We got a call yesterday afternoon from a member who was supposed to be helping in worship today with his wife. His wife had fallen off a ladder and bruised herself pretty well, so they weren’t going to be able to make it today. When I reported it to Bill, he looked at me and said, “Well… we can find replacements… unless you want to take over their duties.” I graciously offered to give up my 8:00 service nap to help.
The Recounting of Events
Well… if there was ever a morning I needed that nap, it was this one. I had a little too much caffeine yesterday and didn’t get to sleep until probably 2 or 2:30 this morning. To get to church in time for Jon to robe up and get prepped, we have to be out of the house by 7:30 which means that little Jen has to haul tail out of bed by 6:30 — yeah… I was really enthusiastic to do that this morning. I tossed some coffee in my Carnation Instant Breakfast and went over the readings when I got to church. I saw F at the 8:00 service, which is good — we are very much in favor of her being able to attend church without breaking down in tears. (She’s also getting back to work at the LCCVI, which is *VERY* good.) Reading went well as did being the communion assistant.
I had no kids during Sunday School, so I swallowed my pride and sat in on the Sunday School class taught by one of my Small Group leaders. (For the reason I don’t usually attend adult Sunday School, click here. If you want to reply to me on the subject, reply at Meditatio and not the Livejournal entry.) I was glad I did because C (my Small Group leader) was aware of how tired and spacey I was and let me sit and stare into space. The lesson was on Nehemiah and it was nice to work with some Old Testament things for a change.
During the 10:00 service, the youth assigned to read didn’t show up, so the announcements ended along the lines of “our reader doesn’t seem to be here… so why doesn’t Jen read since she read the passage at 8:00 this morning?” Bill’s sermon was good considering he had a really weird passage. I have no idea why the RCL people did this; but it was the passage surrounding the feeding of the 5000 and it was on shepherds and stuff.
The Religious/Theological Stuff
The Communion hymn today was He Leadeth Me which strikes me as one of those comfort hymns from the turn of the 20th century. (OK… it’s a Civil War era hymn — I was close.) The words are:
He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heav??nly comfort fraught!
Whate??er I do, where??er I be
Still ??tis God??s hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden??s bowers bloom,
By waters still, over troubled sea,
Still ??tis His hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ??tis my God that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace_ the vict??ry??s won,
E??en death??s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
Bill seems to like to pick these kinds of hymns for Communion hymns perhaps because so many people know them in the church. (The parish is ultra-traditional in liturgical style and the kids *LOVE* it. When we were planning the outdoor service for last weekend, the youth we had helping us was suggesting all these really old-time hymns, which I found very cool.) A lot of us actually walk up to Communion singing them and the congregation can lead themselves instead of having to rely on a cantor or choir. Anyway, this hymn was a really nice one considering all the panicking I’ve done this week — it’s a reminder that I need to be a faithful follower and that He is leading me, not the other way around. Many times, I want to be the one calling the shots and that isn’t what life with Christ is about at all. I need to echo the 3rd verse and be “content, whatever lot I see, since t’is my God that leadeth me.” I need to be content that the repairs on Sable might cost us an arm and a leg; but the Lord has given us transportation this weekend (for $100+ less than we could be paying if we had to have a rental car). I need to be content that the Lord has a plan for my future and I shouldn’t be worrying about money or jobs or anything (though one of the people in my parish did give me some good info on substitute teaching). I need to be content that everything will be OK and I shouldn’t be panicking about every little thing.
I think some prayer time now would do me good…
man, today was just like your day – in desperated need for a nap after too much caffeine yesterday. got a good one this afternoon, but now i can’t sleep – 1:16am! whew 🙂
Yeah… it’s almost 1 am here and my cat is rebuking me to go to bed (and curl up with him). It’s a sign that I really need to cut my caffeine intake — or stop drinking regular Coke at 10 p.m.
Out of curiosity, what is “adult Sunday School”?
Zoe, “adult Sunday School” is the classes the church has for adults during the Sunday School hour. For example, there’s a class about feisty women in the Bible and history of the Church and a class on some books of the Old Testament going on at my church right now. It’s basically to give the adults a chance to learn during the time their kids are in Sunday School.
(sorry, still trying to get my head around cultural differences…) is Sunday School (adult or kids’) at a different time the the main service, then?
Sunday School for everyone is between the two services. One service is at 8 and the other is at 10:45 (10:00 during the summer). This means that Sunday School is 9:15-10:30 during the regular year and 9:10-9:50 during the summer.