August 30, 2010
Good morning;
Did you go home “FULL” yesterday? I did. Our contemporary and traditional services combined for our regular 5th Sunday service. There were new faces to see for both groups. There was new music to be enjoyed by both groups. We came together as Community Church to worship. Prayers were prayed. Fellowship was shared with God and each other. The message as presented by our new Assistant Pastor James Blewett was right on target. We then gathered at the altar to share in the Lord’s Supper. If you didn’t leave “FULL” of God’s spirit you weren’t prepared and open to the worship experience.
But it wasn’t over yet!! The crowd made their way back to the fellowship hall for a pot luck dinner. If you didn’t stay for dinner yesterday, then you missed a treat. We ate and fellowshipped until many of us could do not more. The kitchen was cleaned up and the fellowship hall made ready for the first day of preschool this week. If you didn’t leave “FULL” you weren’t really ready for a great meal.
After checking all the doors to make sure they were locked, walking through the church to make sure all the lights were out and things were as they should be, I paused for moment in the fellowship hall. The room that only a short time before had been bustling with the activity of a pot luck dinner was now dark and quietly awaiting a week of ministry to a new generation. Though the room was dark and empty on a cloudy, rainy Sunday, it was “FULL” of God’s Spirit – “FULL” of the Spirit of Community, ”FULL” of the Spirit of expectation of the ministry HIS church has been called to carry out.
I also paused in the sanctuary on my way to the car. Where there the had been praise and worship, where there had been prayers offered and a message proclaimed, where the joy of the Lord filled the room, where HIS precious meal was served and received, there was now silence. The darkened hews of the stained-glass windows added to a sense of reverence and awe. Though the room was now dark and silent, God’s Spirit still filled the space. The Spirit hung heavily in the room as if to say, “I have filled this space and will do great things here.” As I got into the last car in the parking lot (fortunately it was mine), I was “FULL” and I gave thanks.
God created us with a deep longing for Him. The desire to know and be know by HIM is often ignored, denied and many times buried under guise of self-sufficiency and busyness. In times of reflection and struggle, we feel empty spiritually, emotionally and many times physically. It is in these times that we realize that life is “empty” and many times imp-ossible without a relationship with our Creator God.
Jesus said to the woman at the well the water he had to offer would quench her thirst for eternity. Jesus told the disciples, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”
Let God fill the empty places in your life this week. Come to him and never again be spiritually hungry or thirsty.
I went home ”FULL” yesterday. No matter where you worshipped, it is my prayer God filled you to overflowing.
May you have a “FULL” and great week.
–
Rev. J. Pete Hyde
Congrats on jumping into the modern age of blogging boss!
very good message for all that read