Sunday Flashback

God didn't give us Carolina Blue skies this morning. I guess he was merciful.

It was great to see Claire Drake back at church this morning at the 11:00 gathering after a 5 week absence. She beings her chemo soon, and I know that she would covet your prayers. The amazing thing about Claire is that she doesn't want to talk about her life crisis, but wants to know about my family. She's my hero. Tommy's a blessed man.

Again, more new people at our gatherings today. For me that's one of the best things about Sundays - getting to meet new people. I can't keep up with them. Time was at NHC when I could tell you every person who was there on Sunday. My mind was a tad bit sharper, no doubt, but it's a lot easier in a room that holds a max of 100. I've given up trying these days. And that's fun.

A lot of people were totally surprised when during my message (about peace and faith) I picked up Chad's guitar and we sang "It Is Well With My Soul". They didn't know I got kicked off the band when Nathan came. Glad it was only one song, though. My finger tip callouses that come with guitar playing are gone. I shared the story of Horatio Spafford, the author of the song's lyrics and how he came to pen those incredible words. I love that phrase, "Let this blessed assurance control". Who controls your life?

I so much appreciate our tech team at NHC. They do so much to add to the whole nuance of our worship gatherings, running the sound and manning the computer that controls our visuals. I'm sure we take you all for granted too often, yet if we didn't have you we'd miss you big time.

I could sing "The Revelation Song" every Sunday. How incredible are those words? And we learned a new song this morning, "Mighty to Save".

During the second gathering Judy Taylor became ill. Steve (who was at the sound booth) took her to the ER. Thanks Rich for jumping in to cover for Steve. Pray for her please.

Tonight was our Communion Fellowship. Pastor Steve's teaching was to the point about Christ's sacrifice. Good job! The MP13 Band did superb leading us in worship. Lots of great food and fellowship. Again, I saw lots of new folks there tonight. One thing I like about these Communion Fellowships is that it gives a lot of people the chance to serve in different ways - setting up the tables and chairs, getting the food ready, watching the kids, cleaning up, etc. Doing things together is what our Gatherings are all about.

Welcome to some new partners: Carole Edmonds, Kit Trotter and Matt (I can't spell his last name). Kitt's going to be baptized soon. Matt's story is special. Technically he's not officially a partner yet because even though he's trusted Christ, and he's 16, his mom objects to him being baptized, which is a requirement to be a partner in our fellowship. But he wants to help out. He also wants to honor his mother (which we encourage). So we're taking him in our care. He's really serious about his new found faith in Christ and is a great young man.

And thanks to Rich for the groovy new signage on my office door. Andy's looks good, too, but mine is better.

I have to confess that as we were singing tonight I was really wishing Nathan was back with us. It won't be long.