of great churches to choose from. We decided to visit a large happening church and a new church plant.
On Saturday night, we went to Fellowship Church in Grapevine to hear Ed Young kick off the One Prayer series. I love being at Fellowship because God used a message from Ed to push me over the edge in deciding to move to Kyle to start The Connection Church. This time, I noticed a lot of little things that added up to make the experience. Some things I want to try when I get back, others, probably not. I'll tell you some of the stuff that caught my attention. I wonder why they decided to use sort of nondescript incidental instrumental recorded music before the service? And what were the black rocks in all the sinks in the restrooms about? They were not allowing large bags in the worship center which makes perfect sense in our crazy world. The opener was the coolest with some hip hop dancing that incorporated video into the presentation. Worship was led by Dex Alexander formerly of All Together Separate and the music has raised several notches since the last time I was there. Ed's live message "Make Us Aware" was an in-your-face evangelistic message about the reality of heaven and, yes, H-E-double hockey sticks. Lots of people gave their lives to Jesus at the close of the service. Overall, greatness abounded.
On Sunday morning, we went to my family's church, the Community at Lake Ridge. They;re doing a great job in a lot of areas. Specifically, I love their graphics, signage, information that they have available. Their pastor, Paul Mints is an electric chihuahua who came after me the moment he saw me during the welcome time. He's one of those guys who is passionate about whatever he's doing and a real people person. So needless to say, he's able to connect with people and I love it that he's connected with my family and is making a difference in their lives.
So when you go on vacation this summer, don't take a vacation from attending church somewhere. Be a spy and gather some information to bring back with you. We can learn and adapt what we experience to our culture in the Austin area.
Did you go visit our old stomping grounds?
I don’t have any problem with the black rocks, I just thought you or someone could tell me why? Do they have a purpose? Are they decorative? I’ll chalk it up to attention to detail.