Visiting Delta Community Christian Church

We finally made it back to the churches (we visited just one) we planted in Lansing seven years ago. I really did not know what to expect since it had been five years since we had left and we have been bad church planters and have not visited since then. This will be my random thoughts of the experience interspersed with some history of the church.

We arrived a few minutes late to the Bunce's house where the church gathers. Ryan came up from the basement to greet us. (We had just started using the basement right before we had left five years ago.) At that time, they were just one church. Now they are two although they were three at one point. We walked down the stairs and the people were sitting in chairs in a circle. There were some people there that I did not know and others that I love dearly.

The worship began with the passing of the bread in which everyone broke the bread and gave a piece to the person sitting next to them telling them "The body of Christ broken for you." I miss partaking in that way. It seems to bring the body together in a way that partaking in the Lord's Supper with the passing of plates does not do. It's intimate and creates a bond because you usually are not sitting by the same person every week. It also nourishes through ritual an environment of the priesthood of believers rather than a hierarchy of church leadership.

Following that, two people began to play guitar. One of the interesting things about the worship is that the hymn "Be Thou My Vision" has been on my mind a lot lately and that was the concluding part of the singing portion of the service. The worship through music was very touching. I have not been moved from the music service in church like that in a long time. Throughout the service, Scripture was read between the songs. What I liked most is that the worship was not interrupted with anything. We just sung the songs and the Scripture reading assignments were done beforehand.

Then we moved into the lesson/sermon. In a smaller group, it is rather silly to have one person speak while everyone else just listens. It was an interactive learning time in which we talked about forgiveness. I learned a lot from the people in the group, which will prove beneficial to the sermon on grace that I have been working on to preach in two weeks. Dave (I think that was his name) led the discussion through sharing his thoughts on forgiveness. He did a great job at creating a springboard for group discussion and providing insights from his studies on the subject.

After that we shared in the fellowship meal. There was a great vegetable soup, a wonderful rice/meat something, and bread. At the end of the meal, we shared in the cup, remembering the sacrifice of Christ.

Three and a half hours after we arrived, we left refreshed in the Spirit and excited about the Lord. It made me long to be part of a church that gathers in such a way again. I miss it. I miss it a lot. I miss those people, and I created new friendships that will sadly not ripen due to not being around them regularly.

Obviously, a church is much more than what goes on during their gathering on a Sunday morning, but if the gathering is a sign of the life of the body, then these churches are very healthy. I am so overjoyed to see that. May God continue to bless them with fellowship and a love that overflows.