May 2017 - Pastor Roy's Article to the Newsletter

Below please find my article for the Woodlawn Christian Church May Newsletter.

Be a blessing to someone today!
In His Grace,
Roy

Pastor's Ponderings

Well, another Easter has come and gone, and this year it was a wonderful Holy Week.  We had a great service on Maundy Thursday with the reenactment of the Last Supper, I want to thank everyone who played a part in the performance, and especially thank Jodi Frank for chairing the project.  It was a great reminder of the significance of the Last Supper and it was great fun as well.  Thank you, everyone!

Then we had the Cross Raising Service on Good Friday. The weather tried to dissuade us with rain but we persisted and the rain let up just enough that we got the cross up and there was even a good turnout for the event.  As always, we included the other local Churches in the event and those that chose to participate were the First Baptist Church, the Union Church, and the Methodist Churches in Lanesboro/Lohrville/Glidden.  It was a very meaningful service and I honestly think the discomfort from the weather actually added to the significance and impact of this solemn ceremony.  Thank you to Clyde for all that he did in preparing for this service.  We also need to thank Clyde and his grandson for getting up early Easter morning and draping the cross with the white cloth.

The "Celebrate You" event (Congregational Dinner) was a wonderful evening!  Thank you so much to Roxy Crandall, Kim Anderson, and my wife Gail Karlen for all the hard work that you three put in!  But, don't kid yourself, they had a lot of fun doing the planning and preparation.  Kim worked so hard she managed to break her arm, so lift up a prayer for healing for her as well.  We thank Kathryn Myers for coming and playing the piano for us that night, it made for a wonderful mood and a peaceful evening.  Let's also thank all the members of First Baptist who came over and joined us for the event, we enjoyed having you with us!

On Sunday we, of course, had a full morning of events.  The Sunrise service was great! Thank you to Jeff Frank for providing his car to power up the sound system when the boom box decided to die on us.  Thank you also to Ryan Daisy for manning the sound.  It was a wonderful outdoor worship experience and made all the more powerful by being held at the foot of the cross erected on Good Friday.  We were also blessed to be joined by several members of First Baptist Church. The breakfast was wonderful and as always it was a thrill to see all the little people out scampering around at the Easter Egg Hunt.  Our regular service was very well attended and it was such a blessing to hear all those voices lifting up songs of praise and worship.  There is nothing quite like the sound of a full sanctuary lifting up their voices together. We were glad and blessed to be able to host the members of First Baptist Church. Kathryn Myers blessed us with her playing on the organ, Diana Arkland richly blessed us with her rendition of "In the Garden" (Diana has such a BEAUTIFUL voice), Nathan and Katie Burley both played the piano for us and both did an absolutely wonderful job!  Thank you all, for sharing your talents!

Last but not least, we had two baptisms that morning.  Kolton Hildreth and Briley Sharkey were both baptized into the body of Christ.  I just cannot express to you the great joy that I felt that morning, there is nothing so sacred in all that we do as Christians than baptisms.  Acknowledging the witness of two young believers and welcoming them as equals into the faith is just beyond words and expression.  Blessings always to both Kolton and Briley... I for one can scarcely wait to see how God will use you both to serve His Creation.

The sermon that morning was a call to each of us to remember our own baptisms and to remember that a baptism is a covenant just as much as a marriage is a covenant.  In fact, the act of baptism is the symbol of the "New Covenant" in Christ.  A covenant is a contract between us and God, and within that contract is an understanding of responsibilities and obligations on the part of both parties.  I eluded to but did not specifically state "That we expect God to uphold His end of the bargain, but are we upholding ours as well".  The sermon was a reminder that we are baptized into the 'Body of Christ' and as such, we need to be in contact and community with the rest of the body.  This means staying in community with the local church as well as the local church staying in community with the Church (the entirety of Christianity).  A church cannot be part of the Church if it exists in isolation, and the individual cannot be a part of the body if they exist in isolation as well.  We are called to be in community and connection with one another on all levels.

On Easter Sunday we had 100 people in worship, this last Sunday we had 60 people in attendance.  We also had at least five new faces with us this past Sunday.  I am very optimistic and excited for what the Lord has in store for us all here at Woodlawn Christian Church.  A large part of why God asks us to be in community together is that together we can accomplish so very much more than we can alone.  The Christian and Church Councils are both filled with a new enthusiasm and drive.  I'd like to invite any of the members to sit in on any of the Council meetings, all are welcomed (though only Council members can vote during the meetings) at these gatherings and all can contribute.  It's this contribution of ideas and knowledge that helps to feed the enthusiasm and excitement.

Let us all be in prayer as to where and how God would have us serve the Lake City community and beyond!!

Be a blessing to someone today!

Pastor Roy