sound of people thumbing through the pages of a Bible. I heard it loudly this morning as I listened to Pastor Bob give a sermon I'd give so differently a few hours later. Eager folks ready to dive into the text. A great bunch to be preaching to. It becomes a challenge though to follow a guy like Bob. He called me the "pinch hitter" tonight. Said he's an old man and didn't have the strength to preach the 7:00 service. Not
only is it a challenge to follow someone with such a great talent, but there's the temptation (after hearing his take on the text, and the way he uses the videos, stories, etc) to rip mine apart and start from scratch. I resisted the urge. Our John 8 text about the woman caught in adultery had us both talking about judgmentalism, only in different ways. This sermon felt the most MINE out of all of them. Very different from Bob's, yet getting the same Unexpected Kingdom theme brought into it.Luckily, I planned a Focus Finders outing for this afternoon to help keep me from putzing with it 
all afternoon. We hit up the South Coast Botanic Garden up in Palos Verdes. It's this amazing 87 acre public garden. 2,000 different species of plants. Tons of walking paths, and pictures worth taking! I'm pretty excited about the flying bee picture (to the left) that I got without getting stung! I walked into the garden area without my tripod. We split up for a while to explore on our own, and I realized something: the beauty I see outside and inside requires PEOPLE most often. The were no people around to capture in their element, so I ran back to my car to get my tripod, and used myself as a subject. I see God in the beauty of the creation, but even more so in the beauty of the people in God's creation. I'm not trying to be all vain and say I'm gorgeous, I'm just saying that people are where I see God's creative hand. So, I shot some self portraits with the help of the sun. I'm 
learning how to get people to glow in the sun, and finally got some nice shots today. We had a blast.
all afternoon. We hit up the South Coast Botanic Garden up in Palos Verdes. It's this amazing 87 acre public garden. 2,000 different species of plants. Tons of walking paths, and pictures worth taking! I'm pretty excited about the flying bee picture (to the left) that I got without getting stung! I walked into the garden area without my tripod. We split up for a while to explore on our own, and I realized something: the beauty I see outside and inside requires PEOPLE most often. The were no people around to capture in their element, so I ran back to my car to get my tripod, and used myself as a subject. I see God in the beauty of the creation, but even more so in the beauty of the people in God's creation. I'm not trying to be all vain and say I'm gorgeous, I'm just saying that people are where I see God's creative hand. So, I shot some self portraits with the help of the sun. I'm 
learning how to get people to glow in the sun, and finally got some nice shots today. We had a blast. My sermon was all ready to go, so I ran home and grabbed a bite to eat. Then it dawned on me: (7:00 service has tons of young people) my sermon never directly spoke to them or gave them something super concrete they could relate to. So, I raced back to church, threw a photo of your stereotypical skateboarder into my slide show, added a high school judgmental situation 
(teenage pregnancy), and was thrilled to see their reaction to it in worship. When people joke about it afterwards, you know it went over well. YES! Oh, and Bill and Jane came to worship tonight. I didn't realize it until I went to serve them communion. They've really become my family out here, and it meant so much to see them there as a support.
(teenage pregnancy), and was thrilled to see their reaction to it in worship. When people joke about it afterwards, you know it went over well. YES! Oh, and Bill and Jane came to worship tonight. I didn't realize it until I went to serve them communion. They've really become my family out here, and it meant so much to see them there as a support. The most pivotal moment of worship today came in the form of a dramatic monologue and dance done by a woman in our congregation. She represented the woman to be stoned in the John 8 text. I tell you what, her 
expression, her passion streamed from her face, to her heart, all the way to the end of her fingertips. It rocked.
expression, her passion streamed from her face, to her heart, all the way to the end of her fingertips. It rocked.Have you ever known someone, and loved them, but could never really tell if they loved you back or not? Some may call them "thinkers" rather than "feelers." That didn't matter today. Tonight as I pause to reflect on all God's goodness, I'm especially thankful for an unexpected hug I received today from that very type of person. I could never tell if they liked me. I didn't initiate it. I just saw a person ready to be loved (by me) opening up to the love I've been waiting to give them. What a great feeling! God is good.
4 comments:
I pretty much LOVE your blog, and am adding it to my blogroll (:
How did you find it? Are you a blogger too? Thanks for reading! :)
I do not attend LCGS, but when you mentioned what your message was going to be about, I decided to go to the 7pm service and engage. And boy did God meet me there. My spirit is always sensative when I feel the presence of the Lord and I can never hold back my tears. Not tears of sadness, but tears that are just so thankful to be saved by Jesus. Your message touched me in so many ways. And having the actual stone to toss away, was powerful to me. When I came to recieve communion, I was a weeping baby, just so thankful for the price Jesus paid for me. After service this precious woman that served me the juice came up to me and gave me a big squeeze, she said "I am so happy to see someone is a crier like me!" That really blessed me. I did not hear Bob's message, so I cannot compare. But I can tell you, that God spoke to me during your message and the dance, and I am blessed. Thank you.
Hey Amber! I went to church twice on Sunday and was so excited to receive the two different sermons in one day! I was definitely blessed! God is doing in awesome work in and through you! :-)
Post a Comment