Where I Worshiped - The Fourth Sunday

Yesterday morning The Wright Family had the privilege of attending worship together -believe it or not- for the first time this month as a whole family.  The three previous Sundays one or more of us were separated.  So, we woke up early, got ready and left the house shortly after 8:00 a.m. (a miracle in itself), and made our way back to the outskirts of Cleveland Ohio and worshiped at Parkside Church.

Their senior pastor, Alistair Begg was ministering in Scotland, so the sermon was given by Mickey Aquilno.  He preached a very practical, exegetical sermon from 2 Chronicles 14 on the life of King Asa.  The music was led by a special guest artist/worship leader named Nathan Tasker.  Everyone enjoyed the worship time, and it was so nice to sit together as a family.  (To read about Molly and Katie's take on their experience, check out my wife's blog here).

After the service, we took the children to the church's bookstore/cafe, where the children enjoyed the well stocked children's section.

 Their father also enjoyed perusing the New Release section,

while Molly did gymnastics in the "Common Area" just outside of the bookstore.

You'll notice that though we were merely visiting this church, our stop in the bookstore caused us to be among the last folks to leave the church, as is our habit!

After we left the church, we drove through McDonald's for Molly and Kate's lunch, and then took Cole and Megan to Gretchen's favorite fast food place...Chipotle.

There is much to learn by visiting and worshipping with other church families, however, we are so anxious to rejoin our own church family this coming Sunday for worship.

Look out First Baptist!  Here we come!!

(Check back in a few days for a wrap up of my sabbatical. 

And then for continuing posts in the future.)

Where I Worshipped Last Sunday

Last Sunday (September 5th) I left home at 5:50 am to make the drive to Covenant Life Church (click on church name to go to its website) in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  I chose to attend Covenant Life because I've been blessed by writings and sermons by the church's former pastor C.J. Mahaney and its current pastor Josh Harris. I recently recommended a book by Josh Harris to our church family called Dug Down Deep.  It's well worth your time!

It took about 4 hours to reach Gaithersburg but it was a perfect morning for a nice quiet drive.  Jane, our family's GPS, took me right to the front door of the church.

I arrived a little early for the second morning service.  After finding a parking place (the parking lot was almost full), I had a chance to look around and check out the church facilities.  Shortly after the first service ended, it was time for the second service to begin, so I made my way to the sanctuary, which seats almost three thousand people. 

The service lasted approximately two hours, and was filled with music, scripture reading, prayer, and expositional preaching.  It was a lively service, and I was glad I made the drive.  It was well worth my time and effort.

Following the service, the lobby was filled with tables full of fresh brewed coffee, and couches and chairs for people to sit and share together.  At the back end of the lobby, the church has a wonderful bookstore, where all of the titles in the store are handpicked by C. J. Mahaney.  After perusing the store for a while, I made my way to the cash register to pay for my treasures books. 

 While there, I had a conversation with the lady checking me out.  She found out that I was a pastor visiting the church on my sabbatical, and she gave me two John Owen books that I had chosen for free!  Worth my trip to church--ha! 

The people at Covenant Life Church were so warm and kind.  The music was terrific, the preaching was enriching, and the bookstore was spectacular.  If you are ever in the Gaithersburg, Maryland/Washington D.C.  area, you should worship with this church family.

Tomorrow I hit the road again...stay tuned for more updates.