What a blessed Sunday we had!  Maybe no one is interested in reading a recap of our church services. For pity's sake, you must not have much to do if you are even reading this blog!  Probably I can't write to give anyone else a felling of how special they were yesterday.  But I enjoyed myself so much, that  ability notwithstanding, I've just got to share about our dear church.  Let me say right here it's a special  church because we have  WONDERFUL SAVIOR! Let me glory in the LORD first!

I can't wait for our church website to get the sermons available online. Yesterday's was really good---but I'm skipping. Let me back up.

First, it was colder than a well-digger's shovel and we got to see SNOW! LIttle bitty tiny flakes, but we got to see snow all day long. Thelma Lou had been pary all week for snow [okay, so had I]. She said, "JESUS HEARD ME!"  Sunday school was a fun time time, too. Taking different parts of the Nativity each week, we've worked our way up to the angel telling Joseph to depart to Egypt.  I'm so blessed to teach these younsters. Watching their eyes go round as they hear the stories from the Bible is a thrill to me. 

In the service, we had  a guest song leader who had prepared Christmas music for the choir.  We don't have a formal choir, ours has more of a little country church feel to it. We sang Christmas songs that I hadn't heard in so long--including my favorite "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear".    My pals Becca and  Kasey sang the special music---"O Holy Night"  and  "I'm a Child of the King."   Beautiful!

Now I can tell you about the sermon.  It wasn't a "Christmas" message, but a CHRIST message. Taking his text from Ezekiel 47: 1-6, the pastor preached about "Going Deeper With God".  He challenged us to get beyond being "ankle deep Christians".   In it, he brought out how easy it is to not grow into a mature Christian, and settle for being a church member [and not a very committed one at that.]. If you like good preaching, well I wish you'd been on the pew with me yesterday! We'd have praised the Lord together!

If you click over to our church website [ www.fbcmaryville.net ]  you can contact the webmaster [link at bottom of church page] for a copy. The site is still under construction--kind of like parts of the church itself--but that message is worth getting. [It's free--just ask for the 12-17-07 a.m. sermon].

Then we had the first two of THREE CHRISTmas plays last night. We had twenty+ small children, twenty in the youth group, and around thirty of the 8-12 year old group. With so many kids, we couldn't do one play for all of them!  So the children learned the verses of the song , "The Friendly Beasts" and presented it last night. I was so proud of Thelma Lou and ETB!  "Mary and Joseph" --two of the teenagers-- sat for them to sing around. Then the youth put on their program.

I'm so thankful to go to  church where the story from the Bible isn't passe.  These teenagers presented the life of Jesus from Nativity to Resurrection.  A narrator helped move the story along, but the scenes were scripted right from the pages of the Book itself. Imagine teenagers acting and speaking the wrods from the BIble pages itself, telling the life of Jesus with obvious enjoyment! They are really good actors!  You could hear weeping all over the sanctuary at the Crucifixion scene.  These teenagers weren't there to put on a show to bring glory to them, but to lift the name of Jesus.  At the end of the play, the young man who portrayed Jesus was standing in front  of the  cross in the baptistry with a spotlight on him, and the whole youth group gathered on stage to lead the church in singing, "BECAUSE HE LIVES."  I get glory-bumps just thinking about it again!

I've never seen a youth group like this. I typically don't favor youth groups much because they seem to program the children to death, or aren't helping train the children to think Biblically, or ar simply an older version of day care for teens.  Our family is very conservative [one reason we homeschool!], and youth groups aren't something we care for very much.  Our family's conviction is that  children should be in the worship service from an early age. Children  absorb new knowledge constantly. While Junior and Jane may be coloring quietly on the bench beside Mom and Dad, they are listening, too. Increased exposure to God's Word is a good thing to us! I cast a suspicious eye on youth groups that merely are play times for teenagers with no substance.

Not so with this one.  The youth group directors at our church are just outstanding. They don't try to assume parental authority, and they are committed to teaching truths from Scripture, and their goal is to have teens leave the group ready for joining the adult congregation--they already are part of the congregation! The youth group isn't a "church within a church" at FBC. I'm so thankful for that--I like being around them. Especially since I've reached the age where all teenagers look alike. I need more time to learn names & faces!   

Well, I just had to brag on how the Lord blessed us yesterday.  Hope your Sunday was as sweet as ours was. It's so good to have a church home like Friendship.  This is what church is meant to be like! People just linger and talk after the service--they enjoy being around each other. The staff has to dim the lights to gently remind people to go home!  We aren't a perfect church, but I love these folks so much that I can't wait to worship the King with them in Heaven for eternity. It's not many churches where you can feel that kind of love for each other.  God has been so good to our family to let us live here and be part of this kind of fellowship!

SInce we are on "school vacation" now, this may be my last post for the day. We've got cookies to bake, cards to write, and crafts to make. Oh how I love being a homeschool mommy!