An Interesting Worship Experience

I visited a former college roommate in Atlanta this past weekend and worshiped with his family Sunday morning. He had warned me prior to my arrival about what I should expect. I actually received several warnings of preparation and began to wonder if I would see snake handling or have both hairs on my head blown by a mighty rushing wind as everyone began speaking in tongues. My friends previously worshiped at the North Atlanta Church of Christ and then participated in a church planting conducted by North Atlanta. They stayed with that new congregation for little while and then made the move to the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta. Andy Stanley (Charles Stanley's son) is the minister and had a great message that morning to accomany two baptisms (husband and wife). The worship leader was an acoustical guitarist leading a full band in playing worship songs. I had never heard the first two songs, but they had great messages of musical praise. The third song was an oldie that they put to music but, because of senility setting in at the age of 38, I'm not able to tell you the name of it. Anyway, it was a very interesting experience. Communion takes place in small groups on Sunday night where it is a more personal and sharing experience.

I talked to my friend about his decision to worship there because I know some of the teachings there are not what he was raised to believe. There are a few things where he says he has to agree to disagree. Overall, he is very happy with the direction of that church. They currently have three services on Sunday morning and will be planting another congregation very soon so people can move to the new location and make room to grow. They already have two auditoriums where people worship simultaneously. Two separate worship bands play but Andy Stanley preaches in person in the East Auditorium and is broadcast on screens in the West Auditorium. When the next location is planted and established, Stanley will be broadcast there as well.

I enjoyed the time with my friends and being able to worship with them and see how excited they are about North Point. It was a good experience for me to be exposed to something different. I look forward to another different worship experience in the near future when I attend a conference in San Antonio. I plan on worshiping at the Oak Hills Church where Max Lucado preaches. I think that will be just as interesting as this past weekend and will once again open my eyes to various worship styles. I'll give you a report at the end of the month.