St. Louis is home to two churches I was keen to visit. The Journey (an Acts 29 church) is led by Darrin Patrick, and I was so glad to be able to get there yesterday evening. I’ll talk about Jubilee probably tomorrow. First up, I think I like the idea of the time. Saturday at 5 PM is “dead time” for many people. To be done by 7 PM and have an evening left would be very attractive to many, I am sure. I suppose that if you have grown up in a religious family it may take some getting used to. But if your preference is for a Sunday morning, that would be fine as they do have Sunday morning services also. The meeting certainly felt like an “event,” and a lot of younger people almost filled the venue. There was a pretty slick staging of the event, complete with a limited (and hence not too intrusive) use of video clips. The band was very good technically, and we sang some songs I recognized from Newfrontiers UK circles.
It was very clear that for The Journey the main event was the preaching of God’s word. With a boxing ring having been built on stage to fit in with the theme of their series, which was about basic training in the Christian life, right from the beginning of the service you were anticipating what was to come. Darrin Patrick did not disappoint. This man is clearly intentional about everything he does, and a very gifted communicator. I could definitely listen to him again.
The subject for the evening was prayer. Patrick took the Lord’s prayer and showed us the importance of prayer and having a structure and plan for that prayer. I cannot listen to enough sermons on prayer, for like Darrin confessed, I think few if any of us feel we pray enough. It was clear that this church is a well-led, growing body of Christ. It was a pleasure to worship with them, and I commend Darrin to you as someone worth listening to. I understand he is also working on at least two books at the moment, and I hope to be able to tell you more about that at some point here on the blog.
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