Church

1Matt • 22nd Mar 2009 • Africa, Life Lessons

This morning I went to church. We went to Miracle Life Family Church, which is one of the most western churches in town. I woke up early and in a good mood, ready to approach church with a positive attitude.

On the way over we talked about the ‘liturgy of the church’ as being the ‘work of the people’ and I really enjoyed walking for around 10 minutes to just get to church.

As we arrived people were milling around much as you would expect, and as the worship pastor took the stage people quieted and he gave a call to worship more appropriate than any I’ve ever heard. We same a Zambian song in Bemba (with the English translations up on the screen) and we clapped on 1 and 3. Next we sang a Tommy Walker song a Hillsong, and dinine with a Matt Redman and I sang in a genuine way that I haven’t in a long while. I think here’s something about being in a room of people that you can just tell are singing from their heart and not from anywhere else.

Offering was good and joyful and announcements were as expected, too. The announcement about the “Africa Missions Team” immediately struck me as humorous, but as I listened I began to understand their intention. Zambia is a “Christian nation” the same as the USA, which may or may not mean much, but the truth is that it places Zambia in a place of spiritual leadership for it’s neighbors. It was great to see that the church recognized not only its blessings but its responsibilities as well.

Lastly, the sermon. Without going into detail, I’ll say that the senior pastor didn’t speak and that in his place some visiting guy from Oklahoma spoke. It really bummed me out because he exemplified what I hate in most American sermons and I resent the fact that it’s being brought to Zambia.

With that said, I feel like I’m on a journey of finding both personal spiritual wholeness and communal church contentedness and today was a great beginning of this process.