A 9:00 Baptist Service

This past weekend I was in La Mesa, California, visiting some friends. I went to their Baptist (CBA) church Sunday morning, and fellowshipped with them throughout the rest of the day. Their CBA church does not have a Sunday night service, so they invited me to a Baptist (GBC) church in nearby San Diego that does. We had already missed the 5 p.m. service and the 7 p.m. service, so we went to the 9 p.m. service.

This church is only about four years old, but they have grown so fast that they meet in a large gymnasium that belongs to another Baptist church. Although the gymnasium is very large, they have to fold the seats into the wall and set portable chairs all over the floor. The 7 p.m. service is so crowded that there are not nearly enough seats for everyone, so many people have to stand and the pastor is beseeching the members who can to attend instead the 5 p.m. service or 9 p.m. service. The 9 p.m. service was about 80% full!

The service lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes, the large part of which was consumed by the message brought by the pastor. But NNE was falling asleep! The pastor, a graduate of Bethel Seminary, used props to illustrate his sermon, including a large propane gas torch and a CO2 fire extinguisher. After making his point repeatedly using the propane gas torch and a CO2 fire extinguisher, he continued bringing his message using a portable microphone and walking around in the very large congregation with the fire extinguisher. He repeatedly walked right up to individuals in the congregation and asked them questions to make sure that they were understanding the message, and allowing them to contribute to it. When some individuals gave a “smart” answer, the pastor let them have it with the fire extinguisher! The congregation rocked, shouted, and had a blast while the pastor drove home the absolutely vital importance of being not only careful about the words that come out of our mouth, but also the condition of our heart that causes the words to come out.

It was quite an exhilarating experience feeling the whole, massive building and everything in it vibrating with the music and praises to God!