Where I Worshiped - The Third Sunday

This Sunday, as part of my participation in the Weekender, I worshiped at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, a thriving congregation located just blocks from the Capitol building.  The dynamics of this church family were truly unique from any other I've ever experienced.  Everything that the so-called "church growth" experts say you must have to grow a church, this church doesn't exhibit.  Yet, nearly 75% of their congregation is under 40.

Before the morning service began, I attended the "core seminar"(Sunday School) called "Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church".  Morning worship lasted approximately two hours, and when it was finished, no one was in a hurry to leave.  The congregational singing, accompanied only by a piano and a guitar, was arranged in such a way that you could hear everyone singing and it was fantastic.  Scripture reading, several different prayers, intentional pauses of silence and congregational preparation music were also included as part of the liturgy.

 The sermon was entitled "Jesus Paid Taxes" (click here to hear it for yourself) from Mark 12:13-17.  I was thrilled to discover that in attendance at the Weekender was the author of an excellent book I read last year:

Collin Hansen, author of the above book, writes a great blog post about Sunday's service at Capitol Hill Baptist in which he says:

While Dever may serve a church on Capitol Hill, he does not commonly address issues of Christianity and government so directly. But as an expository preacher working his way through the Gospel of Mark, Dever obligated himself to address Jesus’ teaching in Mark 12:13-17. In these days of overheated rhetoric and protest rallies, I pray that evangelicals will set aside 70 minutes to listen to Dever’s sermon. Much of the wisdom expressed here echoes the forthcoming book City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, written by Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, with a foreword by Tim Keller. We need to hear from the best evangelical thinkers about a faithful, biblical approach to politics.

You can read the blog in its entirety here.

As part of the Weekender, I also attended the evening service and the church's business meeting, called the "members meeting" which followed, both gatherings had hundreds of members in attendance.  The evening service was a "prayer and praise" service with a totally different structure and feel than that of the morning service.  This service lasted approximately one and a half hours, with  a ten minute break before the members meeting which also lasted approximately one and a half hours.

After the "members meeting" concluded at about 9:30, the "Weekenders" gathered in the fellowship hall for dinner and a "debriefing" of all that was experienced on the Lord's Day.

Everything that I was privileged to experience made a lasting impression upon my life and ministry.  I cannot wait to share more about everything that I learned from my time in Washington D.C. with the gracious staff and members of Capitol Hill Baptist Church.  

Where I Worshiped - The 2nd Sunday

Today Gretchen and I left the "peace and comfort" of our hotel room and made the 90 minute drive through winding roads and interstate to Parkside Church outside of Cleveland Ohio to worship with Alistair Begg and his church family.

This is a view from the backside of the church property.

Here is the worship center.

The worship team did a fantastic job of blending traditional and contemporary music together.  Their music has a very Irish feel to it.  If you would like to take a listen, click on the link below.

Here is a view from our pew.

Pastor Begg preached a terrific sermon from Romans 8.  Click on the link below to hear him read the scriptures in his Scottish accent.

If you are interested in hearing the sermon, you can access it for free by clicking here: Parkside Church and then clicking on the play button on the picture on the right side of the page.

It was a wonderful time of worship, and definitely worth the drive.  One of my favorite parts was being able to worship and sit beside my wife for an entire service. 

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.