How was church today?

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As a LLWL I led the service in the little church near my home that I attended for 30 or so years before transfering to a downtown church. It was nice to be back, to see many old friends (all looking older), the children who were preschool now in their teeens - and some new faces. This church has been working through the process to become affirming, and I was asked to share something of our journey or speak about Affirming.
I was also advised that the congregation would be observing Remembrance day. This surprised me - I've never experienced it observed after Nov. 11th before. And before I found out, I had already chosen the hymns and the theme of my message of affirming diversity.

So I down-played the Remembrance - having O Canada, a moment of silence, and the Invocation before the regular order of service.
During the time for the young and young at heart I talked to the children about love and acceptance despite our differences. I told them about having Parkinsons, why I didn't get down on the floor with them (I might have trouble getting up), and why my left side was trembling. But I emphisized the positive - all the things I could still do - including loving and being loved - by others, by God. And how happy I am to be welcomed as 'part of the family'. Then we sang 'Come in, come in, and sit down'.

For my message I spoke about 'safe places - how I once took my grandniece to a Community church in cottage country while on vacation and discovered the message for that day was not 'safe' for her (her parents had recently separated - she knew that she didn't live in a happy home like the one that pastor spoke about as God's plan for families.) And I spoke about how important it is for people to know that our churches are 'safe places' for all. Before the message the choir sang "God Weeps" from More Voices - God's sorrow over the suffering in the world. After the message we sang "Ancient Walls" from Voices United with the beautiful chorus of 'Walls that divide are broken down ... '

My scripture readings were from Isaiah 65 - Isaiah's dream of the world as God wanted it to be; and the gospel story of Jesus sharing fellowship with Zaccheaus - a taxcollector and sinner.

Went well - lots of positive feed back at the door and over coffee.
 
Advent 1: I didn't get to hear the message today, but I felt the giving spirit. The Sunday School children and I baked cookies for the local Soup Kitchen. Great fun.
 
Nice service - the first Sunday in Advent.

One of our long-time members gave a short devotion and lit the 1st candle - the candle of hope.

Later I preached on, "Why Christians Should be Thankful for the Hope of Heaven" from Colossians 1:3-8.

Thankful to say that my sermon was well received judging from kind words said to me by folks after the service.

Church was also exciting for me today because I was joined for the first time in a while by my family. Yobo, mom, and son #2 all came to support me.
 
Today's service was delightful - one of the best. We had the advent wreath and sang the first stanza of Hope is a Star, as I hoped and expected. Also sang O Come O Come Emmanuel - a loved standard for the first Sunday of Advent. Grandson was there and went out to the senior class with a group of boys and a couple of girls in their early teens (11 to about 15), preparing for a youth led service for the 3rd Sunday. It's great to see him mixing with other kids - he is a quiet boy and sometimes somewhat withdrawn.
Our minister preached on Isaiah 11 and on the present day need for hope in the world (and yes, it was political); one of the best sermons I have heard her preach. I must find an opportunity to tell her.
We had communion as part of the service - very nice.
Afterwards the Outreach Committee served a soup luncheon - two choices of homemade soup. It's a fund-raiser for their work with the poor, but also a community builder - donations only, no one turned away.
And I picked up a beautify handmade evergreen wreath that I had ordered from Grandmothers helping Grandmothers.
 
Our new music director has added some real oomph to our choir and musical offerings and today it was particularly obvious; I was almost inspired to give up another evening/week and join the cantata; however, I wasn't sure if that would actually be helpful. Today, I also found a spot in the pews where it's quite difficult to see either of the screens (the first was too oblique, the second obscured by whoever was at the pulpit); I might have been better to have turned around and tried to read the choir's screen at the back...
 
Mendalla said:
I knew there was more than one lectionary but didn't know the names of the others.
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That is two of the choices. I believe there are a number of others out there (some are variations on the RCL). SOme are weekly, there are also daily ones.
 
What is your preference GordW? I kind of like the idea of a 4 year lectionary, but that is not what we use.
 
BetteTheRed said:
I might have been better to have turned around and tried to read the choir's screen at the back...
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Makes me chuckle - that would sound about right - Bette facing the back while others face the front, causing much head scratching in the congregation :rolleyes:
We're in search mode too for a new choral director - so sad to see our current person leave (she's sad too) - but she's got a fab new job at an esteemed girls private school & much of the extra-curric that she must do falls on Thurs night - and you KNOW that must always be choir rehearsal night ;)
 
crazyheart said:
I was wondering. Does 4 yr. lectionary cover some of the stories that we never get

with the 3 year @GordW?
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information about and links to the list of readings for the Narrative Lectionary are here:
https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_faqs.aspx

TH idea is that each yer you follow through the grand sweep of the Scripture Narrative. The year runs from early September to Pentecost. The first few weeks lead us from Genesis, through some ancestor stories, through some stories of the kingdom. Then we have a series of readings from the prophets that leads into Advent. From Christmas to Easter of each year you follow through the Gospel of the year (so how much of the Gospel you read depends on how early Easter is. From Easter to Pentecost you get bits from Acts and pieces from the Epistles. Each week has one suggested reading, though they will suggest a supplemental (which is often only a couple of verses). SOmetimes the readings are quite long.

You do get some pieces that are not in the RCL. You also do not get some pieces that are in the RCL. I am not sure (as in I have read but can not remember) what percentage of the whole of Scripture is read in either of them.

IT has not quite been what I was hoping for, then again after a dozen years it was nice to try something different. What we will do when we finish one trip through the 4 years I do not know.

One challenge many find is that most liturgical, preaching, and worship resources that are out there are aimed at the RCL. One trick I often us is to pull out my RCL list and see if the passage is in the RCL and when--then I can look at resources for that week to see if they are useful (primarily when choosing hymns)
 
At the mission church I attend they celebrate your birthdays on the first Sunday of the month - just like communion.

My birthday is later on in December, and, during the week I received a birthday card.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was signed by God!

Now I knew my talks were popular - but THAT popular??????

I then looked at the envelope -and saw that it was addressed to Christine Lightfoot -when my surname is Longfoot.

So, even God doesn't know my name - which surprised me somewhat as apparently he knows the "number of hairs on my head" ?

Nope, after some reflection, I realized that He was giving me yet another lesson in humility.......... :)
 
PilgrimsProgress said:
At the mission church I attend they celebrate your birthdays on the first Sunday of the month - just like communion.

My birthday is later on in December, and, during the week I received a birthday card.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was signed by God!

Now I knew my talks were popular - but THAT popular??????

I then looked at the envelope -and saw that it was addressed to Christine Lightfoot -when my surname is Longfoot.

So, even God doesn't know my name - which surprised me somewhat as apparently he knows the "number of hairs on my head" ?

Nope, after some reflection, I realized that He was giving me yet another lesson in humility.......... :)
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or tread lightly.
 
This morning my family and I have been invited to attend the worship service of our former Baptist church. It's an opportunity for the church and my fam to say, "Thank you for the ministry that you did together with us." I'll also give a short update on how things are going at our current Baptist church.
 
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