I had my first day off from my rotation today so I took advantage of it and drove up to Seattle to check out a church up there. The church I checked out was the Ballard campus of Mars Hill Church, pastored by Mark Driscoll. I showed up early for the 11:15 service and sat up near the front. Pastor Driscoll preached a very Christ-centered, convicting and encouraging sermon from Luke 9:37-45, the healing of a demon-possessed boy. The worship was also great, a high point of which was a sung version of the 51st Psalm, a psalm which God used to change my life and call me back to Him. While the preaching and worship were excellent I was also surprised by the friendliness of the people I sat around at this large church. I thank God for my experience at Mars Hill but if I get another Sunday off I might check out a small Anglican church-plant near the base in Lacey. The rotation is going well, Fort Lewis is a great place to be.
In the afternoon I went down by Pike's Place in downtown Seattle. It had been a few years since I was last down there so it was interesting to see again.
3 comments:
Hi Matt,
I'm so glad you received such a warm welcome with brothers and sisters in Christ to be able to worship with them even as a visitor. I hope you continue to have good experiences during your stay.
Interesting sermon topic--what are your thoughts on possession?
I love Pike's Place!
~SP
Welcome to the area, Matt! Congratulations on completing this much of your journey. May God bless you abundantly in His work for you in this healing ministry.
I have been following your blog for about 9 months and thoroughly enjoying all aspects of your writings and the commentary back and forth from your readers. Many of your postings have been food for thought as our family has made our journey from Bible Church to Anglican church plant to the Catholic Church. WA has been a tough journey for us with church since we moved here 5 years ago from CA via Little Rock.
God is truly amazing and I am in awe of how much there is to learn about our wonderful Father, Creator, Redeemer and Teacher who desires relationship with us so much that He poures out His grace to us to draw us to Him.
If you are in the Renton area, I invite you to Life Teen Mass at http://www.ststephenslife.com/
It starts the end of Sept, Sunday at 5pm and has great music and liturgy.
May the Peace of God that passes all understanding keep you in the knowledge and love of God!
Hey SP,
It was an interesting sermon. I would hope my thoughts on possession are in line with what the Bible teaches. I think possession is a real thing that happens. I also believe firmly in treating psychiatric illnesses with all of the best pharmacologic and counseling tools that have good evidence behind them. To deny the reality of spiritual warfare or possession would be to deny the basic teaching of Scripture in my opinion though. Christ is infinitely greater and more powerful than any demonic force though so there is no reason to be afraid of that stuff if you know Christ and His power.
Jane, thanks for the comment, glad you've found my posts interesting!
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