Memorial Day Sunday service

We had a great day at church. The morning began with choir rehearsal at 10:00 a.m. in fellowship hall. It wasn't a full blown rehearsal. We met to run through the anthem and polish it up. We also wanted to give those who missed rehearsal during the week the opportunity to catch up. It was a good thing because Shawn Rucker showed up with a friend, Dakota, and they joined the group. Dakota is a friend of Shawn's who is also in the play, "Asylum" at the Spirit of Broadway Theater.

Worship began at 10:30 a.m. and Nancy Allen was the worship assistant. She welcomed us to the Memorial Day service and invited us to sing "America" as our opening hymn. Our responsive reading was Psalm 8 and Nancy noted it was one of her favorites.

Paul Johnson, Cheryl Dutrumble and Steve Contois got us clapping and singing along as they offered some special music. Paul plays the banjo and he chimed in and added a nice touch to the great music we have come to expect from Cheryl and Steve. Now you know why the folks who come on Wednesday nights have been so pleased since they started playing. When Penny Sargent had to beg off because of illness and Fred and Gwyn Green's travel took them away, we were not sure what we were going to do. That's when the trio stepped up and offered to share their music. We were so grateful that they were able to play for the whole congregation on Sunday.

I invited the children to come up and we talked about old and new. I brought them down to the pew where Cassie Kane and Brandon Frechette were sitting and told them that they were getting married in a couple of months. Then I walked the kids over to Harry and Dot Calkins who will soon celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary. I told the kids that our understanding of God's love grows deeper over time. We closed off our time with prayer.

I invited Joslaire Lucien and his family forward for a short time of testimony. Last Sunday we heard that he had finished a certificate program at Liberty University. He presented a stole to his wife Sandy for her support and encouragement. This week I invited him to talk about why he decided to pursue that program and what he was going to do next. He told us he was going to get his Bachelor's degree so he could do ministry with the youth. He told us how he had a heart for doing this and has been involved in youth ministry to Haitian kids since he came to the United States in 1994. Then I prayed over him and Sandy and their boys and asked Gold 5to bless their ministry and their family.

The choir sang "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty King of Creation." As we near the end of the program year we have had several people missing. The choir still does a nice job. The voices blend well. We hope that everyone will be back in the Fall and that we may even have a few new faces.

My message focused on one of my favorite verses of scripture Romans 5:1-10. I talked about the love of God that made justification possible when Jesus switched places with us. As a result we became family. You can read the whole sermon on our web site.

We prayed for Penny Sargent, Veronica Bryant, Staff Sargent Rivera's family and several others during our prayer time. We also asked God to be with all of our men and women in uniform and to comfort the families of all who have lost loved ones over the years.

At 11:45 a.m. we finished our service by singing, "Oh How He Loves You and Me." It was a great day.

Cal