We have attended a large church in Jacksonville, NC, for about 6 years. The church is listed as the 14th fastest growing church in the US and now has 2 campus sites with 5 or 6 services between the 2. I have never been a person to like crowds but the message and the music and family has kept me there.
Lately I have become "ill at ease" in my spirit with some of the "show" and "performance" in some areas of the church; not wanting to be there but at the same time missing the blessing I knew I could receive. We cannot get into any of the Christmas Eve (3 tonight and 3 on Christmas Eve) services because we did not get tickets in time and without a ticket you cannot get in. Boooooooo! This did upset me a bit but we decided to go this morning to a local church that was advertising that "Bethlehem Morn" would be sung by the choir. We have visited the church before and for me it is stepping back in time to a church I grew up in and I have gone forward since then and do not wish to go back but we decided to go there and hear the cantata.
It was what it is, a country church filled with country people; people that loved each other and have grown up and old together. The choir was small and with the exception of one woman, was a senior choir. I put aside my "choir director" opinionated side and sat back to enjoy these people and what they had worked so hard on to bring to us. No one was off key, a few voices stood out and they did not always hit the spots they should have hit but they sang with love and togetherness and it was a sweet time. I reminisced a bit about my days directing a choir and the blessing I would receive when I listened to my brothers and sisters singing.
About half way through the cantata I was struck by the age of this choir and how they had all grown up together and had families together and had grown old together and now some are frail and stepping away into their eternal home and it brought tears to my eyes. They sang with the heart of a family. When the song "We are the Reason" came along there were many tears in the audience, the choral members had done their best and had brought the message to life in our hearts. I, the lone ranger, lifted my hand (they don't do that there) and bowed my head and listened with a grateful heart and gave thanks for the "gift".
I don't care where you go or how you came to be there....if your heart is in the right place you will be blessed by something the Lord brings to the service. Tracy and I enjoyed our morning at that little church and were blessed even though we know that is not the church home for us.
I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to direct a choir again and I don't know if we will stay at the "big" church where the music and message are still good or if we will find that the Lord has led us to another house of worship but I do know that this morning, it was good to be in this particular House of the Lord.
