BERHALA ISLAND
EPISODE 151: WORSHIP

    That morning, Podin first entered the church. That morning, Podin first learned to worship. That morning, Podin first learned to pray. That morning, Podin first came to know God. That morning, Podin first opened the door of his heart to receive religious teachings. That morning, Podin first came to know the faith.

    Yes, Podin who has never known God, Podin who has never set foot into a place of worship, Podin who has never done worship at all, but that morning, Podin followed his wife's invitation just a few days married, to be able to accept the fact of life, that when he got the wife of Cik Melan, he, it turned out that just this time Podin got advice about religion. Only this time Podin received an invitation to enter the house of worship. This is the first time that Podin, wanted to be invited to enter the house of God and worship God.

    "Pah .., we shake hands with the congregation ..." said Ms. Melan when she arrived at the church, and of course in that place there were many congregations who had come, although the service has not yet begun.

    Podin, who did not yet know about the way of worship, followed what his wife had said. And of course still a bit hesitant. Naturally, he had just set foot in the church for the first time.

    "It's the newlyweds, yeah .... It smells good like jasmine ...."

    "It turns out there's a newlywed .... Congratulations, Ms. Melan ...."

    "This is Miss Melan's husband, yes ...? Waduh ..., lucky Ms. Melan ...."

    So said some people who have arrived first in the church, and shake hands with other congregations. And of course when Ms. Melan came with Podin, who entered the churchyard area, many people were greeting Ms. Melan with her and congratulating her on her marriage.

    "Thank you, Mothers .... Thank you, Om, Auntie, Fathers ..." replied Ms. Melan who was certainly smiling, and also introduced her husband to the church congregation where he worshiped.

    "Eeh ..., Ms. Melan .... Why is marriage not legal?" some people ask Ms. Melan, who is certainly disappointed not to be invited to her wedding. Of course, many congregations also feel bad, because they feel uninvited at the wedding of Ms. Melan.

    "Sorry .... I don't have a big party. It was only a thanksgiving event yesterday, after the blessing. Yes, indeed we do not invite .., only for friends in the office. Coincidentally it was yesterday at my husband's place of business, friends who made the event. Yes, just a thanksgiving .... There is no party, really ..." replied Ms. Melan who certainly also felt bad to the friends of the church who were not invited all, all of them, and there were only a few people who came after attending the church service.

    Witnessing the familiarity of the church members, of course, Podin who had just come to the church for the first time, he could not help but look at everyone, see a friendly and kind person, he said, as well as the cheap smile, Podin did not hesitate to smile and look happy. Because it turns out, all the members of the congregation where his wife invites worship, the people who are there, everything is very good. People friendly. His people were not selfish, not arrogant, and certainly not as Podin had previously suspected, if only the people in the church, who had come and met Podin with his wife, had not been, will be indifferent and indifferent to him.

    It turned out, after Podin witnessed all the congregations in the place, who were welcoming to Podin, even also invited to chat, invite stories, and, and of course they want to know more about Podin. Podin immediately looks familiar. And surely, under such circumstances, Podin was openly accepted by the members of the congregation at the place of his wife's prayer, so even Podin did not hesitate. Podin was not discouraged. And of course, Podin was happy to be accepted by the congregation in the church.

    Yes, this is an opportunity to get to know the name of worship and worship to God the creator of man. As his wife said, that we are God's creation, we should be obliged to worship Him.

    Although he was beside his wife, but for Podin who had never known at all about religious worship, then this was an opportunity for him to learn to pray. Podin looked at everything the people in the church were doing. Poden sat quietly, though his eyes glanced in all directions. And of course he wanted to know, how and what were done by the people in the church room. And of course, Podin was silent for fear of being wrong, fear of being wrong. Silence is one way to take care of yourself.

    Furthermore, the beginning of worship has already begun. There was a woman, still quite young, but also not too young. At least he had a small child. The woman advanced in front of the pulpit. Apparently he will lead the worship. Podin noticed everything, and of course he wanted to know how to worship according to the beliefs held by his wife, which of course was the first time this was followed by Podin.

    A moment later, it turned out that the woman was leading the singing of praises. Yes, it turns out that the woman invited the congregation in the church room to sing. A hymn of praise, a song to magnify the name of the Lord, a song to praise the Lord. How to offer praise to his Lord. Surely Podin witnessed it all. As his wife said, worshiping God is easy.

    The woman who is the leader of the praise invites all her congregation to have fun and have fun praising God. Not only singing, but there are also church members who play music. Some teenagers were in the place of musical instruments, in front of the place of worship, playing music accompanied the praise led by the woman. And even not only teenagers who play music, but also there are women who are teenagers who carry art tools such as tambourine or small tambourines, by wearing uniform clothes like a dancer's clothes, playing the musical instruments he held, as if dancing with a tambourine given a colorful ribbon. The movement is nice, interesting and fun. Well, some kind of entertainment in celebration of the art scene. It's all to accompany the compliment.

    And not only that, but he also saw the people present in the church, the people who were there, the people who worshiped there, the worshipers, the worshippers, everyone sings while clapping. Yes, everything seems cheerful and joyful. Likewise, Ms. Melan who also sang while clapping.

    "Come, Pah .... We applaud .... We sing .... We praise God. If Papah doesn't know the song, it's okay .... Just listen to the applause. We follow the rhythm of the musicians, and of the teenagers who accompany this song." said Ms. Melan who invited her husband to stand up and clap while singing.

    Podin followed him. Podin who felt he had never known how to pray, now he knew that the worship service in the church was indeed easy to do prayer activities. Just sing while clapping, sing along to the beat of music, and sing have fun praising and raising the name of God. Podin was pleased. This is an easy prayer activity. Easy activities to do. Podin smiled as he watched his cheerful wife look at him happily and also with a charming smile.

    After the praises were finished, the sermon in the worship activity began. A priest advanced to the altar on the pulpit. The pastor will give a sermon on Sunday morning. Surely Podin noticed all that. Podin looked at the person on the podium.

    The pastor began to speak in his sermon, "Only by faith do we believe in God, and we will be saved by the Father in heaven. Only by faith as large as the mustard seed, will we get salvation from the Father in heaven. Only by the grace of Christ will we be saved. Because of the grace of Christ who sacrificed himself on the cross, and died willingly to rise, the One who will raise us all up, the One who will save us all. And the absolute power of the Lord Jesus Christ, will raise up every believer's money."

    After the service is over, of course the congregation goes back to greet. They will each go home. And of course, Ms. Melan with Podin also joined the greetings with other congregations.

    "How about, Pah ...? It's not hard, is it?" ask Ms. Melan to her husband.

    Podin did not answer. He just smiled. Surely, the smile had given the answer, that Podin was happy and could follow the worship.