My family was out of town yesterday, but we visited a church that I had been to numerous times. The church is a large church that has experienced most of their growth within the last ten years.
The girls didn't want to go for fear of being forced to go to the children's ministry. Not that they hate children's ministries, it's just that it's awkward going and not knowing anyone. Since they had been particularly well behaved in the morning, I didn't opt for the cruel and unusual punishment and allowed them to stay with us.
Despite every effort to arrive early, we walked in during the first song.
The house was packed.
Lacey wanted a cup of coffee, but I made her speed walk past two coffee stations that would have earned her an Olympic gold. Which was difficult considering one station was more like a Starbucks.
One thing was on my mind, "Get a seat." Now, I knew that I had already blown any opportunity to get premium seating. (Last two rows, last two seats).
First, I attempted finding a seat in the balcony. Denied!
Next, I tried the main floor in the sanctuary. Denied!
Ushers pointed us towards overflow seating in "The Attic". Sounded promising.
We had to wait in line to even get into view of our destination. When we finally made it the overflow room, with a capacity of approximately 400-500, it was filling up quickly.
We scored a seat right next to the door. You know, in case of an emergency! However, I would like to brag that we were the first people out of the room.
The worship was great! The best worship happens during Easter since more people are truly focused on Christ and less people are just singing.
While we were worshipping the overflow room kept filling up. I began wondering if there was an over-overflow room for the overflow room.
Sitting by the door, the ushers were directly behind me. The ushers brought their A game that day. An usher told one lady who was running late that there were a couple of seats on the other side of the room. The lady replied with fear, "But there's five of us." The usher somehow worked miracle and got them all together.
The message was unbelievably simple and to the point.
The pastor has to be the coolest pastor in America. And not because he tries. He's the kind of guy that as my wife said, "You'd like to have a cup of coffee with." I'd be worried, but I also want a bromance with this guy.
The Holy Spirit was all over the place. Holy goose bumps covered people's arms and legs. Women who had shaved their legs for this special day had to go home and use clippers.
Seriously, his message was so simple that anyone could have given it. But, yet, it was so profound that it touched my spirit.
It's something that we forget about all the time, but when we live by it, our lives are filled with power.
What is it? That Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. It's that simple. This is the greatest theological knowledge you can have.
We get distracted from this sometimes.
We make things difficult.
We focus on things that we won't worry about a week, a month, a year, or a decade from now. Things that will one day fade away.
We busy our lives filling it with things that do not matter.
We get consumed with arguments that distract us.
However, I was reminded of the simplicity of the gospel. That the one thing we need as Christians is Jesus. Jesus is it! Everything else is secondary. I want more of Jesus!
It's amazing how something so simple can get away from us!
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