church hopping

This morning I church-hopped. Church at North Shore gets out at 11:20 - just enough time to drive downtown and arrive by 11:30. This morning I visited this church called Redeemer Church. Check them out here:
http://redeemernw.org/index.php

Some background:
I love my current church. They have a heart for the lost, a heart for God, and a heart for each other, all of which are really important to me. Lately, though, I've started to feel restless. Small groups ended a few weeks ago and aren't starting up again until October. Frankly, I can't go that long without being plugged in somewhere in the middle of the week. I don't live in Christian community like I did in college, and I don't have an established group of friends here to depend on. So, a month or so ago, I attended a prayer service at another church in town. Although I really liked the church and the people, the prayer service was definitely directed at members, and the normal worship service fell at the same time as North Shore's. So I knew I wouldn't be going back there. This past week I was googling small groups or Bible studies or young adult groups or anything I could find that would be able to act as a way for me to connect with Christians in the middle of the week. I discovered Redeemer. Coincidentally, they have two services, and one falls at the exact time that I am driving through downtown anyway on my way home after church.

I loved it. The worship was refreshingly different than most anywhere I've been before, but in a good way. They played a lot of hymns and their band was very piano driven - they didn't even have a drum set. And the sermon was....really really good. I was moved and challenged in ways I haven't been in a long time. And, best yet, they have what they call "gospel communities" that meet during the week. They seem to be very missions minded - their gospel communities are not only a group of believers that meet together weekly, but they also focus specifically on outreach to the community.

Also, at one point one of the elders had people raise their hands if they were married. (as part of an illustration for something completely unrelated) Most weren't. :)

I'm definitely not planning to leave North Shore. But I am planning to get as involved as possible with Redeemer.