Church Las Vegas style

He (God) works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, He works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or "carriers" of Christ to other men. Usually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects - education, building, missions, holding services... The Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other reason. C.S. Lewis

When you think of Las Vegas many images come to mind, Elvis, The Chapel of Love, Wayne Newton, Elvis, Siegfried and Roy, The Strip, Elvis...anyway, usually you don't think of church. Recently we went to visit friends and family there, that being the halfway point between Boise, Idaho and Mesa, Arizona. We had a great time walking, well actually it was more like trotting, up and down the Las Vegas strip. With two kids and two (younger than I) parents of said kids, trying to fit in as much fun as possible in 3 days, I would recommend it as a great workout. Thankfully they had 4 tickets to the wax museum which we happily skipped so we could rest our aching feet for an hour!

I happened to be browsing through the tourist leaflets in the RV resort lobby when I noticed that they offered a church service on Sunday mornings at 11. In the Hollywood ballroom no less! We were met on Sunday morning by a gentle soft-spoken Pastor named Ed Hernandez. We sang familiar praise songs led by he and his lovely wife, both originally from the Philippines. As we went around the room and introduced ourselves I was struck once again by the fact that perfect strangers could feel like family. I guess because we really are! I pray that they will be greatly blessed by their good works. I am thankful they are there and I told them so. I am now putting the Desert Oasis Church on my prayer list, and when I think of Las Vegas I will think of Pastor Ed and his family, doing God's work in the middle of Neon Desert Oasis.