This is the day that the Lord has made.

Good morning all! We all missed you on our day of worship. It was truly a blessing to find a church so close to where we were staying. In fact this view to the left, is the church from our hotel room window (24th floor). We started our day with breakfast and enjoying our time together. We then waited patiently for church service to begin. Our service was to start at 11:00 am but we were told to be there by 10:45 to make sure we got a seat. The church "Shamian Chapel of Guangdong Christianity" was very beautiful. We were so excited to be surrounded by Christian believers, and I hoped I would see some people from the Island there also. We were greeted by an English speaking lady, who welcomed us with open arms, and showed us in. Now we did not shy away from our normal Baptist seats, you know the back pew. Yes we seated ourselves in the back pew in case of the babies needing an escape route, (which Connie used a couple times).

The chapel had Chinese music playing, but yet I felt very comfortable. We were told my many on the Island and our tour guide (Rebecca) that we needed to go to the later service. It was translated to English.

We were unsure if this was the right service until we seen the sign above. Yeah it was right, right place and right time. The service began and the welcomed everyone, just like at home, and then we sang praise songs. We sang "Shine Jesus Shine" and "There is a Redeemer", both in English and then two songs in Chinese, Connie said she used this time to pray. I really enjoyed seeing other people in different cultures worship the same "Lord".

This picture was taken right before service began, and I wish I would have got a picture after service was over. The pews were filled, and the just kept coming in, even after the service had begun. Not just a few minutes after, they were still coming in an hour after the service began. It was a little distracting, but I was still very joyful and glad for where I was, and that there were so many believers surrounding me. The sermon was titled "The First Time", and the preacher talked about the first time events that happen in our life. How usually a first time starts a new chapter in your life. He focused on the people that it was there first time to step into church. He talked about the first day of school, the first time to be pinned (or date), and your first paycheck. After his references he talked about the first time that you walked into a church, and how he hoped that it would be a new chapter in their life. He also addressed us who had already been in a church, and asked to try to remember what that felt like, and long for that desire to know more about God, who He is, and what He was all about. Even though we were Christians that we want that desire to know more about Him, and we should always think about that first time for us. They did have scripture reading also, which was:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
They then followed with an invitation to all to act on their first time to step into a church, if feeling lead to come forward to know more about Jesus.

It was a great service, but we really missed our church family, and our Pastor Brian preaching. But praise the Lord that we did have a church to go to that we felt comfortable enough to worship our Savior. After the service we went to lunch at Lucy's and had a very relaxing afternoon, naps and all. Our Lord is awesome!!!!!!!

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it

Psalm 118:24