Veteran’s Day Service

Yesterday we had combined services to for a special Veterans Day service.  Here are the highlights.

1.  I would’ve gone crazy without a run sheet(easy to read order of service) and pro presenter.  If your church can afford a Mac and the software then buy this program right now.  The way it lets you put videos into the service order makes life soooo much easier.

2.  I get choked up when I hear the national anthem so I should’ve known that opening the service after the anthem and a great song by Gary Nance would be emotional.  Plus, I get overwhelmed thinking about those who have sacrificed their time and energy to serve our country.  It chokes me up every time.  I also knew many familes were facing difficult times this week and well, it was honor to pray through the tears.

3.  Gary did a song and invited all the veterans to the front of the sanctuary.  Towards the end of the song a mother on the front row stood up and went down the line shaking each veteran’s hand.  Hers is a new family that’s been attending about a month so she wasn’t thinking,”Would it be appropriate for me to do this?”  She was thinking,”I owe a great debt to these people and the least I can do is shake their hand.”  A little girl and young boy with a mohawk followed her down the line shaking hands and I couldn’t hold back the emotion of that moment.  Soon, others lined up to shake their hands and after the song, Charlie asked all the veterans to stand outside at the end so everyone could have the chance to shake their hands.

4.  Our speaker was Ray Coleman who helped with the WTC cleanup after 9-11 and served in Iraq.  He had some amazing stories and he was a great guy to meet.  He and Charlie go way back.  It was fitting to have him share his story on this special day.

5.  We had not one, but two times of altar prayer in the service.  We also had a full band and a new guy singing.  He added some nice harmony to the mix.  All in all, it was an amazing day and another momentum booster for our church.  God’s been giving us a lot of those lately.

It’s often after great times like this, the enemy attacks and he came after me hard Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.  Hopefully, God has given strength and grace to others as he has to me today.  Just blogging has lifted my spirits a bit.

In other good news, I am putting the finishing touches on our youth group web site.  I want to have it ready to go by Wednesday.  More on that later.

Adios!