Half Term

On the Sunday at the beginning of Half Term I went to Bethel, Penyrheol in the morning (because I heard there was an excellent preacher that day), and Highfields in Cardiff in the evening.
The sermon was on Esther, and the preacher’s aim is to cover the entire book in two sermons. So although the reading was from chapter 2, he actually preached on the first five chapters. So a lot of the 40-min sermon was telling the story, although there were a few interesting and helpful points of application.
Highfields is a large church with an impressive building, and a lot going on. They mainly sing traditional hymns, but played by a band.
I was at Highfields a few weeks ago, mid-week, for a lecture on the problems in the Old Testament. And I commented in this blog on that occasion about how it set me off on a train of thought concerning big churches, and why and how they grow, and about finance. I’m not sure when (or if) that train of thought will reach its destination and be presented in written form, but I was thinking about it again following last Sunday’s visit.
Incidentally I am now reading John James’s latest book, called Dry Bones Can Live – How to be part of a healthy church, which also has a fair amount to say about church growth.
We were away from Tuesday to Friday, visiting relatives, including a trip to my ancient homeland.