the worship experiment, uk: week 11

Hebron Evangelical Church
13 December, 6:30pm

This was my second time attending Hebron, but my first at their evening service, which is geared towards young adults. It was a good evening of worship.

The service opened with “Joy To the World” and was followed by a video. The band that night was pretty good and consisted of guitar, bass, keys, drums and tenor/soprano sax. The worship leader was a young guitarist who led the band fairly well but didn’t lead vocally. There were two other vocalists. After the video, there was a soprano sax/clarinet duet of “O Holy Night” which was really good. It was wonderful to see some creative use of the arts. We also sang “In Christ Alone,” a huge favorite in English churches. I’ve sung it many Sundays here.

Also in the service were the lighting of the advent candle, a missionary update, and a commissioning/thanksgiving for the youth leader who was moving on to go to Bible school and minister in a different country.

Peter Maiden, the International Director of OM, preached on “The Surprising Jesus,” along with the pastor, who illustrated Peter’s message at the end. Peter talked about Jesus’ requirements of following Him from Luke 14:25-33, hating family and giving up all, and discussed its meaning and implications. He did this in the context of one of Christ’s teachings on the kingdom, from Matthew 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” I found this very encouraging—his point was that when we realize the treasure that we have, giving up everything is worth it.

After the service, besides a farewell event for the youth leader, they had dessert and drinks for everyone in another room, followed by a time to hang out for young adults, in a coffeehouse-type environment, with live Christmas music, candles, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I really enjoyed the evening at Hebron, and was encouraged to look to Christ and worship Him. In fact, it made me want to return for their carol service on the 20^th.