The Authentic Church

This past weekend, I was in Champaign / Urbana. Thus, I had the opportunity to attend a church and check it out. I love going to a church as a first time visitor and seeing what occurs on Sunday morning.

My in-laws live near the university. Thus, I wanted to attend a "downtown" church that I could walk to. There were quite a few options on the table but I decided to attend Twin City Bible Church.

I had heard the name of the church before hand but I can not remember where to be honest with you. I chose them for a few reasons. Some of them may seem odd:

- church name ( the emphasis on both cities )

- their vision (Christ-centered church where campus and community come together to make a difference for God's Kingdom throughout the world.

- sermon series ( the authentic church )

- website (emphasis on history and mission)

The experience overall was good. I was not in my Sunday best ( cargo shorts and a fair-trade coffee t-shirt) so I am not sure if my appearence "knocked" me down in some of their eyes.

The mixture of the attendees was a very good mix.

Their mixture of worship style was very intriguing. It was "blocked/chopped" up with both traditional and contemporary. Thus, I would not use the common phrase that it was blended.

The sermon was a "traditional" three point sermon with room for you to take notes. Overall, the message was good. Here was the Scripture:

Acts 11:19-30

The three points were the following:

- the joy of helping others journey with Christ (vs. 19-24)
- the rewards of recognizing our own need for help (vs. 25-26)
- the fruit of God-honoring help: receivers becomes givers (vs. 27-30)

I would have liked to heard more application to the points and where he/church leadership would/wants the people to do with the message and how we will strive to be "the authentic church". But, each message and message giver tackled The Word in a different manner.

If I lived in the area, I do believe that I would give it a second-look. Their vision and their mission work and their sense of connecting the campus and community is intriguing me.

I did feel a little "cold" with the greeters / usher / welcome booth BUT I did not "push" and wanted to see what their action would be. During the greeting time, I was greeted by numerous college / grad students. Maybe, they thought this old man was one of them ( only kidding ). They seemed very friendly to one another (church as a whole) and I am sure with a small initiative, you would feel welcomed.

Kudoes to TCBC on their vision / mission / outreach / education opportunities.

If I go back ( one sunday a year ? ), I may go back. However, I will be very tempted to check out another church and see what another church in town will be doing.

If you live in the town, go see them !!