Soon and Very Soon...

What a service we had today!!!

This is a link to a pre-recorded service/message for today.  It starts out with our choir singing 

"Soon and Very Soon, We Are Going to See the King, Hallelujah!"...but actually that song was sung by the whole congregation at the close of the service.

Also, the Pastor preached/taught from Matthew 18:15-35, entitled

"How to Get Along When You ain't getting along"...talking about forgiveness...a message there for each and every one of us for sure.

But what you can't see in this video is the real service that was going on. As I said above, this was pre-recorded ahead of time. Our choir recorded the song last week at choir practice. The Pastor pre-recorded his message on another day during the week before an audience of video recorder and perhaps his wife handling any technicalities (or maybe not...he may be alone with just the camera, I'm not sure). We started recording the messages like this back during the pandemic of 2020 for the benefit of everyone who had to stay at home and not attend church in person.  Then as we started coming back to church, using masks and social distancing, we continued the recorded services for those who were not well or who still did not feel comfortable coming back to church in person.  As time went by, the masks came off and we once again crowded into the pews together, rubbing shoulders and giving hugs, singing out loud and coming forward for the Lord's Supper (Communion) each week.  But still, we continue to record the choir singing a song that people at home can sing along with, and the pastor records his message so those who cannot come for whatever reason can still be a part of the worship service from a distance. It's not live-streamed, so there are still no other people in the audience, and no interaction with one another. It may be okay for those who have health issues and are not able to participate in person for one reason or another, and I am not being critical of that because it definitely serves a purpose, but it was never intended to become the norm for church attendance and worship.

I saw this quote on Facebook today and shared it, and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people:

And today in our service there was a good example of the real church in action, in person.  In the middle of the Pastor's sermon, there was a bit of a commotion in a pew toward the back of the sanctuary. An elderly woman had suddenly fainted. Immediately someone across from her noticed and jumped up to her aid. We have several nurses in our congregation, and they each one also jumped and ran to offer assistance. A gentleman in the back called 911. The Pastor stopped his sermon and led the congregation in prayer for this dear woman.  The EMT's arrived in short order and came in and began to assess her situation. By then she had regained consciousness, Praise God, and she sat up and asked for us to sing a song while the the EMT's continued to check her out. We sang Jesus Loves Me and Amazing Grace.  Meanwhile someone who knew that she lives alone and that her daughter lives out of state, and that she had just been here but had left to go back home, was able to get her phone number so that she could be contacted right away. It turns out that this woman is diabetic, and she admitted that she had not eaten any breakfast this morning. Soon the EMT's took her out to the waiting ambulance and she was transferred to the hospital. The Pastor then, amazingly, was able to pick up where he'd left off in his message and completed the sermon. Then is when the congregation sang the song from the video seen above, "Soon and Very Soon, We are Going to See the King, Hallelujah!", and it was sung with such joy and exuberance, because we know that each one of us will have that day when we will meet Jesus face to face...where there is no more crying there...and no more dying there...Hallelujah, Hallelujah! We are going to see the King!"  And again there was a prayer for our dear friend who appeared to be doing much better and who wanted to hear us singing instead of showing fear or alarm...a very sweet and calm spirit pervaded the room...and we all left feeling a sense of knowing that the Spirit of the Lord had been in that Sanctuary with us today for sure...

My friends...this was the church in action today. It was a great example of how much we each need the fellowship of the church, the Body of Christ in service to one another...praying, singing, ministering, and healing...

If you are at all physically able to attend church, please do. 

"The church needs you, and you need the church."

Amen.