Monday Morning Musings ...

Yesterday was a difficult day in many respects, but it had an awesome finish. I have to start with the attendance, not because it is the most part but because it impacted so many other areas on Sunday. Attendance was way, way down yesterday. Only 1 of our normal worship band members was here, but we were able to get 3 others to help fill in some of the parts. None of our scheduled greeters were here, fortunately a person stepped in and helped. We were missing a few Sunday School teachers and had to combine some classes. We were missing some of our early childhood workers and had to do some scrambling in that area as well. My wife and I did a lot of running around and work before our Sunday School even started to help make up for those who were missing or had not done things ahead of time. I was drenched in sweat before I even started teaching my Sunday School class. All of the above certainly impacted the worship and especially my mind before we even began our time of worship.

The service itself went fairly well. We had an elementary school girl sing a special in song. That is always encouraging and she sang very well. We had a high school girl sing another special and she did a wonderful job of ministering through the song. In our worship space when attendance is as low as it was yesterday it really impacts the atmosphere. I felt I had to really work extra in trying to get the congregation engaged in the message. I have really been impacted in my study and preaching throughout this series of messages on "Going Beyond". Getting past wherever we may be stuck and going on from casual Christianity to an exciting, meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. Yesterday's message was using Stephen (Acts 6-8) as our Bible character, and his story is so powerful. Especially his courage and then his forgiving those who were stoning him to death.

The day finished with our annual outdoor baptism service. We use a pond of one of our church families (not always the same one, we have a few with ponds) and have a carry in picnic following the baptism. This year we only had 1 get baptized. I thought it was going to be 4, but only 1 followed through. But it was a great way to finish a Sunday. To recognize how they came to faith in Christ and witness them publicly testifying to their relationship with Christ through baptism. I am always uplifted as I assist in people's baptism. Then the time of great fellowship during the picnic was great.

Here's hoping you find something to make this a great day for yourself.