Wasn't sure where I was going to worship this week. Hadn't planned ahead and wasn't really feeling a pull to any place in particular. Decided it might be the week to go to the closest UMC to the apartment.
I arrived just as the prelude was playing. The church begins worship with announcements and prayer concerns followed by intercessory prayer. They then "pray for the nation". It was then that I noticed the American flag and the Christian flag were in the wrong locations in the sanctuary. As the lector came forward, I realized that the pulpit and the lectern were also backwards!
The message itself was well crafted. The most interesting thing though wasn't the words, but the optics. There were twins, about fourteen months, moving around the sanctuary. Just after the pastor shared that he had to unfriend his son on facebook this week due to the tenor of his posts, the toddling twin made his way to the chancel area and the pastor, telling the mom it was okay, picked up the boy and continued to preach.
The pastor, holding a young boy, talked about his estrangement from his son.
His message contained the Lord unchoosing Saul as king of Israel due to poor choices and Solomon loosing the kingdom due to his poor choices. All while holding the hope of a better future in his arms.
Lots to ponder.
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