September 12, 2017          Church Order and Discipline                                                 

         Once upon a time there was an indian tribe living on a reservation in South Dakota. One day, some men from an oil company showed up and asked if they could do some tests and take some samples. A few weeks later they sent the tribe’s leader, a letter saying that they had found oil on the reservation and wanted to set up a meeting to negotiate a contract to take it out of the ground. The leader wrote back, that the oil company would have to meet with the tribal council in order to get permission to do this, then they could negotiate.

         On the day of the meeting, six lawyers from the oil company showed up to argue their case before the tribal council. They were welcomed and invited to a clearing where they found the tribe gathered in a large circle, with the tribe’s elderly and children gathered in the center. The spokesman for the lawyers turned to the tribal leader an asked, when will the tribal council arrive? And the tribal leader replied, they are already here – when it comes to making a decision that affects the whole tribe, we make up council of the weakest and the wisest among us, for when the rights of the least and last are secured than the decision will be in the best interests of the whole tribe.

         I thought of this story because of the readings in the 18^th Chapter of Matthew. The chapter begins with 14 verses about who are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus sets before them a child, and goes on to tell his followers that they are not to lead them astray, not to let them get lost, and certainly not to take advantage of them.

         Now in our modern day, where there is a fair amount of child worship. Where we are ready to spare any expense to see that our children and grandchildren have it all. Where some people allow their children to make immature decisions that are destructive to their lives. We have kind of a skewed vision of what Jesus is saying.

In fact, while Jesus sets before his disciples a child, he says, that the little ones who are the greatest are those who humble themselves like children. So he is not actually talking about children at all – but those without power in society, those who are the weakest, those who are the least and the last. It is the responsibility of the Christian community to be a place where these little ones are safeguarded against the worldly powers that would seek to exploit them. Hence, my story this morning of the Indian tribe and the Oil Company.

As for how Christians should conduct themselves when they have disagreements with one another, I have another story.

In Jerseyville, a local dentist, and leader of his political party, came to the local clergy group, wanting us to bless his political opinion over a local judge. In short, he wanted us to endorse his plan to call the April county holiday, the Good Friday holiday. Now, Good Friday is Good Friday, whether the state says so or not. But that really wasn’t his agenda. The dentist had been going to a number of groups trying to smear his opponent as un-christian.

So we asked this dentist, had he gone and talked to his opponent. Why no! he replied, we aren’t on speaking terms!  “Well, the leader of our clergy group said, Jesus gives us some pretty specific directions on how we are to conduct ourselves in disagreements. And the first step is to go to each other and discuss our differences.  To which the dentist replied, Well this isn’t about Jesus, it’s about politics! You can probably guess that we didn’t give him what he wanted.

My point is, that when we have disagreements in our lives, many of us play politics. We go around to involve people in our arguments, to get them on our side, and to force our opinions on others. Jesus tells us to first go to the person, who has sinned against us, and discuss it with them. If we disagree, only then are we told to go find someone who both persons respect and invite them to sit down with them and listen to our disagreement. And only when this does not resolve the matter, it goes to the church – and by church, Jesus does not mean the general public – but the leadership of the church. Who will keep the matter confidential, so that it does not divide or destroy the community of faith, or give the church a black eye in the community. You see, in the Christian community, it’s not about power, or winning or losing, it’s about what is in the best interest of the people involved and the community of faith!

Our gospel lesson concludes with Jesus talking about where two or three are gathered in my name. And in our Epistle lesson, Paul talks about putting on the LORD Jesus. After 25 years of serving congregations, I can tell that there is a huge difference between people who believe Jesus is their LORD, and people who believe they are their own LORD. Churches where individuals believe they are LORD are full of politics, bully, and strife. They are losing members, and everyone in town knows not to go to them. Churches were Jesus is LORD are filled with peace, they are places of healing, when members have disagreements there is a process for reconciliation, and they do not allow individual to tear them apart from one another.  

Now in the 4 months that I have been at Union Congregational, I have observed that the members of this church believe that Jesus is LORD! And that is a wonderful thing! And it is the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

September 5, 2017                       I Am, Who I Am

       Once upon a time there was a young woman who went to see a woman friend play soccer in a big tournament being held at her university. When the game was over, as she waited for her friend to get dressed, so they could go out for dinner with some friends, she noticed something beside a trash can at the refreshment stand. She bent down to look and there was a wallet. When she opened the wallet, she found that there were hundreds of dollars in it. Without thinking, she took the wallet to the soccer field office and turned it in.

