Max Lucado in Oxford

Sunday was a good, satisfying day. We go to two churches now. Sunday morning church is a local, small town, small, baptist fellowship of about 200 people. Jamie and I both are members. The kids are in the Youth Programme. Jamie leads worship. Grace and I are in the worship band too and I also take turns with her in the creche (nursery). Jack is learning the sound equipment and helps to set up the school drama theatre for church services. This church is hard work and exhausts us. In the evening we drive into Oxford and attend one of the large, city, Anglican churches and get fed great teaching and meet some really interesting people. The music is fantastic too and all we have to do is sing along! It's also a beautiful building in the heart of one of the world's most beautiful cities. We enjoy worshipping there on Sunday evenings.

Sunday Part 1
So, yesterday morning, we arrived at the school at 8.30 to set up and rehearse for the 10.30 service. We had 4 of us singing. One of those was Jamie who also led and played bass and another is also the keyboard player. We had an electric guitar too. The worship went very well apart from the usual technical difficulties with the sound management and projector but we are used to that, and the congregation didn't seem to mind. They seemed to enter fully into worship despite (because of?) the two new songs. The intercessory prayers for the Persecuted Church were especially moving. The teaching was the last in a series exploring Colossians and we also had Communion. In case anyone is wondering, these are the songs we played and sang:

Tell Out My Soul
Beautiful One
He's Got the Whole World In HIs Hands (for the children)
You are My Hiding Place (as a round during Communion)
My Jesus My Saviour
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord
There is a Day (Fellingham)
I, the Lord of Sea and Sky

I know everyone is different, but I feel most worshipful when singing to the Lord and this is the most powerful part of any service to me. I can pray at home, I can listen to a good Bible teacher at home via tapes, radio etc or study by myself. I don't get much out of communion, except as a remembrance, usually and never have (even when growing up as an RC when I believed in transubstantiation) but to join my voice with others singing God's praise, I can't imagine any better way of worshipping Him and I imagine I will spend eternity doing the same, so it is like an exciting little glimpse of future glory for me! Aaaaahhhh....

We finished the service at about 12.15 and my family cleared up and packed everything away and we were out of there at about 1.15. To NO lunch, because being the ill-prepared housewife I am, I'd fogotten to prepare that in advance. Still, I rustled up some soup from somewhere and Grace went to her small group. Jack went to a yoof party at the pastor's in the evening and then we were into Sunday Part 2.

Sunday Part 2
Oxford. Max Lucado, a favourite christian author of mine was in town visiting his daughter who's studying there and was prevailed upon to use some of his vacation time to talk to the church. So, instead of our having a usual Sunday evening service we had this talk. He spoke on the topic of his new book called Cure For the Common Life of which I now have a spanking new copy to look forward to reading. I made Jamie ask him to sign it for me. Poor man. Ever the obliging husband, he did and I will treasure it. I read In the Grip of Grace when I was a baby christian and was powerfully affected by it.

He was a good speaker, intelligent, warm and relaxed and took questions at the end from an audience packed with students and academics. They asked challenging questions too, sometimes even verging on the agressive, which he answered with impressive grace and love.

A Good Bloke, I reckon.