Exploring Local Religious Expression
After hours of searching online for a new, accepting, and friendly church to attend for my exploring local religions assignment I came across exactly what I was looking for, The New Life Church. I am currently living in an unfamiliar place, Colorado, so since I have never attended church and I am in a brand new town I was feeling hesitant and scared to go. I read over The New Life Church website and felt like it would be easy to fit in, and there wouldn’t be too much pressure on me. New Life church has a very casual atmosphere and they are dedicated to help people with their complications of life. Since most of my friends and family are Christians, I thought it would be appropriate for me to attend a Christian church to help me have a better understanding and connection with their beliefs.
Since I currently have a busy schedule I was very grateful that New Life Church offered services multiple days a week, night or day. I attended the service on Friday, September 23 at 11:30 a.m. I did not attend the service alone, I brought along my boyfriend who is also a Christian. Men and women all attend the same service, and the building everyone met in was huge. Online it says the services are in small groups, but it was the complete opposite. Everyone sits in rows of chairs facing the front. To me the main building reminded me of a stadium where a relatively small concert would be held. Inside in the front of building there was a stage with steps surrounding it, and a huge screen up above. It was a very modern church, and tons of people attend this church. The outside kinda looks like a big dome, and the entrance was beautiful and elegant with pretty tile floors.
What I was expecting was a preacher to be standing up on the stage and preaching to everyone, but it turns out that the service we attended was a video teaching. Although it was far from what I expected I feel it was just as effective and exactly what I wanted. With a video teaching of a pre-recorded service I felt so comfortable knowing I wouldn’t be put on the spotlight or called on to read or state my opinion. This allowed me to relax and listen to the message the preacher was conveying to us. The preacher was a middle aged man named Matt. Since the regular services are held on Sunday’s there was only about 35 other people that attended the Friday service, but to me that seemed like a lot of people. Some of the people seemed as if they were really into what the preacher was saying, but most of the people just sat there quietly with blank looking stares on their faces. There was no paper handed out to tell me what would happen next, so I was just along for the ride. I have never attended a church service besides a funeral and a wedding, so of course the whole experience was a shocking surprise to me. I was un-sure of what to expect.
There was so much said, but a lot of the messages relayed to the crowd went right over my head. Matt, the preacher, talked a lot about giving. One thing that he said a few times that really stood out to me was, each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give. When I got home I looked up where this phrase came from. It came from 2 Corinthians 9:7. Matt spoke about how it is better to give something than to receive something. The goal of the day was to not be greedy, only take what you need. This reminded me a lot of all the other religions we have studied so far. Especially Hinduism, people all over the world are striving to become better people and realize the difference between want and need. Some of the other passages he talked about was Luke. I tried to look up the passages he was saying, but I couldn’t find or remember them. After researching a while I did find one that I thought worked well with what he was preaching. It is Luke 6:38 and says, “Give, and it will be given to you.” The first thing I thought of when I saw this was Karma. Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism were all firm believers in karma, and the message I got from Matt seemed to revolve around karma to. There are so many similarities between different religions around the world.
After the video was done there was a real band. Once again it was completely different from what I expected. The band was like a rock band, everyone stood up and sang along. Most of the people already knew the words to the songs but they had the words on the screen up above for people like me. It was really fun to stand up and be involved. Everyone seemed so happy and there was such a good vibe.
I really enjoyed my experience of exploring local religions. To be totally honest, in my head I always thought that church was a waste of my time, and I didn’t understand why so many people went, but after attending a service I now understand and feel that all these people just want to make an understanding of their life, and make the world a better and more peaceful place. I feel enlightened, like I have been put back into reality. Often I loose sight of my goals, and caught up in all the challenges and complications of life. Listening to Matt helped me slow down and see the big picture, and remember how important it is to give back! After the service was over I was informed that they also have a service specifically for people who have lost someone special and are grieving, so if I ever come back to Colorado, I would love to attend that session. It would be so helpful to be surrounded by people who care and have gone through the same difficulties in their lives. All in all I had a great experience and I am very glad I attended The New Life Church!
Cheyenne Johnson
http://bible.cc/2_corinthians/9-7.htm Website where I found a passage from 2 Corinthians 9:7
This website helped me look up passages that the preacher was teaching about!
I also found a lot more interesting information here!
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