Times Square Church- 7-09-06

Website-www.timessquarechurch.org
On Sunday, July 9th, we attended Times Square Church in NYC. What a powerful worship experience! From start to finish, it was impressive. The church is on 51st & 6th Ave in NYC. It is a converted theater, and an annex building right next to the theater, for children's ministries, small groups, offices, etc. The first area that you enter is a large lobby area- a place in which you can get further information, other assistance before the worship service. As you enter into the worship (theater) area, you are impressed with the quality of the decoration and the artwork. It seats about 2,000 people, and it was packed. The first people you meet are the Ushers and Greeters. They wear clearly marked yellow jackets, and they are active throughout the service, greeting people, seating people, AND, keeping the congregation quiet (I discovered as I was one of the talkative ones who was "shushed"!) so that people could come forward for prayer before the service. They carried large signs- "PLEASE KEEP QUIET SO THAT PEOPLE CAN PRAY", and carried them up and down the aisles. People were praying in their seats, they came forward for prayer, they stood, they knelt, they raised their hands, they walked around. When the pastors came out on the stage, they walked the stage and prayed over different parts of the stage area where people would take part in the worship service. I also noticed a prayer gathering underneath the sanctuary, praying for God's anointing on the pastor and worship leaders. You got a feeling of expectation as you realized that this church was "covered" in prayer. Then, the curtain was shut, and the choir and worship team took their places, and when the curtain arose, worship began with great enthusiasm. The entire worship experience was seamless, meaningful, enthusiastic, at times meditative. It had some Messianic Jewish flavor, some Black Gospel flavor, some Latino flavor, some European flavor. The choir, worship leaders and pastoral staff were ethnically diverse (as was the congregation), and the worship matched this diversity. There was a mix of newer choruses, older choruses, hymns sung and performed beautifully, with lots of power. The worship portion lasted almost an hour, but I don't think anyone was looking at their watches. Sue and I found ourselves caught up at times with various emotions- joy, excitement, awe, quietness, tears. We were "prepared" in worship to enter into the "inner sanctuary" with the Lord. The Pastor's message was inspiring and powerful. We heard stories about the church being involved in Ireland and England, as well as Borundi and other parts of Africa. This was genuinely a "world church". The message was on the book of Revelation, and the statement of Jesus in Revelation 1:19- "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later." or as another translation states it, "...what must take place..." There are things that the Lord has promised that He will do, things that must take place. There is a kingdom that is coming, and it must come. All that we need to do is to believe it, and get on board with what the Lord is doing for His kingdom- or, we may miss it entirely! After the service, there was an altar call, and dozens of people went forward for prayer. The Lord is blessing the Times Square area- even the entire city- through this church!