MCC

I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but I have never seen such passion and enthusiasm from a crowd of people going to church for what I can only presume to be a regular Sunday sermon (well, regular to me, not to them).

What's even more inspiring is that this "crowd of people" was actually a bunch of kids, fine, adults, around my age - the "generation rising up to take the place." And it wasn't even at a church retreat with those all too familiar spiritual roller-coasters (spiritual high's). It was just a Sunday night sermon. I mean, probably a sermon with a lot more tired people than normal since it is the Sunday before finals. But they weren't. Intriguing.

I just can't get over it. You could hear it in their voices when they were praising. (You know the kind of singing where you feel chills in your body?) Trust me, you could feel it. I can only assume that they truly wanted to be there. How beautiful is that?


Oh, so I went to the service at MCC (Midtown Community Church) with some friends tonight. I was left with two very clear impressions upon leaving that service. One, the worship, I've already mentioned above. Second, their mission in discipling others and to grow in Christ.

The first thing on their bulletin was their different discipling programs. They were just starting two different disciplines based on your majors (medical, engineering) so that you could walk with someone who probably already went through whatever you were struggling with now. It seemed pretty clear they wanted you to grow in Christ. I'll admit, I don't see that very often, which is kind of sad come to think of it. Well, I don't see this kind of discipling here, not missions, but working on strengthening the church from within. (But what do I know, not that I go consistently.) In general, it was just very encouraging. It makes you want to know more, and why - what spurs them on. Especially when you can see they truly believe what they, well, believe. Do you know what I mean?

Your faith should be reflected in your actions, in your life. It's what you believe in. It shouldn't have to be a conscious effort - "I must do this because this is what I should do". Or hrm, I might have said that too hastily. I think in general it shouldn't be. That to me would be aspiring to be someone.

Hrm, I'm trying to write down what I think but all I can think about is something I read a week ago.

So my friend showed me a friend's blog and he was journaling what it meant to surrender to God (disclaimer: if I'm remembering/interpreting correctly). He was recalling how he used to struggle with sin. He would sin, feel terrible afterwards, stay away, only to sin again later. He realized afterwards that this was not the way to go. He said it was because we as humans, were bound to fail. It's fitting called, human nature. Only with the grace of God could we ever hope to achieve anything. Therefore, he said all he could do was to pray to God, "I can't do this without You, help me."

"So How could I expect to walk without You
When every move that Jesus made was in surrender
I will not begin to live without You
For You alone are worthy and You are always good*"

If only I could have that much faith and believe like that. Alas. Actually, slow down a bit and just say believe in God first.

"You said, 'ask and you will receive whatever you need,'
You said, 'pray and I'll hear from heaven,'
and I'll heal your land.**'"

I've always liked the idea of prayer, or in my mind, what I imagined it to be. (I'm serious about this misconceptions thing, I'm not sure what's real and what's not anymore.) Anyway, I just like voicing your true desires. I mean, if you know what you want, then you have a goal in mind. With a goal in mind, you can take the steps toward achieving in. It makes perfect sense. Same with problems. You can only begin to fix something if you know what's wrong. And so often I don't know what's wrong/desire, well, how can I go about getting it?

"You said, 'ask and I'll give the nations to you.'
oh Lord, that's the cry of my heart.
distant shores and the islands will see**."

Mmm, I don't even know what I truly want or for people to pray about.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that I really liked the worship. Sure it was kind of loud (heh, keeps you awake) and mainly geared towards the college crowd, but the heart was there. And that's what matters the most. Really. It's a pity I don't feel/see that much passion in some of the churches I've been to. I mean, not even that, just the choice of songs.

So two of the songs I've quoted tonight (heard for the first time) were played there, and if you just read the lyrics, they're so beautiful. This, desire? See! Even in their songs you can see the desire to reach out to others, praying that "distant shores and the islands will see." I mean, they even just took parts (yay!) of Christmas hymns and we just sang the chorus.

"Come let us adore you.***"

Well, I'm excited for what's to come. I'm meeting with one of the girls next Sunday just to have coffee and chat. I don't know how we'll manage to meet up weekly since I won't be in the area next year (co-oping, potentially studying abroad) but things will work out. They always do. :)

Yeah, so even though the sermon was okay, at least I listened the whole time and got a little something out of it (dreams, aspirations). It's more of, I was drawn by the people there (you know how some people do that to you? There's something about them, and you just want to be by them) and I want to know more. Always good. :)

Okay well, rest of the week to get through first.



* Where You Go I'll Go by Brian and Jenn Johnson
** You Said by Shane and Shane
*** O come all ye faithful


oh, and I just really like this stanza:

"Cause Jesus only did what He saw You do
And He would only say what He heard You speak
And He would only move when He felt You lead
Following Your heart following Your spirit"


To download "Where You Go I'll Go" for free, go to: http://www.brianandjennjohnson.com/