New Ventures Experienced

It seems highly appropriate to share a little bit about our new venture and what actually happened. It was a very nice service at First United Methodist. It was Reformation Sunday (something those of us in the "free" church tradition tend not to follow is the Church Calendar so this was a unique experience) and in honor of that the service was strongly musical highlighting the music compositions of a particular songbook. The choir, about 30 members, was excellent. The rest of the service concentrated on the reading of scripture, a children's sermon, an abbreviated sermon about music, a testimony about stewardship of attendance at church, and congregational singing. It was very comfortable, worshipful and meaningful. I would love to go back and probably will during a more traditional service. The lady behind us greeted us after service and welcomed us to the congregation. No one else seemed to notice us or pay us much attention. It is an older, downtown, fairly substantial (in terms of attendance) congregation. We received no materials concerning the church (other than the bulletin) and we were not recognized as a visitor in any formal or informal way. All told, I give them a strong B.
Sunday night we attended our home church to listen to a special speaker who is in for several days to teach the congregation how to take Pasadena for Christ. He has a five fold plan that is based on casting out demons and taking hold of principalities (a higher strength of demonic power I gather). He spoke for more than an hour without notes in a rambling style that featured more of his own personal story and successes than it did scriptural teaching or principles that would allow the church to take Pasadena for Christ. All in all, I think I would rather have the morning service rather than the evening service. Why? I am tired of 5 point plans; of Rick Warrenesque models of how to renew your life and church; of the latest program that worked at my megachurch and will surely have the same results if you do it in your single cell country congregation. If God is alive and active in the life of a church, maybe the church should be listening for what God is saying in their midst rather than having the latest guru tell you how they did it in their setting (which usually has little in common with your setting). Why do we have so little confidence in God to work in our midst and so great a confidence in someone in whom God has worked in some place? Faith is not faith if it is in some person. Faith is only faith if it is in Christ.