I HAD NO IDEA!

First, let me say that Erin and I missed being with you all yesterday - something's just not quite right about things when we aren't with our people on the first day of the week! (Not to mention missing Kathy's great word on how the concept that the Lord won't give you more than you can handle is actually a crock when used as most people throw it around - I'd HIGHLY recommend going to our sermons page and catching the podcast if you were not in worship at North Cross yesterday.)

However, while we missed you, we had the joy of being with my parents as we worshiped with the congregation of my youth - St. Paul's UMC in Allison Park, PA (a picture of the chancel area is to your left.) As we spent the morning there, I couldn't help but think about church in a much larger perspective. I'm going to share with you just a few things from yesterday, and then down below tell you what in the world any of this has to do with the ministry of North Cross UMC now and to come.

Heck, just looking at this picture, the only two things in the picture that were there when I left in 1993 are the altar and the stained glass cross on the back wall. As I looked at the cross, I was reminded of the lady who donated the cross, a wonderful soul named Margaret Kloppman, who was a very active member when we moved up here...and I thought about how many, if not most of the people who were in worship yesterday never knew her and may not even know the story of the cross.

During the message, the senior pastor (who arrived as our pastor just before my senior year of high school) referenced another departed saint of the church, Judge David Craig. Again, someone who was a good friend of the family and an influence on me while I was here. While the story provided a chuckle, as well as profound insight, again, many in the congregation never knew David.

Additionally, we got to visit with Mrs. Dottie Crooks, the wife of one of my mentors, Rev. George Crooks. When I was ordained in 2005, Dottie was kind and gracious enough to send me one of Goerge's stoles - many of you have seen it, for it is the very colorful handmade one I wear on special occasions.

I could go on and on, but the best story from our morning there came from an incident that happened just before worship began. As I was going to sit down after greeting Dottie my very good friend Mark Cottrill came up to give me a big bear hug while saying, "Man, I had NO IDEA you were going to be here this morning. We're in town because my granddaughter is getting baptized!"

Hear those words again, "...I had NO IDEA..."

In those four words I heard the biggest testimonial as to why worship is the center, the heartbeat, of the Christian faith and community. Worship is, as we explored last month during a great discussion on a Wednesday Night, the starting point for all ministry, individually and corporately. It is also where we will start our, "Why ARE We Here?" series in October.

I'll say it until the day that I die...the more that we approach worship with anticipatory expectation to encounter the unexpected each and every time we gather, the more we will be open to what God wants to do in and through the congregation and the individuals therein. 

It would have been COMPLETELY understandable for Erin and I to have slept in, or to have sat at home with Mom & Dad catching up (since we're not in town much;) to have done that, though, would've have resulted in me seeing people I didn't expect to see, and missing out in participating in the baptism of the grandchild of a dear friend.

You just never know, do you, what's going to happen on, to borrow a phrase, any given Sunday...and THAT's why I love to be with you all each and every week.

Grace and Peace,

Lamar