First Sunday

Crazy day.

Went to Fellowship Bible Church. It's a close eight minutes away from my place, and I went there first because the website showed a pretty small, tight-knit community.

The Sunday School is before the service, but it seemed more like a Bible study than a typical Sunday School that I'm used to. Which isn't bad per se, but it threw me a little off guard. Not to mention it seems like not many people attend - and there's only one for the post-grads. They said it fluctuates from around 2-10 people... which is very, very small for the entire church. Makes me wonder what they encourage people towards?

It was also very, very, very white. As in... zero diversity. *shrug. I can live with that to some extent because it's a little like HCC in the sense that we didn't realllllly have diversity either.

The discussion/Bible study was interesting because they talked so much, lol. Usually I'm used to speaking up a lot more because people need to be prompted by pre-made questions. And even with those questions, it's pretty short answers. But the discussion was carried by mostly three people and it turned into a conversation more than a lead discussion. Which... I didn't particularly like because I like structure. It made me feel like they didn't really have an end point, but just brought up different topics just to talk about something. Sure it's important somethings, but it's not there to make you seriously consider a specific topic.

And then the topics went into persecution and homosexuality and abortion.
And then I realized just how conservative this church was. I wanted to ask, have you met a gay person before?
Talked about how a potential law in SA was being debated on currently about giving city priority to businesses that are all for diversity and tolerance. And then how Christian businesses would then be discriminated against because they are intolerant.

Okay..... there are a lot of words being thrown around that ought to be defined. Like tolerance and diversity and discrimination. And a lot of viewpoints to be seen. Because yes in a sense Christians are intolerant. But no where did we talk about love for the people and hate for the sins.  It was just... felt very one-sided. Like they've never heard anybody talk about the struggles of being Christian and gay or persecution themselves.
 
Everything was hypothetical, everything was talking about other countries and what happens to other people.
They say how other Christians are persecuted, but they don't talk about themselves in a potential sense to be martyrs. Okay, that might be a little dramatic. But I mean it in the sense of Francis Chen saying how we have just enough of God to feel good about ourselves, but not enough to actually change our lives according to the Bible. Like how he sold his house for a smaller one and gave the money away. That kind of personal application.

It's all well and good to talk about events and potential things that can convict you. But when it boils down to will it change you? There has to be application otherwise it's just theory.

Bah. I'm not certain yet. I just wish I spoke up more. But I kept quiet for the most part because I didn't feel exactly comfortable in that kind of supposed-Sunday-School atmosphere. Plus... if I did, it might be hard-core debate, and there's a time and place for that. But I wish I spoke up just a little more.

On the subject of welcoming.... eh... mixed feelings. Yes and no. They were pretty welcoming, but not overly. It started out well, they noticed I was new right away. The benefits of a small church ^^

However, this might sound like a little thing, but during Sunday School I sat on a couch on one end of the room, and then nobody joined me. Wow that sounds lonely lol.
Well... you know how people always sit with a space in between each other unless they know each other well? That's what happened to begin with, and then people started sitting in the middle gaps of the couches instead of my couch, which had only lonesome me.
I'm not particularly bothered (or maybe I am because I'm writing about it?) because goodness, it's just a seat. But it felt less welcoming, if that makes sense.

I haven't been a new-comer in a while, but it reminded me of a couple things.
ALWAYS STICK TO THE NEWCOMER if you're trying to be welcoming.  They don't know what's going on, they don't know the inside jokes, the other people references, what's funny about somebody's old boot, or where to sit, really.
That was me.
So they tried to help, but it feels like they haven't had a newcomer in a while lol lol.

For the sermon.
So interesting!! I've never been to such a small congregation that the preacher could make people references and the whole congregation just laughs because everybody knows each other. I really like that feeling. I knew most of the songs. Pretty old school stuff. Amazing Grace, that ilk.

The pastor spoke on Ecclesiastes. Okay. This is probably my favorite book in the Bible. No joke.
Life is a chasing after the wind and all that.
But.... I don't think I agreed with the pastor's conclusions that Solomon was trying to say we should enjoy the journey of life.
wut.
That's not it at all... sure there's that verse in Eccl 2:24

"A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God"

But that doesn't lead to the conclusion that we should just enjoy the journey of life because that's God's gift to us! I mean, that's a great statement and I personally think it's true. But I don't think that's what these verses say.
Blah. But I know I'm pretty nit-picky about sermons when I think something doesn't follow or make sense (even at HCC), so ugh I'm not sure if this is a sign of my nit-pickyness or.... slightly off preaching?
And also. Again. Where is the practical applications?

Conclusion of this church.
The people are pretty lovely (read more below) but I have a couple of minor(?) issues with their format and preaching. I love the small community and easiness they have with one another.
Maybe it would have been different with a college crowd instead of the post-grad one.... But if I stay, it would mean a lot of outspokenness on my part...
I will be going to another one next Sunday.

I don't even know if I'm doing this whole church searching thing right. Maybe I should look up a guide.. hum.

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Dang this is a long post, but I'm not even done.

I got a flat tire today. OMGAH. I suck at this stuff. I didn't even know it was Toyota Camry when I got my first car. I was like... Honda Camry? Not sure....
Didn't have a spare or a jack -___-"
After freaking out because I've never had to deal with a flat tire, the church people really help me out. Luckily John at the church had an air pump and pumped up my tire enough for me to get to Wal-Mart.
(every time I try to write "tire", I end up writing "tired".... lol >.<)
Where they couldn't fix it... -__-" so I just bought a can of sealant thingamabob? and squirted it in. Actually... I didn't.
I stared at the tire with the can in my hand, half-squatting half-kneeling in my Sunday dress wondering what to do. Because apparently you have to have the tire completely flat before you can add it because it adds air as well. Well... since John help me add air to get to Wal-Mart, it was a pretty full tire.
So I was thinking uh... my options are: drive around until it deflates more, pull out the nail in my tire, shove my key into the tire so another hole is created????

But a Wal-Mart employee saw me looking blankly at the tire and came out to help me.
I AM SO GRATEFUL. Seriously. I was in my Sunday dress sweating in the hot hot Texas sun wondering if I would even be able to get back to my apartment because it's not like I could really call that many people here in SA. ... er... that I felt that comfortable asking.
But he came out and showed me how to let the air out of my tire. You just push that nozzle button. I felt like an idiot, seriously. And he didn't even laugh at me.
... probably because I laughed at myself.
And then he filled up my tire with air before I left, squeezing me in before the other stuff they had to do.
D: I hate imposing on people, but ah... I am so grateful.
Made it all the way back ^^ will go to discout tires tmrw after school. 

I guess it's best this happened on a Sunday... before school starts.