       Afterwards, at a restaurant, she told her friend and the rest of the group about finding the wallet and turning it in. To her great surprise, they all told her she should have taken the money, and left the wallet behind. “No one would know” they said, and then she would have all that money. But all the young woman could say to them, was that she would know, and that to do something like that is not who I am. Well as you might imagine, they all gave her a rough time about that, and by the end of the night, she seriously questioned her choice in friends.

       As you know, most places that receive money in lost an found wait a week before giving the money to a person who turned it in. About 2 days before the week was up, the young woman received a phone call from the field office, telling her that someone had claimed the wallet, but would like to meet the person who had turned it in. It seemed that the couple who lost the wallet had come down for the weekend to see their child play in the tournament. They had not been able to come to any of their daughter’s games, and this was the only time in four years that they had enough money to come and see her. The couple was so grateful that the money had been returned, that they left $100 for the young woman. Just because of who she was, and she felt good about that.  

       I know that was a very simple story. But for many people, who we are is very important to us. It’s important that we are good mothers, fathers, partners, parents, friends, and citizens. It is important that we are honest, just, faithful, forgiving, loving, understanding, and compassionate. Who we are is the foundation of our sense of self, and who we are informs the ways in which we act and live our lives.

       The reason I bring this up this morning is because of our reading of the Old testament lesson this morning. There on the mountain Moses stands before the bush and asks God’ name. God’s answer is that is name is  “I am who I am”  in short, the Israelites used the letters from this statement to name God Yahweh. With this statement God tells Moses that God is not bound by the human ideas that result in idol worship. God is God’s own self, and is free from human interpretations.

       Yet at the same time, through the history of Israel, we are given a very good outline of who God is. God is faithful to those who believe in God. God is a blessing to the lives who trust in God. God cares about the weak and powerless. God brings down the greedy and the unjust. God shows mercy and forgiveness to those who are repentant. God is concerned with his chosen people, but is always ready to reach out to others and invite them into the fold. God does not operate through the force of arms, but by the power of the spirit. God is ready to bring back sinners, and nothing can separate us from God’s love.

        And the same is true for those who believe in God. Both Abraham and Jesus us I am statements. Whatever happened around them, whatever hardships or cruelty they faced, these events did not force them to be someone or something different than who they were. The image of faithfulness, love, light and life, that was the image of God shining in them. Even when Peter, tried to make Jesus afraid to go to Jerusalem, to face the cross, and to do God’s will. Jesus stopped him – get behind me satan. Jesus would not allow fear, or anything else to keep him from who he was, and from doing the will of the Great I Am.

       Which brings me to my final thought. We live in a world swirling with fear, confusion, anger, temptations, and trials. Some people give in to these spirits in their lives, and then often blame others for having made them do whatever it is they have done wrong. But as Christians, followers of the God Yahweh – I am who I am. We do not have the luxury of blaming others, we are who we are, it’s up to each of us. But the Good news is, that when we are who we are, and who we are is the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ, then the spirits of this world will no longer control us, and we will have the peace of life in God’s presence forever. In this life, and in the next. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. 

August 20, 2017                   Merciful to All
                                                                                                     

         Every once in a while, when I am introduced to someone, they look at me and say, “So you’re a pastor?!” When they say that, I get the definite perception that they are the kind of people who hold clergy in rather low regard. So I answer, “Yes, I am a pastor, but not that kind of pastor.” Which of course, prompts the question, “What do you mean by that?” And my answer is, “that I am not a pastor who preaches judgment and punishment, I am a pastor who preaches grace and mercy.”

         And then I tell them the story of a young woman who approached me in a bar. She worked there as a cocktail waitress, and overheard my conversation with a parishioner who had taken me out to lunch. After he left, she came up to me and asked if I was a minister. And so I told her, yes, but not that kind of minister. And after explained what I meant, she told me that she was a single mother who had been addicted to drugs. She told me that she had done a number of things in her life that she was ashamed of, and wondered if my church would be willing to accept someone like herself.

Of course, I told her yes, my church would be more than willing to accept someone who had been through all of her troubles, and be willing to support and encourage her to continue to walk in faith. And she smiled and told me that in two other churches she had attended, they had found out about her past, and she had been shunned and felt pushed out of the church.

