There are some Sundays when a worship service contains magic all on its own.  This does not always mean there are great breakthroughs but that everything flows and ties together.  You know this is not always the case.  Worship services take on a personality unique from week to week.  It may be due to the crowd or attendance.  Maybe a day comes along when none of the songs just seem to fit.  One can always find fault with the sermon.  So when you have a day when you believe God brought every element together then you want to stop to reflect.  


I am the one responsible for pulling the morning service together now.  All complaints or suggestions begin and end here.  Part of me enjoys the challenge of thinking through how to be fresh each week.  That may not really be possible but one can try.  Songs and hymns get put down on paper early in the week.  My goal is to have that completed by Monday night.  Sermon details are nowhere near written down by then.  All there is will be a gut feeling about the direction for the following Sunday.  Mixing old and new music is quite a chore.  Balance is always critical but not always practical.  Music for last week went out on Monday evening.  Then it is time to tackle the message.  Riding a roller coaster may be the best way to describe that effort.


We do have a general theme for the Summer.  Our sermons revolve around some element of trusting God or faith.  I scratched down ideas back in May.  We used a few of those so far.  There are weeks a scripture text drives the message idea.  Last week was reverse of that approach.  It was reading that led me to the text.  I say all of this to let you know that all of the songs fit perfect with the sermon idea.  Maybe my delivery was not all it could be but it seldom is in my mind.  Even our last song which is our "invitation" hymn echoed our whole service.  Some days you just have to sit in amazement over how it all works out.  Words cannot express the awe felt when something like this happens.


This does not mean that every person was overcome by the divine presence.  No doubt there were far too many who did not or could not see God's preparation.  Too many are like Simon in our scripture text.  They have God figured out with no room for grace.  Perhaps  we get so content in being theologically precise we lose heart.  Emotions such as wonder or desire never enter our vocabulary.  We are content being correct even if we are cold.  Count me as one grateful for God's activity.  One can only hope that never changes.


Bro. Trey