Yesterday at CrossWay was the third week in the “i am second” series with a message called “Running With a Crowd of One.” We talked about how to have a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If I hadn’t gotten up at 5:00 to be here for preschool registration, I would’ve been happy to tell you all about it. But I’m beat, so you’re on your own! Check out the podcast in iTunes or Feedburner by using a link on the right.
A Bridge Across Time
You never know when you’ll run into someone really interesting.
This afternoon I was in the hallway where parents and grandparents were waiting to pick up their kids (and grandkids) from preschool. I was talking with one of the grandfathers, who is turning 76 next week. He told me about listening to a Washington Redskins game on the radio with his dad in December 1941, when the game was interrupted with the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. That in itself was scary enough, but what made it worse was that they didn’t know where Pearl Harbor was! He then told me about how he lived in Baltimore during the war and used to watch the American ships that had been torpedoed as they were dragged into the harbor there in Baltimore.
We got to talking about local history and he told me about visiting Ocean City for the first time in 1947. This was before the construction of the bridge spanning the Chesapeake Bay, so you either had to drive up into Delaware and go around it or take a ferry across the bay–a ferry that didn’t hold many cars and didn’t run very often. Even when the bridge was built in the 1950s, he said that it was only one lane each way–and each lane had two lanes of traffic feeding into it. Talk about a bottleneck! Ocean City, he said, was just sand from 16th Street up to Delaware. Things sure have changed!
Everyone over 70 should write a book.
Here’s a link to an article about the history of the bridge.
Surprise! Sike
Carolyn’s last day of work is a week from this Friday. Yesterday one of her students asked her, “Mrs. Hyde, when is your party?”
“What party? I’m not having a party,” she answered.
To which another kid interjected, “Uh-huh, your surprise party.”
33 Weeks
Can’t believe we’re already at 33 weeks! Starting with Carolyn’s next doctor appointment in two weeks, she’ll go weekly until the baby is born. We’re getting close!
How to Love Someone to Death
At CrossWay yesterday we had the second week in the series “i am second.” This week’s message was “How to Love Someone to Death.”
We started with this testimony from Chris Plekenpol. Then we read Romans 5:6-8 and Matthew 5:43-47. These two passages are summed up in Ephesians 4:32, which says to “be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
We naturally live according to our own standard of love, which says that we’re kind to those who are kind to us. But Jesus teaches us to be kind to everyone and to even pray for people who persecute us! That’s a different way of doing things, and it’s the kind of difference that sets God’s people apart.
The podcast at least recorded this week, though the sound quality isn’t too great. But a new recorder is on the way!
Rain
If you stop and think about it, it’s kind of weird how sometimes a whole bunch of water falls out of the sky.
Not only that, but it’s also weird how we have an entire industry based on trying to figure out when it’s going to happen.
Looking Out for the Real #1
Easter Sunday at CrossWay was great! We knew that Easter attendance is usually higher than normal, but it was a LOT higher this year–easily the most people I’ve ever seen at this church on a Sunday.
We launched a new series called “i am second.” The idea comes from the website iamsecond.com. We watched the testimony of Brian “Head” Welch, formerly of the band Korn. Then we read Colossians 1:15-20 as we began exploring the topic for the morning: why Jesus is #1.
Based on this passage, we see several reasons why Christ is #1:
- He is God.
- He died for us.
- He rose from the dead.
- He reconciles us to God.
It was a wonderful Sunday. Great to have so many worship with us! Unfortunately the recording device we use to capture the message for the podcast shorted out on us yet again, so it’s headed for the electronic cemetery. Pretty bummed about that. But Jesus is still alive!
Thursday
Yesterday was a pretty good Thursday, though kind of crazy (the Thursday before Easter always is).
The day started with breakfast at Denovo’s, which is where my small group meets. It was our second meeting, and was great (as was the creamed chipped beef over biscuits with Tabasco sauce–and they are masters at keeping the coffee flowing!). This is the kind of group where it’s good to keep a notebook handy, because they have a lot of good ideas. I’m really enjoying our time together and the book we’re studying, The Creative Call.
After a hectic day of trying to get everything ready for Easter, I went to our community Maundy Thursday service at Buckingham Presbyterian Church in Berlin. For two hours pastors from different churches shared brief sermonettes as we took Communion and sang. It was very refreshing!
Surfing the Inner N8 