         This woman came to our church, and found welcome and acceptance in the congregation, and eventually became a much loved member of our congregation for her work to start a young women’s group, singing with the choir, and work on the Christian Education board.

         I thought of Marcie, that was the name of the young woman, because of our story about the Canaanite woman in our gospel lesson this morning. Canaanites were another group that were considered enemies of the Jews. They did not live by the law of Moses, they ate unclean foods, they practice idolatrous customs. In fact, the reason this story is included by Matthew in this chapter, is that Jesus has just got done, saying that how well you follow the law, what you eat, and what you have done in the past is not what God judges you on. It is what you are willing to do in your life based on faith in Jesus Christ.

         Like the Canaanite woman, Marcie knew the God of grace that Jesus proclaimed, she asked once, twice, three times. She did not give up, because she believed that this God of grace would do something for her. And so, when she appealed to what Jesus had just said, that it was the faith that a person had, rather than what they ate or what they had done that made them acceptable to God, Jesus recognized her faith, and did what she most wanted, healed her child.

         Now in 25 years of preaching, I have found many people in the communities I have served, who believe in this God of Grace.  Many of them, when they went to some other churches, heard a message of judgement and condemnation.  In the congregations I have served, I have also noticed that there are people who struggle with the God of judgment in the Old Testament, and the God of Grace revealed in Jesus Christ. In this struggle they find themselves unable to receive God’s forgiveness, and so they hold onto the past, and the sins of the past that control them.  Now some might say I am preaching two different God’s, but that is not true. The God of the Old Testament is a God of justice, gracious, mercy and forgiveness. However, the stiff necked Israelites, because of their sin, only perceived God’s wrath. While the Patriarchs, Psalmists, and Prophets, all recognized God’s goodness, graciousness and blessings. The God of Grace has been there in both testaments, and for all who are willing to acknowledge that grace, there is forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting.  

         One final note, this events of this past week in Charlotesville Virginia were very disturbing for many people. What most disturbed me was a young man, who  was part of the white supremacist group, who was talking about being a Christian. It is difficult to believe, but I have heard a number of White supremacists use their Christian faith to justify their beliefs. They think of other races as mud people, or less than human. This belief about other peoples, cultures and races, is inferred by them from Israel’s being a chosen people, and by their worship of the God on the mountain, full of fire, fury, and wrath. But in Jesus Christ, the God of Israel is revealed to be the God of compassion and grace. This is the God who suffered death on the mountain of Calvary, so that all our human divisions might be overcome. And in this chapter of Matthew, and in this story of the Canaanite woman, Jesus makes it clear that faith in God’s love and grace is what makes us children of God, and that faith brings God’s blessing in our lives. A blessing of peace not violence, of unity not division, of life not death. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

August 6, 2017              Feeding the 5000                                                                  
            Our Gospel lesson this week tells us about the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, and this week, I know of another miraculous feeding story that I thought I would share with you.

            After months of hard work and years of saving, the day came for Ron and Jenny to open their own restaurant. All that was needed was the final health inspection and the issuing of their business permit. That was scheduled for first thing that morning; then their restaurant would be in business.

            But that morning the winds and rains of Hurricane Hugo hit, unexpectedly making its way 200 miles inland to their North Carolina town. Trees were uprooted, power lines were down, homes and stores were destroyed. Ron and Jenny hurried to their restaurant. Everything was intact.

            A deputy sheriff pulled up and told them that their restaurant, the fire station next door an a service station down the road were the only ones that electricity. Ron and Jenny called the health inspector to come immediately so they could open, but because of the power outage, he couldn’t get into his office to issue the permit. No permit, no business opening. With a refrigerator stocked with 300 pounds of bacon and beef and bushels of tomatoes, lettuce and bread, there was only one thing to do:

give the food away.

            They told the deputy, "Tell your coworkers and other emergency people you see that we’ll have free BLT’s and coffee for anybody who wants to drop by." Soon firemen, policemen, linemen and other workers were filing into the restaurant. When the couple heard that another restaurant was scalping people by charging ten dollars  for two eggs, toast and bacon, they placed a sign in their window: FREE BLT’S--FREE COFFEE. Families, travelers and street people were welcomed.

