Children's Day 2008

We celebrated Children's Day at Church yesterday. Our young people took over the service and we watched as they presented a couple of short dramas and did some readings. The kids also sang three songs including "the Bible Song," "Our God is so Mighty" and "Halleluia." The theme for the day was "God's Power!"

About fifteen minutes into the service the power went out and we finished up like they did a hundred years ago. We continued without the sound system and without lights or audio visual. The Praise team came out from the Junior Choir loft and led us in singing a couple of real cute songs. IT didn't hurt them. We had given Adele the day off so Cynthia Strouse and Lori Lord had already planned to use the piano instead of the organ so we didn't miss a beat there either.

The only class to really lose out was the Junior High class. Their presentation wasn't able to take advantage of the music and video that was going to support it. They ended up reading the passages the old fashioned way and had to let the words paint images in the hearers imagination instead.

Madalyn and Conner Fishkin received awards for perfect attendance and about 18 others received excellent attendance awards.

Paige Briggs received a Bible as part of her promotion from second grade to third grade and Jared LaFlamme, Amy Ketcher and Rachel Lord received Bibles in recognition of their eight grade graduation.

Special thanks to Sandy Stone, Lori Lord and Fran Rogers who helped lead the service.

Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.

Cal

We hold the key

Prayer is job #1 at church. I was reminded of that over the last few days. On Friday I visited a family that is dealing with a terminal diagnosis. When I entered the house I felt helpless in the face of trying to meet their needs and expectations. What could I say and do that could bring hope and comfort to them?

A lot of people think ministers, priests and rabbis have all the answers. That's probably because we like to perpetuate that myth so we can keep our jobs. Well I hate to break it to you but when it comes to answers, I bow my head and punt it to God. You see God is the only one who can help someone understand why they have been diagnosed with ALS. God is the only one who can help somebody figure out why they feel under attack by the devil when they are trying to stay clean and sober.

That's why I say prayer is job #1. That is the one thing we can offer folks in the face of the pain and difficulty that many in our pews face. That's what I brought on Friday. I came with a prayer. When I left I was told how much it helped. Imagine that.

The same thing happened this afternoon at church. A woman stopped by. She was having a bad day. She saw my car and she asked if I could pray with her. That's all she waned. She wanted me to help her connect with God.

I think if we could remember that at church, the pews would be filled each week. I pray that God will continue to remind us of that which makes us different from any other institution on earth. We have the keys to the kingdom and we can open the door to bring people into the presence of God. Good night. See you in church. Cal