The Time is Here

There is about 2 1/2 feet of snow that fell last night and it is still falling full force. The kids are sounds asleep upstairs and have no idea yet that school is closed. There is no way I'm heading out to work, the roads aren't plowed yet. I would imagine that the courts are closed anyway. A day to sit by the fire and relax is just what we all could use.

Yesterday I posted about visiting a new church. I have been looking for specific things in my search for a church here in Connecticut. It's not like there is anything wrong with any of the churches that I've been to this past year, it's just that I feel the place for me is in a church that fits these qualifications:

Worship - the worship team should, at the least, have smiles on their faces while leading worship. I love worship, I feel that it sets the tone for the service and helps me enter into God's presence. The worship team is leading us into God's presence, we are all singing to God. When I worship I have an image of God in front of me, I can't help but smile and get excited, so when the worship team is looking like they wished they were back in bed, it is distracting to me.

Music - I like Christian music. I come Christian City Church where music is...well...the most awesome experience...indescribable. Old hymns are wonderful once in a while, they pierce my heart and can melt me into a pool of butter where I stand, but I just can't get all excited when I'm signing hymns throughout worship. ..except if I'm singing "How Great Thou Art"....that one gives me goosebumps every time.

Congregation - It is nice to have a mix of types of people, mix of different generations, mix of backgrounds. I love when the congregation is made up of some really cool and updated,in the world type people...people that can relate to current events, fashion and what is going on in the world today. Some of the churches in this small town are made up of only people who dress plainly, do not wear make-up and have strict rules which separate them from the non-saved. That is fine for them, but not where God wants me.

Pastor - I like a pastor to be laid back, upbeat, comfortable, not too dramatic or theatrical and, most importantly in tune with the Holy Spirit. I don't put all of my confidence or trust into pastors because they are just humans like us and not our God, but the person that is spiritually feeding and leading me every Sunday should be someone that I feel isn't "way out there"; he should be right where we are in life, able to relate to us and our struggles. I've been to churches were it seems the pastor is too above us all and is too busy taking his private jet to the tropics than to sit down to share a meal with us. And I've been to churches where the pastor seems to be in a poverty mentality.

I want a church that loves the community, that has a heart for the unsaved, that accepts sinners with an open heart and does not judge but gently leads us all to forgiveness. I want to go to a church that is filled with sinners like me.

Christian City Church was the church my children grew up in, it was the church that I felt was my family. I haven't experienced that in a long time.

Yesterday I visited Hope Church and it feels right, it feels like I've found a home again. All the things I am looking for seem to be there.

And I am start to finally feel settled.

How do you feel about church?