CHURCH chapter 3

CHURCH chapter 3

It was Sabato (Saturday) when we debarked on Tiberias. The next day would be Dimancho, the Christian day of worship. I was certain Tiberias used the standard Earth week.

"Tomorrow will be Dimancho?"

"Right," said Rod. "The mainday worship service will be at 0600. There will be some 3,000 people there. We meet in Central Square."

"That many!" I said.

"Certainly. You have cities on Earth with much smaller populations than Tiberias. Some of them have Churches with 5,000 members or more."

"You are right," I said. "I have been to the big Madison Church in Tennessee. They have more than 6,000 members."

"You said 'mainday,'" Chet asked. "What did you mean by that?"

"Remember," Rod said, "we are out in space. To be more efficient, Ships have a crew who work mainday, plus another who work alterday, dividing the day into two 12 hour periods. This permits two populations to live in one living space. We have a 24 hour society, dividing up the time."

Edna spoke up. "I see. Then you have a worship on mainday plus another worship on alterday."

"Exactly," said Rod. "I remember when I was a child on Earth, our Church had five services each Sunday. Some worked days and some nights and some early mornings. Because of the economy, people had to work at whatever jobs they could find. Multiple services made worship possible for everyone. Many of the larger Churches arranged their schedules this way."

By now we had come back to the lobby of the hotel.

"Better get some sleep," Rod said. "Tomorrow is Dimancho, the Lord's Day. We meet early! Better be at Central Square by 0530 if you expect to get a good seat. Central Square is one of the few places where large groups of people can meet together. Our worship is at 0600. God bless us all! Adiau! See you in the morning."

The alarm sounded and I jumped out of bed. Wow! Short night! I dressed hurriedly and got down to the lobby just as the others were gathering. After a head count, we started toward Central Square, following Rod’s directions. We saw a 'City Girl Coffee Shop' (cubicle). We munched pastries and sipped coffee or tea as we walked along. We carefully put our cups and trash into a disposal chute.

By now it was 0531. Rod was waiting for us.


I want to describe this worship service in detail for those back home. It is a privilege and a joy to be here on Tiberias to join in with all those who worship here today, Dimancho, Sunday, the Lord's Day.

We are here in Central Square this bright Sunday morning. Crowds are gathering quickly. I am surprised to see so many young people. Perhaps some of the senior citizens have returned to Earth when their tour of duty came to an end. I would ask Rod to introduce some of the people, but there isn't time. The whole congregation has gathered here and is waiting for the service to begin.

It's now 0600. Steve Chin is coming to the podium. On the wall-screen behind him we can see the order of worship appear on the screen. Steve is the song leader today, and in this tradition, the song leader convenes the worship and makes certain each of the worship leaders is present and in place.

Steve lifts up his hands and speaks: "Chi tiun tagon faris la Eternulo; ni goyu kai goyigu en gi."

"That's Basic," whispered Rod. "We all use it in Space. I'll translate. 'This day belongs to the Lord! Let's celebrate and be glad today!"


A word of explanation. Basic is the Esperanto language of Old Earth, which is now the universal language of space. It is neutral, tied to no country, and with no political overtones. It came into wide use with the United Sates of Europe forming early in the 21st Century. You will hear many languages in space: English, Chinese, and others as well. But Basic has become the common language which everyone speaks and understands; precise, unchanging, uncomplicated, logical. I will translate from now on, with just a hint of Basic.

Bud Arledge is now coming to the podium to lead the first prayer.

"'Chipova Dio...' All-powerful God, who permits us to join together our united voices in prayer, and who promises that when two or three are come together in Your Name, You will grant their prayers. Fulfill now the desires and requests of Your servants, in a way that will most bless us. In this world please give us wisdom concerning Your truth, and in the world to come eternal life in Your presence. Through Christ our Lord, Amen."

Now Steve Chin steps back to the podium to lead the first song. It will be an old song from Earth: "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love!" We hear the entire congregation join in with great enthusiasm and joy! Some sit, and some stand. But all join in singing words of praise to God. As we do back home, there are no musical instruments as they are singing "a capella."

The second song will be "Tago Yuga." "Day of Judgment, Day of sadness. World dissolving into vapor, Anciently prophesied hour." Let me remind you that there is a deep sense of "Christ Coming" among Churches such as this. This is tied to Peter's Catharsis (2 Peter 3:7-13), and the "new heavens and new earth" where righteousness will be at home.

The third song will be the Communion Hymn: "Upon The First Day Of The Week." Christ raised from death on the day following the Sabbath - Sunday, the first day of the new week.

A word of explanation. The tradition of this Church is that every Sunday is Communion Sunday. We believe it was so in the early Church. Some of the names applied to this Communion are: Vespermangon; Lord's Supper; Holy Meal; Eucharist. This will be the high point of the worship service. HE has overcome the world! HE has won the victory! We worshipers believe that this Holy Meal ties each one of us to every other Christian in the Universe as each one shares in the bread and wine of the Communion.

We will see the tradition of simultaneous communion. Each communicant has already received an individually sealed portion of the bread and wine (an outgrowth of the AIDS epidemic of the past). The bread is unleavened. The wine is unprocessed grape juice with only enough fermentation to prevent spoilage."

