Few but Faithful: Church of God 7th Day

     If you really want to confuse your children during Saturday morning cartoons, tell them to get ready for church. First they'll be confused (Wait! What day is it?), then they'll argue. (But, MOM, it's Saturday!), and finally after you've reminded them that their friends will be there, they'll reluctantly concede (Fine! But I'm not wearing a dress!). This is exactly what happened at our house a couple Saturday's ago when I told the girls we were going to go to the Church of God (Seventh day) in Fairview, Oklahoma.

 

   When I finally got them on board, and after the husband had to back out at the last minute because of calls from work, we made our way to this tiny little church on the corner of 7th and Ash.  The building is so unobtrusive that even though we've driven past it a million times, my girls claimed never to have noticed it's existence.  In fact, as we walked in to join the less than dozen faithful members in attendance, we couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the rest of the community had forgotten it's existence as well. (Which, with it's long and rich history of consistence faithfulness to faith would be an absolute shame.)

 

Youngest child kept herself busy (for the most part) taking apart and putting away this puzzle. (And spilling it with a loud crash onto the floor during the sermon. Sorry about that!)

 

    The Fairview Church of God (Seventh Day) was started way back in 1894 and is one of the oldest continually worshiping churches of this denomination in the United States. The denomination itself only started in mid-1800's with the General Conference being incorporate Missouri in 1899, 5 years after the little church in Fairview began. The denomination has some very specific beliefs about maintaining a Saturday Sabbath (which Jews and early Christians maintained until the 4th Century A.D. when the Roman emperor Constantine declared it such in order to please recent pagan converts who were used to worshiping their sun god on that day.) , as well as,  adhering to laws written in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 regarding clean and unclean animals, and denying the celebration of Christmas and Easter. In addition, they continue to observe many of the feast days of the Jewish faith and take Holy Communion only during the Passover Feast, and they have been compared in doctrine to Messianic Jews.  However, for the most part the beliefs of this congregation closely mirror those of most protestant denominations. They believe in the Holy Trinity, in salvation through the grace of God through Jesus Christ, and in the Bible as the divine Word of God.

The faithful few in fellowship!

     Therefore, as Pastor Tytus Burrell shared the word of God with this fellowship of believers and hymns were sung in worship to the Lord, we could have been in any church on a Sunday morning learning about God's word and singing praises to our King. It was a privilege to be able to share this experience in this particular church, with these particular believers, on this particular Saturday morning, and I as thought of Jesus worshiping on the Sabbath so many years ago, I felt privileged to share this day with him as well. And I couldn't help but feel admiration for a congregation of believers that have held on to their faith generation after generation despite a world which must constantly make it difficult to do so.

Fellowship Hall.

Foyer

At the Movies: Lifechurch OKC

       I'm going to admit something that you may or may not believe, but sometimes....I don't want to go to church. Sometimes when we've been away from home all weekend at a family reunion where we discovered that our family of five has outgrown a two-bed hotel room, and no one has slept well, and I've spent the weekend catering to my children instead of hanging out with my cousins like I wanted to do and have developed a little chip-on-the-shoulder resentment towards them and well, basically everyone on the planet, I really just don't want to get up and get everyone ready and go to another new church and be all nice and chummy and open-minded and Christian on a Sunday morning.

     However, I also hate to fail, and I hate to say I'll do something and not follow through, and I hate for all my Facebook friends and blog readers to realize that I'm human and I'm not always that great at sticktoitiveness and no longer trust me to complete what I say I'll do. So I went to sleep Saturday night muttering about never going to church again and woke up Sunday morning determined not to fail but to take the easiest path possible and get it over with.

    So I asked myself," Where are we going to go to church today?"

    And I answered, "LifeChurch. No one cares if you show up there anyway." (Did I mention I was cranky?)

    But to be honest, I've had a little bit of a preconceived notion about LifeChurch from the beginning. It just seems a little too entertaining and convenient and maybe not such a sacrifice to attend because it's....well, fun, and you can go pretty much anytime you want instead of just early Sunday morning when you just want to sleep, and really, if church isn't just a little bit boring and undesirable then how can I turn it into a sacrifice and show God how much I'm willing to give up for Him just by showing up. I mean really? And besides that, how is anyone ever supposed to really connect when you can come at anytime, and the preacher is on a tv screen and doesn't know who you are anyway? It just seems like an easy way to get your weekly church obligation in without messing up the rest of your schedule. And no one's going to notice one more family there anyway, so easy-peasy, we can go to church and I won't have to be civil to anyone. Perfect!

    Oh, God! Aren't you the funny one?!

     So we decided to attend the LifeChurch in Oklahoma City on Northwest Expressway because it was right beside Gattitown (which is like a Chuckie Cheese on steroids where we'd spent a years worth of time the day before) and we knew exactly where to find it. (Once again path of least resistance was the order of the day.) We got there as a flood of people were leaving and a new flood was pouring in, and after making my youngest daughter change clothes in the parking lot because.....well, because, I was in a bad mood and everything seemed wrong at the time, we entered the building, and BAM! The whole morning transformed in a snap!

     LifeChurch is in the midst of their yearly At the Movies series where head Pastor Craig Groeschel uses popular movies as a catalyst to the biblical principles and messages he's teaching that week. During this series each July, each of the LifeChurch locations decorate their churches in a different movie theme. I knew this was happening, but I didn't KNOW. I couldn't KNOW. Oh, my goodness! Absolute awesomeness! There was just no way to maintain a cranky attitude when faced with a giant rotating spaghetti and meatball tornado. The lobby of the church was absolutely incredible!

