Today we had a 'guest' pastor, Dick S., who is serving as the retirement pastor at Keystone Heights. Between three churches, ours included, the pastors will be serving each others congregations once a month. The day he comes back will be my favorite!
It is also our anniversary weekend as only one year ago, Pastor S. (Dick) and his wife, Ellen, came to our church for a visit. Coincidentally, Ellen had done the floral arrangements for her friends' wedding at The Club that weekend. I met them at church, became fast friends, and then they came over to my house that afternoon. Today Ellen brought me a beautiful Murano glass bowl which she knew would be perfect for me. I am so touched! But I didn't get her anything....
This bowl weighs about 5 pounds, has a pearlescent look to it. Magnificent and thoughtful!
Joanne and her associate/my friend, Christine, helped them in their house hunt, but they ended up buying in Palm Coast instead of Jax. Proximity to Disney and the beach reigned. Now I have one more reason to visit Palm Coast besides my niece's family and Christ the King Lutheran church!!
As the service began, I knew it was going to be a good one. After I took attendance and walked toward my seat, I stopped to let Cliff know our family of four visitors were WELS folks so they could join us at the Lord's table. They had been with us last week also and said they are members of a church in Fond du Lac. The ushers don't always know who is who and will stop by to ask me, just to make sure. I whispered to Cliff, "I love him!" and Cliff readily agreed.
The service was themed around Independence Day and keeping God in our lives and in our nation. Wow! The sermon, based in Psalm 106, was quite powerful, evocative, and serves as a great reminder that if we (our nation and as individuals) turn away from God, He might turn away from us. There are so many sinful influences in society affecting our thinking and actions.
Pastor S. used the famous description of the frog in the pot of water. Warming it slowly, the frog eventually is boiled to death...but put it in a boiling pot, it jumps out, knowing the risks. We are slowly allowing ourselves to be boiled to death as we get accustomed to the heat. Let us not be boiled frogs! God give us strength and wisdom to know the difference!!
When he said, "Amen", and motioned us to stand, Justin leaned over and whispered, "It's hard not to clap..." At lunch later on, a young man, joining us with his grandma, reported, "I didn't fall asleep during the sermon today..." We had to chuckle because that is quite a statement to make.
The closing hymn was "God Bless Our Native Land" and Pastor invited us to sit. I whispered to Justin that we should stand for this hymn. As we began singing, all around us people were standing back up, so we did too. From where I could see, most were standing by the end of the hymn, and wow, such singing out there was! "...God save the state."
In the sermon, Pastor had mentioned the erection of a cross on the shores at Jamestown where the settlers knelt to pray in thanksgiving for their safe arrival. He also mentioned the movements to remove "In God We Trust" from the currency and "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. After the service, one of our members, Bill, presented Pastor and Ellen with their own handcrafted cross to plant in their yard, with "In God We Trust" stenciled on it.
Outside, folks were going up to Ellen and reporting what a marvelous service it was, also telling Pastor this as he greeted them at the door. My friend, Carol, had tears in her eyes as she spoke with Ellen. It was a wonderful service start to finish. Kept me filled up all day, and will hopefully take this message to heart for the rest of my days!