Morris Evans has come to the symbolic table and is the Unifier of this Holy Meal.

Again we inject a note of explanation. This Church makes no sharp distinction between clergy and laity. Steve is an electrician; Morris is a paramedic. Both are church-elders, as is Rod, who is also a Preaching Minister. As brothers and sisters in the Family of God all work together for the common good of all. "He lets us rule as kings and serve God His Father as priests" (Revelation 1:6)
.
Morris lifts up his hands and speaks: "As we join together in this Holy Meal, we remember our Lord who died on Old Earth many centuries ago. Jesus died as God's Sacrificial Lamb, to expiate the sins of the world of humans and to put us right with God. We are here today to praise Him and to show Him our love! We honor Jesus for Who He Is and for What He Did! We take this bread - by faith, His body. We take this wine - by faith, His blood. As the Scripture says: 'For until the Lord comes, you proclaim His death whenever you eat this bread and drink the cup.' And now Stan Chenowitz will lead us in the prayer of thanks."

Stan comes from the right to stand at the podium. He lifts up his hands and speaks.

"We praise You, O Lord our God! While we were estranged from You because of our sins, You reached out to us by sending Jesus! We are so thankful for Your blessings! Touch this bread - to us the body of Christ by our faith. Touch this wine - to us the blood of Christ by our faith. Touch our lives, and make us one in Christ - we are the Body of Christ. We pray in the Name of Jesus, Amen."

Now attention shifts back to Morris Evans at the Table. The entire congregation waits in anticipation, holding in their hands the individual portions of bread and wine. Morris lifts his individual portions as high as he can reach, holding them for a moment. Then he lowers his arms and speaks.

"This is My body, which is for you. Do this in memory of Me."

As Morris puts the individual portion of bread in his mouth, simultaneously so do each of the communicants.

Again Morris speaks.

"The wine which is this cup is God's New Covenant, sealed with My blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me."

Morris puts the individual portion of wine in his mouth and so do the communicants simultaneously."

We remind you that the bread and wine are encapsulated in individual portions. One pops the whole thing into the mouth, bites through the capsule, and swallows the contents. As we said, this began during the AIDS crisis on Earth. Actually, this works quite well in a crowd like this. There is nothing to dispose of. And, it permits us to follow the example of the early Church who celebrated the Holy Meal regularly. This Church emphasizes the memorial /commemorative /celebration purpose of the Lord's Supper.

Now Steve Chin returns to the podium. A song of praise appears on the wall-screen. "Praise be to God, In every time, In every place, From every person." All sing with love and devotion.

Again a word of explanation. Many years ago a collection/offering was taken up following the Holy Meal. Since Tiberias uses electronic money - no coins or paper money - they cannot take up a collection. What Apostle Paul actually said was: "On the first day of every week each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what he has earned, and save it up..." Each worshiper who wishes to do so, then, transfers an amount of credit into the Church's account. And this is part of our worship to Him.

Now another song appears on the screen, in English. "When the Lord of love was here, He watched the joy in human life, And He was pleased..."

Dean Woods comes to the podium. He will introduce the Speaker for this worship service.

"Dear brothers and sisters. We want each one of you to feel part of our worship family. We invite you to become part of our small group Bible Studies. There is one in your area. Just punch up the Library Computer."

Dean continued: "We are so happy today to have with us Don Daugherty, from what used to be called 'West Virginia,' in Usono, Earth. You can find his report about the Church back on Earth in the Library Computer. Exciting things are taking place there. Don is to plant a Church on a new Cylinder being built further out in space. And now here is Brother Don."

Don steps to the podium. His Outline and Bible references appear on the wall screen behind him. As we would expect, Don's sermon stresses Christ on the cross and the power of His resurrection."

Note: The Library Computer loads the entire worship event into its memory bank. Those shut-in can punch it up. In fact, some of the Amazing Grace Bible Class sessions from 20th Century Earth are also available. There is even a reenactment of the Cane Ridge Revival of Earth year 1802.

As is the custom on Earth, Don closes his sermon by giving an invitation. Actually, one who wishes to be "put right with God" may contact one of the brothers or sisters at any time. While baptism is often done by the leadership, each Christian is authorized to perform this act. We will visit a baptizing following this service.

We hear Don speak: "God loves you and believes in you! He proved this by sending Jesus! Take Him as Lord of your life! Believe in Jesus. Turn away from your sins. Be baptized. God will forgive your sins. You will receive the Holy Spirit, God's gift. Won't you come forward as we sing this song. Someone will talk with you and assist you in your obedience."

The song is: "Kristo kun me, Kristo ene..." "Christ be with me, Christ be in me, Let me share God's glory...'" (based on Colossians 1:27).

Some are coming forward to the podium to respond to Don's sermon. One appears to be a man in his eighties. We will try to contact him later.

Now Frank Miller, a church elder, comes to the podium to lead the closing prayer.

"Bless, O Father, these who have come to give their lives to You. Bless them and make them a blessing to others. And now, may the Lord Himself, who is our source of peace, give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all! In the Name of Jesus, Amen."

Steve Chin comes to the podium.

"There will be baptism at the hydrotherapy unit of Central Hospital at 0930. You can view it on your screen, along with all the church news and announcements. Now we must clear the way for the next group to use this space. God bless you all! Until we meet again!"