Easter came and went today.  Let me say publicly a very big thank you to all who participated of helped the day go well.  Our morning service really seemed to have a real energy to it.  Some of this could very well be due to families returning home for the day.  Babies were everywhere today.  Excited people tend to contribute to exciting services even if that comes from having grandchildren here.  Our singing seemed quite good both in our hymns and our special music.  People were still talking about the quality of our morning service when they returned this evening.  I am very grateful for this.

We even had special effects in the morning time together.  A squall line came through just prior to our worship.  Thunder, lightening, wind and rain were still a factor when we got underway.  Perhaps there was more than just myself asking if this was similar to the weather on the original Good Friday.  Dark skies with other noisy elements can help you pay attention to the setting.  Sunnier weather might lead to a better attendance but the forces of nature sure were felt around here. 

I tried to keep the sermon simple since my voice is still gone.  Knowing your time is limited due to an ailment does nudge you to focus on the major ideas.  My hope is that someone made sense of what God maybe said to them along the way.  Even a message as direct as Easter can still get lost in the shuffle.  Those who gathered around the empty tomb that first Easter still had trouble processing what they heard.  Scripture says it sounded like nonsense to the first recipients of the story.  Three years of investing time with Jesus still didn't make listening any easier.  The typical reaction seems to be that wondering what was going on at the moment.  Things don't always change much do they?

Tomorrow starts a new journey since Easter day is gone.  God will still be speaking.  Will we listen carefully or just pick up nonsense or static?  I know which of those I want to choose.

Bro. Trey