We had a great idea. Well, my D.I.L. had the idea. She had scoped out churches in Amsterdam long before the move. After finding out that there was a Hillsong United church there, we were excited and knew that we wanted to visit. I had never even considered that there was a Hillsong church anywhere except Australia, but it turns out there are a few of them throughout the world. If you aren't familiar with them, they have fantastic contemporary Christian music. If you are familiar with them, you know that they might be also known for their "production" approach to the gospel.
Yep, confirmed. There were very production-like aspects of the service. And yes, this was 10:00 AM. Did I mention they don't have their own facility?
No, they don't. So they apparently borrow this nightclub. I have to admit, I have never walked into a church service before that had a giant bar, fully stocked -- although probably locked. Still maintaining an open mind, I love their music... I so wanted this to be good!
And it was. There was a fantastic praise and worship opening that lasted almost 30 minutes. They were unbelievably talented, but the vocalists and musicians weren't up front and showy. Awesome!
The message on joy and the place it should have in our lives was fabulous and completely based on scripture. The fact that it was indeed fruit of the spirit, and because of God's grace, we are all able to receive His love, was a point driven home that I will never forget.
Throughout the service, I kept a watchful eye for something that someone might be able to criticize because this type of worship was completely out of my realm. There was nothing negative there. If there was, I missed it. And I was looking.
After the service, we all left encouraged and talked about how it differed from our church experiences at home. We also talked about how our expectations were met and ways in which we were surprised.
I learned that about 51% of the 14 million people in the Netherlands are unchurched. Then, of the 49% that are, only about 20% go to church regularly. The most attended churches were Catholic, with about 25% of the churched group; and Protestants only made up about 15% of that 49 number. That was surprising to me, but then again, it wasn't. After all, when you say Amsterdam, the first two things you think of are not exactly rated "G".
Since we don't do museums on the weekends, we skipped this. Actually, it's another picture of the Rijksmuseum, and we had already been there. But it was busier on this day.
So we went after this traditional snack -- well, we had it with lunch.
Okay, don't judge. Yes, it is french fries (frites) and this kind of mayonnaise dip. If you go, you have to try it. I rejected it the first few times, but it is everywhere. Very unusual, but when in Rome...
Then we took our joyful selves back to our hotel and relaxed.
