Great Easter- The Worship Service Edition

The Great Easter only got better after the Sunrise Service.  Everyone was in a great mood and there was wonderful fellowship and laughter during the breakfast and hour before the service.  Churches go through cycles: sometimes there is strife and the tension in the air is palpable.  Other times there is such a sweet, sweet feeling of love and joy that you can’t help but feel good just to be there.  It’s a shame it can’t be all good all the time, but we are humans and I’m reminded that even the NT churches had their strife and trouble.  But for this year, this week, this day, all was great.

The service just hit in all the right ways.  A man whose wife had been very sick got up and thanked the church for all their love and care during her recovery.  He said that we should be proud of our congregation.  Indeed.  Then a lady who was baptized last week had me tell everyone that she knows that she finally made the right choice to make Jesus her Lord.  Indeed.

The music was perfect.  “The Old Rugged Cross”, “How Deep the Father’s Love”, “He arose” and two specials, “This is my body” and “My Redeemer Lives”.  I could have gotten up for the sermon and dismissed everyone and it would have been great (and people might have been happier in the end!).

But even the sermon went well.  This week proved my theory that when I think a sermon stinks it normally comes out as better than normal.  I guess when think it’s bad we rely on the Spirit more and He shines more than we do.  When I think it’s a wonderful sermon it falls short.  This week I didn’t feel good about it, and no amount of tinkering could get it good.  Even when it was done I didn’t feel that great.  But person after person thanked me for the great sermon– so they are either kind or the Spirit took the ball and ran with it.

The numbers were great too: we were up by half as much, or to put it another way, we had 150% of average.  That gives us a good goal to reach on a consistent basis for next year.  And most of the folks were not C&E worshipers or out-of-town guests, but regulars who have slackened up.  There is great hope that we will see these guys more in the months to come.  Let’s hope so.

Even the horse pastures were lively: the foals are out there running and playing under the stern eyes of their mothers, prancing around on stick-like legs.  I love to look out the office window and see them just plain ol’ having fun.  The lilies and daffodils are coming out and the trees are getting their buds.  It’s a great time of the year.  Each day gets a little warmer, it will soon be disc golf weather every day of the week.

Praise God for times when all is well.