Church

On Sunday, I went to church. It was an awesome experience to be able to meet with other believers and worship God in the Holy Land. I found an American Baptist church that had an English speaking service. It was interesting and good to worship.

I was actually hoping to go to a Catholic church. Although I am not Catholic, the Catholic church was the first church to exist and its beginnings are in Israel. I do not agree with all of its teachings* but like all other Christian churches, it glorifies Christ. And it was there first. I was really hoping to go to Mass on Sunday. Unfortunately I got to the church 5 minutes late and the doors by then were locked.

*if you want detail you can email me or talk to me when I get back, I am not going to go into that on this blog.

I was able to come in and pray though (before and after Mass the church is open to visitors). It was a very powerful experience to be able to pray in this church and spend time with God in silence (there was one other guy there praying and he was quiet too). Walking through the cobblestone streets the fact couldn't escape me that Jesus walked and taught here. This was where He "did church".

Tomorrow I will be going for a walking tour of the Old City. We will be going to Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Jesus was crucified) and seeing other famous landmarks of the history of our faith. We will also be seeing sites that are holy to Muslims and Jews.

The following pictures are from St. Andrew's church.