Rooted in Praise . . .There is No Distinction

On Sunday we worshiped at St. John Baptist. Pastor Boutte greeted our group inside the door with warm words and embrace. He asked me to join him and Pastor Clifford Jones up front for worship leadership--a blessing and privilege.
While Don and I were still in his office preparing, worship was commencing. I heard Pastor Jones exhorting the congregation, with their voices rising in what would be just their initial offerings.
The entire service was rooted in praise. Everything began in praise of God!
This is exciting and thought-provoking. Imagine a worship experience that begins not in what you or I expect to receive but in what we have brought to offer. And that no matter what the varied circumstances of our life may be at a particular time (joy, anticipation, pain, sorrow, excitement, listlessness), in all circumstances we are set free to open ourselves and lift voice, heart, and soul to one who is Creater, Redeemer, Sustainer, and Comforter. In that open-ness is the opportunity to receive "far more than we can ask or imagine."
At St. John the choir sits behind the Pastors, the loft rising up several rows high. I noted that through the early parts of the service choir members continued to arrive and this energetic group grew. Music flowed throughout the service, each hymn an expression of praise and prayer and testimony.
During one hymn, as each verse lifted us higher and higher, I looked out and saw our St. Andrew's folk on their feet, clapping, dancing, and singing like Baptists! I remembered the words of the Apostle Paul that in Christ "there is no distinction (Romans 10:12)." We were not two congregations now, but one, accompanying one another toward a common future. God's will was being made known!
We were thrilled to realize that Kendra, one of the women who had prepared the bountiful meals for us as we worked, and who had joined us at the table, was being baptized this Sunday!! As we witnessed her immersion in the water, some may have been moved to consider our own immersion into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus our Lord.
When she returned to her seat, Pastor Boutte spoke to her about the steadfast love of Jesus that would be hers in all circumstances. He then invited the congregation to come up out of their pews and gather around the altar (which is at floor level in front of the raised pulpit) for the Altar Prayer. As they did this he called everyone to sing "Jesus Loves Me." In the midst of the singing I offered the altar prayer as Pastor Boutte had asked. Song and Prayer wove together and by the Spirit were lifted.
As we sang a hymn prior to the Pastor's sermon, Don and Clifford knelt together holding hands, and Clifford prayed for Donald, and for the realization of the living Word, fervently. Don preached a powerful sermon out of a text from Deuteronomy, and the community responded demonstrably. The experience of being led by the Spirit is mutual: pastor and congregation are together in-spired.
At the end of the service was the traditional "altar call," which is new to us "reformed" folk, where those who may feel moved are invited to come forward and make the decision to commit their lives to Jesus, in that moment, in the midst of the congregation. This is part of every Sunday service at a church like St. John. No one came forward this particular Sunday, but the "door will be open" next week as well.
I am very interested in the thoughts and reflections of our other missionaries about the connections and differences in our worship traditions. We all seemed fulfilled by worship. What moved you most deeply?What kinds of things might our congregations share with each other?
A last memory I would like to offer. Although the service had distinct parts in it, like our service, one part flowed right into the next, as music overlapped the boundaries and as the worship leaders conversationally invited the people from one step to the next. In the midst of one transition, Hezekiah, the organist and choir director, offered a reflection. As he was speaking, I realized that his eyes were not on the choir but on me (I think he was speaking to all of us): "You don't know how much the little things you do matter to others."
Amen to it all!!!