Even though I'm on the other side of the world, my Christmas Eve was spent where it has always been spent:: church. Tonight, I decided to check out a different Anglican church I had heard about last week or so called City on a Hill. I loved the name from the moment I heard it because I love the verse of the Bible where it comes from; plus, I thought it sounded so picturesque and even magical. I can't help but smile at the way the name rolls off my tongue in such a poetic way. More importantly, it turned out to be an awesome church that I would definitely like to return to mostly due to the fact that I absolutely loved the pastor's sermon and the atmosphere of the entire place. When he gave his sermon about one of the stories in the Bible, he was expressive and lively, neatly integrating his personal experiences into it and showing us how we could relate the story to our own lives as he spoke. By the time he was finished, I just felt really content and fulfilled for some reason. Maybe it was a little premature, but even before the service had concluded, I had decided that this church just felt so right.
In terms of style, it seems like the perfect balance between St. Jude's and Planetshakers and is the closest church to Holy Trinity Brompton in London, which I still miss. Vibrant but not showy. City on a Hill isn't as massive as HTB or Hillsong, but the atmosphere felt like it was on fire tonight. Very inspirational. I'm so excited to go back and see what it's like on an evening other than Christmas Eve. Based on what I witnessed just hours ago, I'm sure it will be just as amazing.
After enjoying the City on a Hill service, I took a tram up to Carlton to go to St. Jude's Christmas Eve service. Since it made more sense to go straight there instead of going home in the opposite direction first, I ended up being uncharacteristically early; however, it turned out to be blessing because I was able to see some of the children's pageant, which brought back memories from my childhood, and to meet the first American I've come across in Melbourne. She's from California and is studying at the University of Melbourne. Talking to her really made me think about graduate school again, but I don't know if I'm ready to commit to that at this point. St. Jude's service was enjoyable and it was good to be able to catch up with some friends. This entertaining video was shown during the service and I would like to share it with you.
Afterward, a few of us tried to get Chinese food for dinner, but the restaurants were closed so we settled for Domino's, which was more than fine with me because I had been craving pizza for weeks!
Merry Christmas!
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