Sunday Sunday Sunday!

I preached at church today-twice- and then again at the retirement home this evening, which is always fun for me!  (I just love the old ladies!)  I arrived and was immediately told that I was the only one leading anything, including the songs, so I stepped right up to the podium and started leading the people in song- luckily they were songs I knew!  They usually have an older gentleman up there leading the songs and prayers so all the visiting pastor has to do is preach, but not tonight!  It was an adventure, and I became very grateful for the Sundays I spent at Wesley Woods during my CPE experience where I had to lead song and preach for 5 of their services on Sundays.  They probably enjoyed my singing better than his anyway...haha.  

I preached on Matthew 16:13-20 today.  I talked about the big question: "Who do YOU say I am?"  We looked at an image of Jesus on the screen from a show the Discovery channel does about the "real face of Jesus" and I asked people to think about their own image of Jesus and if it does justice to who Jesus is in their life.  Then I talked about the importance of this question, Who do you say I am?  and what it means to ask it- it is, after all, the central question of the Christian faith.  Then we talked about Peter and his fickleness- that one minute he is speaking of these huge things, making big claims, naming Jesus as Messiah, and the next he rebukes him and is called a stumbling block.  But...poor Peter is like many of us.  Sometimes willing to ask the questions, willing to step out on a limb and claim Christ, and sometimes we are afraid to name Jesus and claim him for who he is.  The crowds in the stories who witness Jesus' miracles  always seem to believe without a doubt, and yet his disciples waiver in who they say Jesus is and do not see what is right in front of them.  But the grace in this passage is that Jesus affirms Peter's claim and gives him the responsibility of holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven, even if Peter is this "rock of the church"- he is only human after all, and even rocks chip and crack and break away in their strength.  Now it is up to us to answer Jesus' question, Who do you say I am? in our everyday life in what we say and do.  We can't be afraid to answer it or ask it, and are we prepared for the responsibility of taking on such a question?  But the grace in this is that we can hear this question from Jesus over and over again in our challenges and struggles of faith, and Jesus will be waiting for an answer, no matter how long it takes...

But that's the Reader's Digest version for you :)

The services this morning went fine.  I'm realizing more and more that I'm a big fan of the traditional service more than the casual service, which is ironic because they want to eventually put me in charge of the casual worship.  I don't know, I just like the tone of the traditional better, the liturgy, the robes, even the people for some reason.  And I find myself more comfortable preaching in that service, even though twice as many show up for it.  We did have a good crowd during casual worship today, too, which was good to see.

My friend Becky and her boyfriend came from Indy to see me in the casual service today, and it meant so much to have them there.  So if you're reading, Becky, THANKS SO MUCH!  After the service we went and got sandwiches and took them back to our house.  It was a fun afternoon.

We have a busy week ahead of us- I'm going to Indy for a workshop tomorrow, then I have evening meetings, and later on this week, choir practice, praise band practice, and Corey and I are going to the Colts pre-season game on Thursday!  And then I'm teaching a Sunday school class on Sunday morning, and then we leave for Alaska on Monday!  Almost a week away!