Sunday, April 30, 2006
I think I've found a church
I don't know yet, I haven't had the chance to look through the packet they sent me off with or look into what they believe exactly, but it was a delightful service on the Holiness of God. It was crazy last night- I went over to a friends house after a bunch of us went to see Greg Laurie speak. I'm not sure if you've heard of him, but he's said to be the next Billy Graham, but he hardly fits the bill. Sadly, it was the typical numbers game with little substance about how this is your only chance to follow Jesus. Hear the call, come down the isle. Then they proceeded to hand out New Testament Bibles with helpful notes in the margins to make you a better evangelist. It's just sad, really. Audio Adrenaline and Steven Curtis Chapman were ok though, they played beforehand. Two other bands played that created the mosh-pit, crowd surfing type atmosphere. The girls drug me down there but somehow I just can't seem to have the desire to jump around and put people up in the air to a rap that goes, "Christchurch, Christchurch, Christchurch is on fire... the devil, the devil, the devil is a liar." Depth right there. Let's just say it left something to be desired. Anyhow, about the church. I came home last night pretty late and didn't know what church I was coming to today. I flipped through my Christian Community Magazine that Alice gave me for a while and wondered where all of these churches were in my area. I live in the Riccarton/Ilam area of Christchurch and so I need a church around here. You see they do cities differently here. A city is more like what we call a county in the states, so just because the church is in Christchurch, doesn't mean it's anywhere close. I've been to most denominations and branches of things here so I was looking through the "non-denominational" denomination, which basically means an often times self-created belief system, we're-a-combination-of-a-lot-of-things church, and found this church called Riccarton Community Church- close and community minded- perfect! :)
The service was really cool. We sang some of my favorite songs and some I've never heard of, and the pastor, Dave Lawson, is doing a 5 part series starting today about Knowing God. "God is Holy" was today and he had some great points. Holiness is not just another attribute of God, it describes who God is. His justice is holy justice, His love, holy love. In our day and age we use highlighers, underlining or some other means to point of things of significance. In the same way, the Jews used repetition. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Holy in the ancient texts means to cut or separate. The seraphs in Isaiah 6 used the word to mean sacred. I think both versions of holy bring new light to our often narrow views of God. God is separated from all else and He is to be sacred to us. If we are valued more than these seraphs than we sure as anything better act like it. Also, he brought up that when Isaiah, the anointed one of the time, came into the presence of the Lord he said he was ruined. It struck me- the only way to know how much we need Jesus is to step into the presence of the one that is perfect. You know how it feels when you're doing something, say playing football and you're way better than everyone else you're playing with? You're the star quarterback and everyone looks to you and marvels. Then, Peyton Manning comes out for your pick-up game and you realize- you're actually not that good because he's awesome. Maybe a poor example, but see the point. God is perfect and we might as well realize that He's always in our presence, so all of this "I'm awesome" junk needs to be thrown out the window and we need to realize we are made enough BECAUSE we are living in His presence, not because we in our humanness are enough.
Now I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday. What a great day today has been. I pick Steph up at the airport tomorrow, I'll be glad to have her home. Things are good here, I find Jesus more familiar every day. Thought for the day: "There is nothing that is more dangerous to your own salvation, more unworthy of God and more harmful to your own happiness, than that you should be content to remain as you are." -Francois Fenelon.
The service was really cool. We sang some of my favorite songs and some I've never heard of, and the pastor, Dave Lawson, is doing a 5 part series starting today about Knowing God. "God is Holy" was today and he had some great points. Holiness is not just another attribute of God, it describes who God is. His justice is holy justice, His love, holy love. In our day and age we use highlighers, underlining or some other means to point of things of significance. In the same way, the Jews used repetition. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Holy in the ancient texts means to cut or separate. The seraphs in Isaiah 6 used the word to mean sacred. I think both versions of holy bring new light to our often narrow views of God. God is separated from all else and He is to be sacred to us. If we are valued more than these seraphs than we sure as anything better act like it. Also, he brought up that when Isaiah, the anointed one of the time, came into the presence of the Lord he said he was ruined. It struck me- the only way to know how much we need Jesus is to step into the presence of the one that is perfect. You know how it feels when you're doing something, say playing football and you're way better than everyone else you're playing with? You're the star quarterback and everyone looks to you and marvels. Then, Peyton Manning comes out for your pick-up game and you realize- you're actually not that good because he's awesome. Maybe a poor example, but see the point. God is perfect and we might as well realize that He's always in our presence, so all of this "I'm awesome" junk needs to be thrown out the window and we need to realize we are made enough BECAUSE we are living in His presence, not because we in our humanness are enough.
Now I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday. What a great day today has been. I pick Steph up at the airport tomorrow, I'll be glad to have her home. Things are good here, I find Jesus more familiar every day. Thought for the day: "There is nothing that is more dangerous to your own salvation, more unworthy of God and more harmful to your own happiness, than that you should be content to remain as you are." -Francois Fenelon.