            Then something began to happen. People started to clean counters and sweep floors. Volunteers took over the dish washing   from Jenny and helped Ron at the grill. Hearing about what was going on at the restaurant from the local radio station, people from a neighboring town that had not been too badly hit by the storm brought food from their freezers. Stores and dairies sent

over chicken, milk and foodstuffs of all kinds.

            And so the long day went. Those first cups of coffee and BLT’s somehow stretched to 16,000 meals. The restaurant’s small stock increased by 500 loaves of bread, cases of mayonnaise, 350 pots of coffee and bushels of produce.

            Now some of you might say, “Pastor Ted, that’s not really a miracle story, people respond like this to hurricanes, floods, and tornado’s all the time, pitching in and helping, sending donations, and caring for total strangers, dozens and even hundreds of miles away.”

            And I would agree with you, in times of great suffering, some people, put aside the rules of selfishness and self-centeredness, and act with a spirit of compassion for others. Not everyone does this, remember the restaurant in the story that scalped people for meals – this actually happens, and then no one gets fed, or cared for. But Ron and Jenny had all of that food sitting in their fridge, they could have waited till the next day and opened, but instead they decided it was more important to feed these people in need.

            And then it happened, the more the news spread of their act of compassion, the more people wanted to be a part of it, and the more food came rolling in, to feed not just 5000, but 16,000 meals  That’s the miracle! The miracle of what we can do when we suspend the rules of self-interest that we live by every day, and work together in that same spirit of compassion and love for one another – a spirit revealed to us in Jesus Christ!

            One final thought, this past week I read a book called Rich Church, Poor Church – which I plan to do an adult study on starting this fall.  This book contrasts the difference in how each church looks at not just stewardship, but also mission, ministry, discipleship, and even advertising. The rich church acts in love towards others, not to get more members, but because it is what Jesus tells them to do! The members of the rich church know that Jesus tells them to proclaim the gospel in acts of love and fellowship. The members of the rich church give of themselves, not to make a budget, but to help make the kingdom of God present in people’s lives. Finally, the members of the rich church, find that through their discipleship, their faith makes a great difference in their lives.

            This is the miracle waiting for all of us, who are willing to do as Jesus commands us, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all the world!  

July 16, 2017               Seed and Soil

                                                              

         I don’t know how many farmers there are in this congregation, but the farming method used in our parable this morning doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Imagine a farmer who hooks up his tractor to a planter, and then as he pulls out of the driveway turns on the planter. All the way down the road, he’s spilling seed, crossing the rocky ground to his field, he’s spilling seed, even at the edge of the field where the weeds and thorns are, he’s spilling seed, and finally he gets to the good soil of the field, where the seed actually has a chance to grow.

         And the yield Jesus describes, a hundred, sixty, and thirty fold, really doesn’t sound right either. Well it might sound right with today’s methods of farming, tilling, chemicals, genetics, and etc., but in one commentary I read, it said that in Jesus day, farmers got somewhere between a 9 to 12 fold yield on their crops. To say the farmer got a hundred, sixty, and even thirty fold is quite a stretch. 

         Of course, we know that this parable isn’t about farming, it’s about the abundance of God’s grace towards us, and the abundance it can produce in our lives, and finally about why this abundance is necessary in our lives.

         In our gospel lesson this morning we hear about four kinds of soil, the first being soil of the path, the second being the rocky soil, the third being the soil with thorns in it, and the fourth being the rich soil. And yes, Matthew can be a little confusing, because he equates our spiritual growth with the soil in which we live. So, let’s begin with our first soil, the soil of the path.

         The soil of the path is just too hard for anything to grow. some commentators say this soil represents unbelievers, who scoff at the idea of God, or believe that religion is a scam, or the opiate of the masses. But I believe Jesus speaks to us about the soil of the path, to warn us against allowing an unbelieving world to harden our hearts against the gospel message. For if we do that, even the seeds of Grace that God does sow among us, are stolen away from us.

         The second soil is the rocky soil. These are the people who receive the word with joy after a while, they have no staying power, and their faith withers. We live in a society filled with instant gratification, and many people move from one moment of excitement over something to another. This also happens in churches, at first people rejoice in finding a church that proclaims God’s love for all, but then when they are called to be this love, it’s not such an easy task. Being steadfast and faithful in our service to God and others can wear us down, if our focus is all on ourselves. Especially when the world opposes us.

