Worship on Sunday, January 20
The air temperature was dangerously cold. The wind chill was even worse. A few churches in the area had cancelled services. We were not sure how many folk would be joining us. We ended up with nearly a record number of people here on a January morning for the past 5 years.
As the service was being called to order, Kim N, Jane E, Niki K and Mary G each had prayer concerns to share with the family.
Vanessa Dotson was our liturgist of the morning. She opened our worship service by telling about how she has Psalm 148 and 150 on her desk. She continued by reading Psalm 148 for us.
Anita Lowery was our song leader of the morning. We opened up by singing “We Will Glorify” and “Majesty.”
Following the prayer time Jeff Reach taught the children. He talked about who in our world might be worthy of being followed as a king. He asked the children which of them thought they were good enough. He pulled out a picture of someone whom he said was a true leader and who is worthy of following. It was a picture of Payton Manning. After talking Payton up a little, Jeff did conclude that even Payton wouldn’t make a perfect king. Jeff concluded by saying that only Jesus is worthy of us following him.
The middle hymn was “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.”
The scripture lesson was from I Samuel 8:1-9.
The pastor talked about how the people of Israel asked Samuel for a king so they could be like the other nations around them. God calls us to be different from those around us. Why do we want to exchange what is unique to be like others?
Samuel prayed and took the people’s request to God. God said that the people could have a king. The pastor pointed out that there are times that God allows us to have what we desire. That’s how much God loves us. He’ll let us have what will end up hurting us. Those are some of the best lessons in life.
God told Samuel that the people are rebelling against him. Samuel should not take this personally. There are times that children and others rebel against God. We humans get hurt along the way. We need to remember that they are rebelling against God, not us.
Jesus came into this world as the King of kings. We should accept him into our life as king. We don’t just follow Jesus. We must be a part of his kingdom.
The closing hymn was “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”
About 128 folk enjoyed worship on a cold January morning.
