An Enjoyable Visit

Consider this order of worship:

- Several thoughtful worship songs led by a team that included guitars, drums, a keyboard, and a supporting female vocalist

- A woman approaching a pastor, then giving a word and Scripture to encourage the body

- An elongated greeting break

- A 40-minute Bible-centered message from the pastor

- An available pastoral team up front after the close, for conversation and prayer

Surprise! It's not TFH!

My Sunday morning (there's one difference) visit to Sovereign Grace Church in Gilbert, Arizona (just outside Phoenix), was a good one, if only to see a service so much like ours—and for the benefit of 300-400 folks. The Sovereign Grace churches (there are three in California as well, and many around the world) are, like us, charismatic and reformed. Actually, they call themselves "essentially reformed," as they do not hold to some traditional reformed governmental practices, nor to infant baptism, and they do, of course, embrace the full range of charismatic gifts. There are some differences between them and us (besides when they meet and the fact that they also employed cello and flute in their worship music), but for now this is a good group of churches for us to explore and learn from as we work toward a stronger identity at TFH. To find out more about them, you can visit the ministry web site. The church in Gilbert is here.