         The third soil is the thorny soil. The image that we get from Jesus, is that as people grow up in their faith, the cares and desires of their life pull at them, and eventually they allow these interests to close off their lives completely.  The pastor at the United Methodist Church in Sandwich shared an image with me this past week. It seems that he has a bird feeder outside one of his windows, and every once in a while he goes out to refill it he catches his clothes on a rose bush. Now for some reason, this rosebush doesn’t produce any roses, but he hasn’t dug it out or trimmed it back, it just keeps pulling on his clothes. The thorny soil represents us when we give our lives to so many different pursuits, they begin to take precedence over the practice of our faith and so it becomes choked off.

         Some commentators have said that Matthew’s version of this parable, was written to help them understand why the gospel message didn't bear fruit in everyone. Matthew's goal was encourage them to keep sharing the message, because every once in a while, it will find someone who will bear fruit. In each of the churches I have served, I remember numerous people in each church who bore this fruit. One visited a confirmation class with a friend, then joined the class, got confirmed and brought her family to the church. One was a retired artist, who moved to town and motivated us to renovate the church. One was a retired nurse who took over as our church secretary and did an incredible job organizing the church. And the fruit they bore wasn't just about bringing new people to the church, it was about the passion, energy, talents and excitement they brought to the church. That's the good soil! 
              In conclusion, I think that Matthew's version of the sower can help us in two ways, one way  is to encourage us to continue to proclaim the gospel, and the second way is to warn us about how the world tries to steal, wither, or choke off our faith if we aren't willing to intentionally practice it.  And finally, I just like to think of that image of the farmer, scattering the seed everywhere, reminding us that no matter where we are in life, God’s seed and grace is scattered all around us! 

July 9, 2017              Lightening the Load
                                                                                                                                                                    

         About 35 years ago, I was a student at SIU-Edwardsville, and while I was there my student job was as a catering supervisor, setting up coffees and breakfasts, lunches and dinners for meetings at the university. Over six months, I got pretty good at that job, and when the old student manager left, I applied for and got the job of student catering manager.

         Now the first month of being the student catering manager wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. The difference between being a supervisor and being a manager is that a supervisor takes instructions, while a manager is supposed to think for themselves, see problems that arise, and solve them before they become a problem. The problem was that I kept thinking like a supervisor, and kept asking advice, and seeking instructions, which really didn’t help me to anticipate problems and keep them from happening.

         Well, after a month, I had my first review, and it wasn’t particularly good. I felt like a heavy burden had been laid upon me, that I wasn’t doing the job correctly, and that the demands of the job were overwhelming. It was at that point that one of the civil service managers told me to stop looking for advice, and simply start doing what I thought would be the best job that I could. And so I did, and I began to think more and seek advice less, and the job became easier, and I ended up spending the last two years of college in that position.

         The reason I focused on this experience this morning is because of Jesus saying in our gospel lesson this morning, “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

         When Jesus speaks about a yoke, he isn’t talking about the yoke that are placed on oxen. He is speaking about the yoke placed on the people of Israel by the law of moses. In Jesus day, that yoke had evolved from the ten commandments and the laws in the book of Leviticus, to over 600 laws that those who sought God had to follow in order to be considered righteous and holy. And so, for those who were seeking to know God in their lives, they were encouraged to always seek the advice of the Pharisees, to make sure they were living according to the law. Which of course, with some 600 laws, had become an impossible task. And when people are weighed down with impossible tasks, then life becomes a heavy burden to them. And so Jesus, sought to lift that burden from the lives of the people, to help them instead focus on what it means to love God and to love neighbor, for that in itself fulfills the law.

         Way back in Seminary, I remember reading a book about the struggles of adolescents becoming adults. Many times, adolescents, in their teens and even twenties, suffer under the heavy burden of getting things right. They have parents who have rules for them, teachers who have rules for them, and society which has rules for them. And every time they make a mistake they have their failures pointed out to them, and after a while, they feel like they are being asked to do the impossible – to grow up and live their lives perfectly in the eyes of those who have power over them. And of course, they can go through a stage of resentment, and they begin to act out, even at times in self-defeating or self-destructive ways.

