We Went to Church

I love Sunday because I love the church and Sunday is the day that the church comes together to worship Jesus Christ. Today, we had the great opportunity of worshiping with believers of a different nation and language. The church meets in a building much larger than their previous one. It sits by itself in a neighborhood of apartment buildings and is home to both Bibelgemeinde Berlin, which meets Sunday morning, and a Russian church, which meets Sunday afternoon. The building was recently beautifully remodeled and is accompanied by a vibrant array of flowers that line the walkway to the front doors.

We first attended Sunday School, but it was all in German. The sanctuary is equipped with a cry room in the back with large, sound-proof windows looking into the service. We sat in that room during both Sunday School and the main service while Sam, the intern to Cary, interpreted both messages for us. I was thankful that no mother had to feed their baby during either service because that might have been slightly awkward.

It was encouraging to see a body of believers striving to be faithful to the Lord. Dietr Borchmann taught in both services and did very well, from what I could tell through the translation. We were able to take part in their communion service and remember our Lord’s sacrifice for us. We also witnessed their first exercising of church discipline, which left us with a solemn reminder of our responsibility to pull sin out by the roots in our lives.

The fellowship with the body continued into the afternoon because a church family invited us over for lunch. Our team along with a handful of others filled the small apartment, but even though things were cozy, we enjoyed a great meal and plenty of laughs.

We finished off the day with a trip into Berlin again for some touring of sites that we didn’t see on Thursday. We started and ended at Potsdamer Platz but visited The Holocaust Memorial, a square with two cathedrals and a concert hall, and an impressive chocolate store.