Easter at Flatirons
(I have some full-length blog entries in my mental queue, but it sometimes takes time to sort through words, then put them down on paper in some semblance of order. In the meantime, I offer some quick thoughts from today.)
My church is great. It amuses me greatly, meets me where I am, and challenges me to move on towards who God wants me to be. The few friends who have come with me to brave a Flatirons service always make their first remark "It's BIG!" Yes, it is. I can't say I'm a big fan of the size (although it makes some great things possible), but I appreciate other things about it enough to not care about the size. How big? OK, we just moved buildings last week. Our old (rented) building sat 2000, and ran into overflow seating for 2-3 of the 6 services every weekend. Our new building seats 4000. Based on the parking lot this morning, I think they'll hit their estimate of 20,000-24,000 for Easter (six services). Next week, it'll be back down to the "normal" 10,000-12,000. Church is big.
This is my first Easter at Flatirons. I've been attending for almost a year, and seem to often be out of town (with my parents or otherwise) for Easter. I didn't have firm expectations this morning, so I was caught off guard when the traffic snarl started more than a half-mile from the church.... I knew I should have left earlier. Entering the entryway, my worry changed from "I hope I find a parking spot" to "I hope I find a seat." Although the auditorium packed out, being barely on time was enough time to get settled.
Easter at Flatirons isn't much different than any other Sunday at Flatirons. Unlike Jay, Pastor Jim didn't wear a tie, so no disclaimer about "none of us will look like this" was necessary. The new building has allowed for slightly longer services, which means slightly longer worship sets, and I'm not sure it's possible for me to get enough worship.
The band at Flatirons is always very talented, and tries to "speak God's truth in the language of our culture", which means we get to hear interesting songs as either before-service warm-ups or sermon introductions. Today was no exception - I heard Led Zeppelin first, then the sermon intro was Linkin Park, complete with rap. Although the music isn't on my "best ever" list, the lyrics seemed applicable to life and fit in perfectly with Jim's sermon. It amuses me to no end that my church plays such music.
OK, today wasn't quite like every other Sunday. After the sermon intro, we noted something heavy falling on a rope from the catwalk (we have a tall auditorium now) accompanied by a thump and a "holy c**p" from the row behind me. Immediately after, Pastor Jim rappelled down the rope into his preaching spot to much laughter, opening with "You know it was only a matter of time before we did something stupid here." Rappelling, Led Zeppelin, and Linkin Park, welcome to Flatirons.
After the attention-getting intro, he continued his series on "basic things we believe in", which is a yearly spring feature. It's always good, and I'm inexorably moving towards being more involved again. There are many opportunities and choices, requiring discernment to find where I belong best. It's an adventure, though, and one that God will lead me through one step at a time.
Happy Easter and stuff!
My church is great. It amuses me greatly, meets me where I am, and challenges me to move on towards who God wants me to be. The few friends who have come with me to brave a Flatirons service always make their first remark "It's BIG!" Yes, it is. I can't say I'm a big fan of the size (although it makes some great things possible), but I appreciate other things about it enough to not care about the size. How big? OK, we just moved buildings last week. Our old (rented) building sat 2000, and ran into overflow seating for 2-3 of the 6 services every weekend. Our new building seats 4000. Based on the parking lot this morning, I think they'll hit their estimate of 20,000-24,000 for Easter (six services). Next week, it'll be back down to the "normal" 10,000-12,000. Church is big.
This is my first Easter at Flatirons. I've been attending for almost a year, and seem to often be out of town (with my parents or otherwise) for Easter. I didn't have firm expectations this morning, so I was caught off guard when the traffic snarl started more than a half-mile from the church.
Easter at Flatirons isn't much different than any other Sunday at Flatirons. Unlike Jay, Pastor Jim didn't wear a tie, so no disclaimer about "none of us will look like this" was necessary. The new building has allowed for slightly longer services, which means slightly longer worship sets, and I'm not sure it's possible for me to get enough worship.
The band at Flatirons is always very talented, and tries to "speak God's truth in the language of our culture", which means we get to hear interesting songs as either before-service warm-ups or sermon introductions. Today was no exception - I heard Led Zeppelin first, then the sermon intro was Linkin Park, complete with rap. Although the music isn't on my "best ever" list, the lyrics seemed applicable to life and fit in perfectly with Jim's sermon. It amuses me to no end that my church plays such music.
OK, today wasn't quite like every other Sunday. After the sermon intro, we noted something heavy falling on a rope from the catwalk (we have a tall auditorium now) accompanied by a thump and a "holy c**p" from the row behind me. Immediately after, Pastor Jim rappelled down the rope into his preaching spot to much laughter, opening with "You know it was only a matter of time before we did something stupid here." Rappelling, Led Zeppelin, and Linkin Park, welcome to Flatirons.
After the attention-getting intro, he continued his series on "basic things we believe in", which is a yearly spring feature. It's always good, and I'm inexorably moving towards being more involved again. There are many opportunities and choices, requiring discernment to find where I belong best. It's an adventure, though, and one that God will lead me through one step at a time.
Happy Easter and stuff!
Labels: church
posted by The student of life at 8:28 PM
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