         But what adolescents often don’t see at this stage in their lives, is the love that their parents have for them. Or the care that their teachers actually have to help them learn their subjects and move on. To them, everyone is out to get them, not on how people are actually working to help them. And so, the book I read focused on helping people to recognize these gift that had been given to them in life, and to seek for them to live not under the heavy burden of authority, but in the lighter burden of blessing and gratitude for what they have accomplished.

         The reason I bring this up is because heavy burdens don’t just happen to adolescents, but to all of us in different stages of our lives, in our work relationships, in our marriages, in the passing of a loved one, with our families, and friends. Many times we feel out of our depth in life, and we seek advice. Sometimes that advice is constructive and helpful, at other times it is oppressive and burdensome. But the key to escaping these heavy burdens in life, is not to focus so much on the failures, but to look always to the presence of love in our lives, and to the people who are a blessing to us.

         And I think that is what Jesus is talking to us about in our gospel lesson this morning. Because Jesus says, that only the Son knows the Father, and only those who know the Son, have the father revealed to them. For it is the Son, who is the full expression of God’s love for us, and to all who hold fast to that love in their lives, they are set free from the heavy burdens that the world places upon us. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ!

July 2, 2017                A Cup of Cool Water
                                                                                                                          

This past week, I read a story that I hadn’t read for quite a while, the story of the star thrower. It seems there was a man who went out to the beach every morning, and for an hour, he would throw starfish that had washed up on the beach back into the ocean. Now there was another man who took a walk each morning  on the beach, and he would see the first man throwing the starfish back.

After weeks of seeing this on his morning walk, the second man came up to the man throwing the starfish back into the ocean and said, “What are you doing?”  And the first man said, “I’m throwing these starfish back into the ocean before they dry out and die.” The second man said, “But there are so many on the beach, hundreds and hundreds of them, how can you hope to make any difference? To which the first man replied, To the ones I throw back, it makes all the difference in the world.”

When I read this story, I thought of our gospel lesson this morning. At first Jesus speaks about welcoming Prophets and Righteous people, and receiving a reward for that. But then, he goes on to talk about giving a cup of cool water to one of the little one’s and that no one will lose their reward for that.

Now every time, I have worked on this passage, I have stumbled a bit over the Prophets and Righteous people part of this teaching. But over time, I have come to realize that the writer of Matthew’s gospel is speaking about the early church. Prophets are those wandering Evangelists that inspire congregations with their preaching. The Righteous people are the leaders of the church, the deacons and trustees and council members who do the work of the church – all good stuff. And the little ones are the members of the church who serve and are served by each other, as well as those non-members who are served by the church in their community.

And I think the reason Jesus says this, is because people can become caught up in thinking, that it’s only the Prophets an the Righteous people that make a difference. When all it’s really about is making a difference in people’s lives, which each and every one of us can do by giving someone thirsty a cup of cool water, by visiting in a hospital or nursing home, going to a funeral visitation for a grieving friend, being there to listen when someone needs a friend, lending a car someone whose car is in the shop, donating or working in a food pantry, sending a mission gift to people in need, making something for a community feast, or giving of one’s time and talents to work on a community project.  

You see, the last few weeks, I have emphasized stories about disciples of Jesus, who lived their faith by doing simple things, and making a difference in people’s lives – that’s because, I read to the end of Matthew’s narrative, and read this line, about giving cool cups of water to little one’s – making a difference in their lives, in that moment of need, that’s what it’s all about! And you don’t have to be a Prophet or Righteous person to do that, all you have to be is a disciple of Jesus Christ!

Now, about that reward. Friday, I went to the Sandwich Opera House and saw the Great Moon Time Caper!  Here were some 75 little ones, some 25 teachers and helpers who did something special! The kids danced and sang and laughed and you could see how wonderfully happy they were! And the opera house was packed with family and friends, clapping and cheering every scene, and laughing at all the jokes, and the witty rewritten lyrics to popular tunes –my personal favorite was the new take on Sinatra’s fly me to the moon. You know, you can’t put on a production like this without those gifts of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, charity, and self control. I bet a hundred or more cups of cool water went into that production, moments when people had to be there for each other, and the reward will be thousands of wonderful memories, that these children will share with others, throughout their lifetimes, and their children, and their children.

You see, we gather in worship to hear the gospel message, and then we go forth and practice the gospel in our lives. We don’t need to be preachers, we don’t have to be in charge, all we have to be is disciples, and believe that God will let no act of love or faithfulness be lost, because it won’t be! And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ!