Monday Morning Musings ...

I am back from vacation, we got home mid-afternoon Saturday. I was in my office within an hour and stayed for a couple of hours and then the wife and I went to our town's annual festival for an hour and a half. Vacation was good, more about that in other posts.

Yesterday was a different day. The town's annual festival asks the ministerial association to do an outdoor service in the park each year. The catch this year was that somehow we got word that they didn't want one this year, then 7 days before the festival began (3 days before I left on vacation) we found out they did want one. The miscommunication actually happened months ago and tracking that down at this point is of no value, so we went into hyper-planning mode. As the current president of the association I felt the responsibility to pull it together, in fact most other churches did not change their service schedule on such short notice. Bottom line is, we had the service yesterday morning on a bright, sunny, windy, warm day. The service went very well. Our worship leader, band and worship team did a great job. They went way above and beyond expectations. They had to load all of our stuff up at church, move it to the park, set up at the park, practice, lead worship, pack up from the park, take it back to church and put everything back. Way to go team, you are awesome. If you see any of that team let them know how much you appreciate their work and ministry.

An outdoor service is difficult to get a feel for the spirit, but there seemed to be a good spirit as we worshipped. You could hear the service for a couple of blocks away from the park, and we are praying that some who did not physically attend were impacted by what they heard. I preached, and those are fun but tough settings in which to preach. First, I always try to go relatively short in those type of settings. Second, share a story that captures their attention early. Third, have a very singular focus to the sermon, don't have multiple points. Fourth, don't depend on feedback to keep you going.

The message went okay, not great. I got some great news yesterday regarding a couple of people for whom I have been burdened for their salvation. They accepted the Lord over the weekend. Now that is AWESOME! That is why we do what we do. The fact that the actual moment didn't take place at church or during a service is irrelevant. What really matters is that they have accepted Jesus as their personal savior. Now we need to come along side them and guide them in this new walk. I am pumped about this and what it could mean in the lives of others as well.

Last night was another of our service project evenings. This time people were to help a neighbor on their own, or pair up to do something for a neighbor. I know of at least a couple of families that went together to do some work for a person who has had a string of tough luck recently. The wife and I stopped by there as they were finishing last evening (my timing is pretty good) and it was so cool to see the joy involved.

Here's hoping you have an awesome day and that you find someone to encourage today.