What a lovely “holiday weekend” Sunday we shared!
We started this bright day off with Sunday School at Tupelo River Coffee‘s comfortable, appealing New Albany location. Britt Smith brought a powerful lesson about that time Jesus announced his identity to the people of his hometown, first reading the Scripture that says, “God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly and to announce the time when the Lord will show His kindness” … and then saying, “While you’ve been hearing these words today, they are coming true.”
We also reviewed important points from Joe Davis’s lesson the previous week, when Jesus emphasized, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Our discussion focused on the shift in attitudes pointed to by this statement … how how these should influence our actions today.
We want our church to be a place where those who have been treated unfairly, overlooked, shut out, or cast aside can experience the kindness of the Lord. And instead of emphasizing the works of sacrifice, we hope by the grace of God to extend mercy to ourselves and others.
On Sunday night, our small group meeting came together at the elegant home of Jimmie Rogers. This was our pastor’s first week back with us after two weeks away — and his first time to meet with us as “Reverend Doctor Dan Darling!” (Congratulations, Dan, on the attainment of your degree!)
Even with a doctorate in hand, Dan was still just good old Dan, bringing a lesson about Pentecost (Acts 2), and how the gift of tongues connected all the way back to the confusion of languages at Babel in Genesis 11. We talked about how language is a reflection of culture … and how, even today, many different cultures reflect many different approaches to life and to God.
We covered some bold ideas in this session! How wonderful to be in a church where one doesn’t have to check one’s mind at the door … where questions are welcome … and where different people with different ideas can still worship together as one.
