Experiencing the Church… – Part 1

I had a pretty great experience with the Church this weekend. The group we normally call “Sunday School” met Saturday night in a house. We ate taco’s, my wife made her famous banana pudding (actually it’s Paula Dean’s famous banana pudding), I made some peanut butter fudge. Some brought beef, some brought the taco fixings, some brought soda and iced tea, there was also some really good cheese dip!

But the food is not what made the experience so great – it was the fellowship. Being in an informal atmosphere with other believers was great. We were able to learn about each other in ways that could not have (or would not have) happened in a “classroom” environment. We were able laugh, play, talk, teach, edify, and encourage one-another. We did not have to sit and listen to one person talk, but we could go off with a smaller group and talk about anything. This really helped our ability to grow close to each other.

Personally, I loved the fact there there were some younger adults there. I was able to sit down with some of them and see where they were at in the world. I found out a little bit about each of their family lives and their hopes and aspirations for the future. I was also able to chat with the other adults, making friends with them and their wives.

We ended up playing a game called Battle of the Sexes. Of course us men won, but it too was a great opportunity to find out about each other. We learned about what each other knew, some things were embarrassing, some were funny, some were interesting, and some where unusual. The night ended with discussion about doing the same thing again in a months time. Kati and I drove three of the young adults home which gave us more of an opportunity to build a relationship with them. I thought about how important it is for them to have older Christians in their lives. I also thought about how a relationship with them would have been much harder to start if we only ever met in a formal building, or under formal pretenses.

What happened on Saturday night was what I see the Church as… not what happens on Sunday mornings. We did not need a man standing on a stage to teach us – we taught each other. We did not need 2 minutes to shake each others hand before the next hymn – we had all night. We did not need illustrations and a three point sermon – we had life experiences to share. I definitely look forward to meeting with the Church again, hopefully we do it soon!