December 6th, 2006 - Soup & Bread, Holden Evening Service, Choir

We open with a lively song for our prayer. The conversation at the table is light and easy, full of news, daily decisions, questions and advice. We choose from a number of different soups and ramen, buns, rolls and bread.

Pastor Dayle is on vacation. Pastor Mark leads the Holden Evening worship with Vaune. The service opens with Stay Here and Keep Watch and then moves into the service itself. Pastor Mark naturally leads this worship differently than Pastor Dayle. Tonight he reads Psalm 141 before we sing those words. Our supplication is reinforced and deepened.

For the reading Psalm 130 is chosen and Pastor Mark preaches from that text. "Who is this God," he asks, "cried out to in this psalm?"

If you, O LORD, were to keep track of sins, O sovereign Master, who could stand before you?

Pastor Mark captures the complacency and the shame we can vacillate between when thinking about personal sin from "I'm an average Joe or Jane and, on the whole, I haven't been too bad" to "How can God allow me into a church?" Probably what we need to deal with most is complacency with what we have done and what has been left undone. Yet God does not keep a ledger of our sins. His love is a steadfast love, coming not from because of the things we do but from an even though.

The line referring to steadfast, loyal love also stands out for me in the song because of a discussion with my wife before the service:

O Israel, hope in the LORD, for the LORD exhibits loyal love

Mary talked to me about the fierce arguments people get in regarding beliefs and wondered out loud about changing vocabulary from what I believe about God to what I hope about God and here was a "hope in the Lord" verse.

After the service was choir and more rehearsal for the Christmas program. The pieces are coming together well. We talked about how many pieces we could realistically rehearse and perform. Matt was ready to cut back a little on the number of pieces but many members found it hard to let go of particular pieces.

The decision was made to decide next week.