And then among Saturday’s highlights were our prayers and pro-life witness outside the wicked business that is Planned Parenthood -- a public witness against abortion that is more relevant and critically-important than ever before. And to be a part of that noble company (this particular Saturday morning Claire and I stood alongside Bev, Mark, Ruth, Patrick, Isaac, John and Barb) is definitely an honor. Saturday also saw me deep in sermon preparation and Claire finishing up this year’s 6 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and taking them over to the pickup point at Grace Central Church.
Our Sunday was also very busy and very blessed. We first drove up to Herman, Nebraska where I presented the final class in a 7-part series on spiritual disciplines. The subject of the class was Corporate Disciplines and we enjoyed lively discussions of the topic after my talk. Next up was the worship service which included me preaching on one of Jesus’ most famous (and most audacious) parables -- the story of the Good Samaritan. We got home in time for a quick lunch and we were then on to our Sunday afternoon church service at Aksarben Village Senior Living. We had a terrific time. 15 Aksarben church members and 5 of the Vital Signs members (yesterday’s crew was Don, Ruth, Dick, and us). The songs were wonderful, all dealing with the theme of thanksgiving. And my brief sermon connected giving thanks to God for an “unshakable kingdom” (Hebrews 12:8) with the story of the Pilgrims coming to America, forming the Mayflower Compact, and celebrating the first thanksgiving.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for this weekend’s blessings and opportunities. And thank You for all the other reasons we have to live every day of our lives with an “attitude of gratitude.”
