This morning we worshiped at Delhi United Methodist Church in Delhi Louisiana.  Delhi is a small town, just off Interstate 20, with 3,000 residents.  But it has a viable downtown, all the needed stores, banks, a pizza place and a cafe, and a Sonic.  Along Main Street, LA 17, there are a string of churches.  We saw Presbyterian, Catholic, Pentecostal, and several Baptist Churches, as well as the United Methodist Church.  We are staying at a state park just a short distance from Delhi, so this was an easy place to worship.

Delhi United Methodist Church has a very nice web page with lots of good information about the church.  After last week, it was good to see a home page (first one that comes up!) with the worship times on it.  Delhi United Methodist Church just started a 9 a.m. Praise and Worship Service in September, so we decided to attend that service and support the church in trying something new.

There were about 20 people at the service, including the minister and the Praise Band.  The band was small, but did a really good job with the songs – none of which were ones I had sung before.  They had a guitarist and drummer and two singers.  Both singers were excellent.  They took turns with the melody, helping us learn the songs.  During the “passing of the peace” we were greeted by everyone at the service and even got several hugs.  We had communion – third time this month!

Delhi United Methodist Church is getting ready for an “Invite a Friend” Sunday on November 16, so the sermon was one in a series about inviting people.  Rev. Ted Fine was really interesting and easy to listen to.  He used one of our favorite sermon video illustrations, The Sound Tank.  If you have never seen it, click on the link and watch it:  it is great and gets better with repeated viewing.  Then Rev. Fine talked about ways to kill your church, statistics about people being willing to go to church if invited, and the power of a simple, specific, friendly invitation.  He included an outline in the bulletin, so it was easy to follow along and remember.  He also included a thought to chew on:  Introducing people to Jesus is the point of the church.  Inviting them to church is the first step in changing a life for eternity.

We spent a little time talking to people after the service and one women invited us to Sunday School.  It was the first time at any of the churches we visited that someone invited us to Sunday School, so I told her she was doing a good job living out the sermon!  We did not stay, but again, felt this would be a wonderful church to be involved with.  It is a typical small town church with a variety of ages and people representing the diversity of small town life.  We will be praying for their success with their new service and in making a difference for Jesus in their town.