Last Thursday night (Feb 5), I attended one of the new sanctuary worship services at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, right next door to us.
As I arrived, I introduced myself to one of the ushers (she was dressed all in white) and she told me, “I will seat you.” She took me right down front and sat me in the front row in the center. I was honored.
I should mention that Mt. Calvary is an African-American congregation. I was the only caucasian in attendance that night, but that was OK. I vicared in Baltimore, MD, and we were the token non-blacks in our neighborhood. It brought back many good memories of that year.
This is a pretty traditional black Baptist congregation. And I say that with great respect. They know how to worship! Everything the pastor said was meet with comments from the congregation. The guest preacher was excellent, and worked from the assumption that this is God’s word and we’re going to listen to it and it’s going to do something powerful tonight.
There was always something going on. People arriving. Some standing, some sitting. Some singing along, some listening. Some setting up musicl instruments, some responding to the preacher.
I thoroughly enjoyed the two hour service and hope I’ll have the chance to worship again there soon. They offered me a seat on the dais, but I declined, not wanting to draw too much attention to myself. It would have been very hard to drift off during that service. My favorite quote from the preacher: if people bought pews to put in their homes, they would get a pretty good night’s sleep!
er someone wired on that stuff today or any day.
The Old Testament text is Isaiah 40:21-31, ending up with the familiar (at least familiar to me) “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”
Last Tuesday night I baptized Steve, who grew up in a Jewish family. He had been attending our church for quite some time, took membership class, and was a great friend. What a privilege for me to welcome him into God’s family! Liv captured the picture at just the right time. This is one of those joyful, power-filled moments of pastoral ministry that makes it all worthwhile.
I asked the children what they got for Christmas at preschool chapel last week. One young man said, “A leaf bug!” I double-checked, “A what?” thinking that I might have misheard him. “A leaf bug!” he repeated. OK, well how about someone else. His sister raised her hand. “I got a television!” “Really?” I said, “A big flatscreen about this big?” stretching out my arms. She nodded affimatively. Wow. From a leaf bug to a TV in one family. And each was convinced they got the best gift!
This is the tie I wore today. I only get to wear it once, maybe twice a year, like today, as we celebrated Epiphany. Were there three of them? Did they look like that? Where did they really come from? Who knows. The account of the wise men’s visit is filled with mystery, but they are a staple in our celebration of Jesus’ birth. And as I told the congregation this morning, their arrival is a game changing performance, fulfilling prophecy that Jesus came as Savior for all, Gentiles and Jews alike. Good thing for us. I think we only had two people from Jewish backgrounds among us this morning. The rest of us were non-Jews.
Waite for it... 