Last Saturday I went to the state fair with some friends. Of course it was a lot of fun. We saw the big boar, the butter cow and some draft horses. As always, there was some great people-watching. I especially enjoyed the photo exhibits. It was a hot day and when it was over I was pooped. No, make that POOPED!
And then it was Sunday morning and I wanted to go to church, but where? I was still a little tired from Saturday, so I didn’t really want any heavy lifting. Do you know what I mean? If I picked an unfamiliar place, there would be all the anxiety that goes with not knowing how “they” do things. If I picked a small place, I would have to explain who I was and why I was there and I was a bit too tired to be that social. I wanted an easy morning and a comfortable place to worship.
I went back to Hope for a lot of reasons. I’d been there before, so I knew what to expect. It’s huge, so while I might bump into someone I knew, I could also plan to get lost in the crowd; which I did. And with almost nothing that could be called “liturgy” it was an easy service to be a part of. Hope was the obvious choice and I enjoyed it very much.
If you will re-read the last two paragraphs, you will discover I think an important aspect of Hope’s phenomenal success. Sunday morning at hope can be easy and comforting and anonymous.
And then there was the sermon. I’m not going to try and rehash it, but it was great, both challenging and full of grace.
It was a nice weekend. This coming Sunday, I’m going to
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