     We were greeted at the door and asked if we had attended before, and when we responded to the negative, our greeter turned into an on the spot tour guide and directed us to the children's check-in area, and the coffee and tea bar, and reminded us to pick up popcorn on our way to the sanctuary. I didn't feel like a nobody or like no one cared. I felt included and welcome and finally a little bit excited about church that morning.

    We let the girls take the time to go through the spaghetti maze and down the ice cream slide before checking them in at the information station and dropping them off in a large room with a giant movie screen on one wall and a rock climbing wall on the other. We discovered that the kids get their very own version of At the Movies with children's movies and messages on their level. (They watched and discussed pieces of Maleficent, and my girls were excited to tell me all they learned on the way home.)

     Jason and I and our oldest grabbed some iced tea and popcorn and headed to the sanctuary (or auditorium), and soon after the music began. As I'd expected, it was rock concert loud with flashing lights and repetitive choruses and I have to admit, I had a hard time getting into it and connecting with God through the music that morning. Perhaps it was my residual moodiness or exhaustion, but I found myself just standing and watching and wishing they would stop singing the same thing over and over so I could just sit down. I don't always feel this way about this style of worship, but this particular morning I was very disconnected from it, so I was glad when it was time for the message.

    And what a message!

     The movie base was About Time, a time travel movie where a 21 year old son learns from his father that the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time within their own lifetimes. I hadn't seen the movie, but I definitely want to now. Comparing scenes from the movie with Ecclesiastes 3: A Time for Every Season, the pastor wove a beautiful story with a life-altering message. A message about time. A message to remind us to make the most of the time we're given. A message to give God our time. A message that for us came just in the nick of time.

     The next day my husband came home from work, looked me in the eyes, and said, "I had a really good day."  I was glad to hear that and asked what had happened because for some time, things hadn't been quite so positive. He hesitated and then responded in his typical quiet way, "That sermon yesterday.....it was really good."

     And that's all he needed to say.

     I've been constantly amazed during our Steeple Chase journey this year how God keeps placing us in positions to hear or see or do exactly what we seem to need each Sunday. I thought I was taking my family to Lifechurch because it was the easy, non-threatening thing to do, but in reality it was just right where we needed to be to change our perspective not just on LifeChurch but on life itself.

***(This week is the final week of At the Movies, and I highly recommend taking advantage of one of the many opportunities to watch online at lifechurch.tv, I promise you won't be disappointed.)

A Forever Faith: Jenks FBC

    Sometimes you walk into a church and you can just feel it's life-blood pumping. Excitement crackles in the air, people greet one another in love, and all around is a true feeling of holy encouragement.  This is how it felt as we entered First Baptist Church Jenks.

     We arrived in time for the second service of the day, but instead of encountering a mass exodus, we were surprised to find more of a fruit basket upset environment as those who attended the early service made their way to service positions throughout the church. Many were rushing to the nursery and children's areas or to greet those of us entering for the second service. The sidewalk out front was completely empty, but the foyer within was a bustling metropolis. We were greeted by a friendly gentleman at the door who handed us a large tri-fold "worship guide" and directed us to the children's check in area up-stairs.

     We were surprised that despite the organized chaos taking place, our friends in the church located us very quickly after our arrival. First, my sweet friend, Mandy, who shares my hometown and alma mater, made it a point to find us in the children's area and show us around. She explained that due to the large number of young families in the church, they are busting out of their children's department and in the process of adding on. The hallway was certainly busy and crowded, but the delight and excitement of the kids was a tangible thing, and my two youngest got caught right up in the fever.

   

     Our six year old was shown to a smaller classroom setting for Kindergarteners (of which there were at least three), and was quickly welcomed into the group and engaged in play time and preparation for a lesson.  Our middle daughter found her long lost friends waiting in the hallway to enter the children's sanctuary (I'm not sure that's what they called it, but that's what I'm calling it.) and with squeals and hugs joined them in line.

    Once the younger girls were in their correct spots, Mandy escorted us to the sanctuary, and we took our places near the front and center with moments to spare. The praise band did a combo of contemporary and traditional and the music was fantastic. We soon discovered that First Baptist Jenks is celebrating their 100th year of service, and in honor of that amazing achievement, we were blessed to be attending when guest speaker, Dr. Anthony Jordan was providing the sermon. Wow! A more timely and passionate message I'm not sure I've ever heard. Wow! Such a message of perseverance and encouragement to continue in the Word and in teaching of the Truth in a world that appears to have turned topsy-turvy. I mean, Wow! We left feeling renewed and purposeful and determined to be who God would have us to be. It was exactly the message we needed at exactly the time we needed it. Praise God for His magnificent ways!

 The service ended, we gathered our children, and met up with friends for lunch, but I spent much of the ride home reading through the Worship Guide which displays just how alive this church truly is. The number of opportunities available to the congregation just within one weeks time was astonishing, and I can hardly imagine the amount of volunteer help it requires to accomplish all they do in service for the Lord. So many opportunities to connect with other members of the church, to learn more about God's Word, to be a servant to others, to spread the love of God. FBC Jenks is certainly a church with a vital presence and a faith-filled future, and we feel so grateful God led us to journey here on our Steeple Chase this year.