Sunday's worship

I love the fact that we have the freedom at TFC to change things up. The theme this Sunday was persecution, that was the problem being faced by the churches in Symrna and Philadelphia. The scripture video on Sunday was good (as usual), David used some powerful images of old jail cells and a pile of shoes from the holocaust. It was really intense.

We locked all the usual doors and taped up signs that read "this entrance is being watched, find another entrance." People had to find a side entrance. We had everyone sit on the floor of the stage area in darkness, with just candles as lighting. We even sang "amazing grace" by mouthing the words, as if we were worried about the neighbors hearing us. Our goal was to create a worship experience that would help us relate to underground churches worshipping in countries where it's illegal to be Christian. It was certainly out there, but we're always willing to try these types of experiences.

As a "nice touch", Brian Garner had part of his police uniform, including his nightstick and held an intimidating pose near the front door, just watching people come in. While I was preaching, he shined his flashlight into the room and scanned the crowd. He tried to arrest me right after my sermon, but when he came toward me, I bolted out the side door. Probably a bit corny, I thought later, but we hadn't planned it, so that's the first reaction that popped in my mind.

A new family was there and I always wonder what new people think when their first Sunday is one of our "creative" Sundays, but they seemed to appreciate what we were communicating through both my sermon and the whole experience.