This morning we went to St. Paul’s Church to worship with our Chinese brothers and sisters. This is the same church that I waited in a line 100 people deep to get into the last time I was in China. This time we made our way through another large crowd of people either coming or going from one of the 4 worship services held at this church on Sunday morning; they also hold 3 services on Saturday night, packing the 500 seat sanctuary at every one of them for a total of 3,500 worshipers each weekend.
But first you must understand that this church packs out 30 minutes early when everyone arrives to “practice” the hymns. Not just the choir – everyone. The only seats in the house were the 2 rows that were reserved for us. Thankfully that gave the American group some time to practice the hymns as well, they even had hymn books that were in both Chinese and English. After a few rounds we had all pretty much caught on and the worship service began. The very first hymn had a refrain of “Hallelujah, Amen,” and it was the one moment in worship where everyone in the room was saying, singing, praying, the same thing. It was this phenomenon that compelled Marci to wonder out loud: “is this what it will be like in Heaven?”
A moment like that makes any difficulties of a venture like this all worth while. In that moment the Holy Spirit gave me such a gift – a glimpse of what Heaven may be like: full of people who at one time may have been very distant from each other (whether because of ethnicity, geography, politics, age, or whatever else) but who are now united in one voice praising God! It is simply unlike anything I have ever experienced in the States and I am once again in awe of the way in which the Church in China is on fire for Jesus! Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . . hallelujah, amen, indeed.
