Greater Baltimore Church of Christ

This morning, Todd and I attended the Greater Baltimore Church of Christ which meets at Long Reach High School in Columbia. It is a sister church of Montgomery County Church of Christ which we have attended in previous weeks.

Overall, the service was very similar to Montgomery County Church of Christ. We were greeted by at least five teens who were greeters/ushers as it was their teen Sunday. One woman came over because she thought we were new visitors. Every teen who spoke for each section of the service applied scripture and shared their reflections on what the scripture meant to them. The unfortunate part was that it was very hard to hear what people were saying because of the microphones.

The music was all hymns again with no music. They even sang some hymns that I recognized from Montgomery County Church of Christ. No one had hymn books because the lyrics were on a screen on the stage. I really appreciated that. One song, "Awesome God" towards the end of the singing was done to pre-recorded music. I enjoyed that because it was more the type of music/style that I am used to. During the second half of communion, several women/teens came on stage and sang a really beautiful song. I am not a music person so I do not know how to correctly describe what they were doing but each pair sang a different harmony with different words at the same time.

The first half of communion was silent... That is, except for the squeaky chairs. (Did I mention how hard and uncomfortable they are?)

They announced Fellowship Time which I took to mean a time of greeting people around you. I was a bit confused as everyone was out of their seats and there was no explanation other than it was called Fellowship Time. I think all the children/middle schoolers left then as well.

The sermon was delivered by a guy named Phat Vuong and it seemed like it was his first time speaking. He was a bit awkward at times but his message was strong. He spoke about the book of Hosea and gave these three points: (1) God loves you (2) You adulterous people (3) Return to the Lord.

After this, there was a closing song. They called it the closing song but then several people came up on stage after to talk and share. Two women shared about another woman who was about to be baptized. It just felt really long after being told that we just sang the closing song. Also it felt long because by the time the service was over, it was two hours later! I am used to an hour and a half service.

... What does God have in store for us next week?

... And how much later on in the week do you think Todd will get around to posting?