That may not seem weird to some of you, but it was a step out of the comfort zone for us. Why? Because our little family doesn't go to church. We don't have issues with the church or feel burned or rejected by the church. It's simply that, in our own ways, Michael and I met Jesus outside of organized religion. We have been loving Him and serving Him to the best of our ability ever since. He is the how and why of all that we do.
Along the way, we were surrounded by vibrant communities of friends who also have God as their first love. I guess you can call them house churches or home fellowships or (if you want to get progressive) emergent church... However you name it, our place in the collective body of Christ has been outside of the traditional streams of "church" (so far). And we love the sphere we've been given.
But a few months ago we discovered iBethel. It's the digital hub of Bethel church in Redding where you can watch sermons, download podcasts, stream conferences and whatnot. The main pastor is Bill Johnson, and for some reason, his teaching really resonates with us. You can feel how tenderly he carries the heart of the Father just listening to him. The messages are full of revelation and encouragement.
We have been so impacted by the weekly services that we made a deliberate stop in Redding to go to church. It actually felt quite vulnerable reaching out to the larger body of believers in such a spontaneous and somewhat random way. But we were not disappointed. Bethel is a special place and we were totally blessed to get to experience it in person.
If you're interested, here is a link to the service we attended :)
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| Us in the nose bleed section |
Thank you to the House of Bethel for being a sweet sanctuary of the Kingdom on earth.
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