The New Life Sunday School Class hosted our Room-in-the-Inn friends on Saturday night, November 27, 2010. Ten homeless men were transported from downtown Nashville to the HCN campus for a safe, dry place to sleep and hot food to eat. Hot showers and a place to wash clothes were available to all the men. Wayne McNeese drove the van which brought the men to church and returned them to the city. Stephanie, Eli, and Evan Gamble and Keith, Stephanie, Chelsea, and Cristian Rhodes set the facility up for use. Supper, breakfast, and sack lunches for Sunday were provided by Glenda Perkins, Charlotte Rose, Kendell and Tammy Poole, Lance and Patty Waller, Tony Dozier, Mike and Darlene Miranne, Alan and Angie, Josh and Abby Elkins, Howard and Barbara Barrett, Scott Moore, Rusty Waffird, Judy Fite. Ray Render and Jody Sweeten stayed overnight to chaperone the group. Paul Stonecipher served as coordinator for the event. One of the men wrote a poem about his experience and left it for you. It is posted on the Center glassboard. Thanks to the New Life Class for representing all of us.
I hope you were present in worship yesterday. Sophie Zander, Eddie Witkowski, Dennis Scholl, and Marvin Maphet opened up their hearts and told us moving pieces of their life stories. Sophie is an exchange student from Germany who lives with Jerry, Lori, and Ashley Wallace. Eddie is a recent pastoral ministries graduate from Trevecca and a summer missionary to Thailand. Dennis is a husband, dad, engineer, and general contractor who faced a serious health crisis five years ago. Marvin Maphet is the single parent of five kids who survived the sudden death of his middle child last June. Each person told us of his or her walk and talk with God. Each person expressed his or her thanksgiving for the way God has guided or healed or sustained. Thank you for investing in your preparation and living so transparently before us for the morning.
Communion closed both services for the morning. How appropriate to end at the table of the Lord. First service worshippers sang The Doxology. Second service worshippers sang “He Loves Us.” Dot Waffird told me her favorite time came when the Senior High Students began to stand spontaneously while we sang. Billie Ragland prepared the elements for first and second service with no idea the second worship would need extras. Pastor Ken Jewett recruited Marla Houser, Treila Garrett, and Jake Resor to help him and extra trays were prepared. Thank you. Thank you for being aware.
One more story you would like to know. The elementary children and middle school students joined second worship on Sunday. When open altars were announced for prayer and the Senior High Students sent their army to pray, a young boy joined them in moving forward. When he got to the altar, Pastor Shane Tarter reached out his arm and took him in to the fold. Shane had no idea who he was. Pastor Carol Waller watched the whole thing happen. The young boy is a quiet, shy child of parents who were serving in another area of the facility. Something moved him. Someone moved him. What a morning.
Soup and Salad and Desserts began our 6:00 PM service. Three and one-half year old Tyler Koon had asked me after the Thanksgiving Dinner blessing why I did not say the “God, our Father” blessing. I asked him if would be willing to ask the blessing at our next meeting and he said he would. So, on Sunday evening, Tyler Koon sang the “God, our Father” blessing loudly and straight into the microphone. Thanks, Tyler. Thanks to Betty Willis for providing organization and leadership to the Advent decorating. Thanks to the Senior High Students for climbing into attics and carrying decorations wherever they needed to go. Thanks to the Breadbreaker Sunday School Class for setting up and breaking down after the social on Sunday. Thanks to Tim Garrett for leading.
Dr. Donny Jackson and JoAnn, Cassidy Nelson and Jon, joined eight other couples on November 19-20, 2010, for a weekend at HCN investing in their marriages. Donny reports it was the best retreat yet but believes a great deal more needs to be done to proactively support healthy marriage relationships. I know the schedules of most of the couples and it is impressive that they created the space and time to attend.
LiveWire Students (middle school) will deliver your Christmas cards (within the church), for a greatly reduced fee than the post office. The cost is 25 cents per card. All proceeds go to offset the cost of the Winter Get Away. Christmas cards are also available that were designed exclusively by LiveWire students. Deliver your cards to the Welcome Desks through December 19, 2010.
For the last few years, many of you have asked how you could help a family who has legitimate needs at Christmas. The pastoral staff has asked that you purchase gift cards that we in turn can distribute to families within the church who are struggling to meet food needs and gifts for children. While you can purchase cards anywhere you would like, cards to grocery stores (Kroger, Publix, etc.) or to Walmart are easiest to use. I can tell you that the cards have fed single parents and babies and provided Christmas gifts to children when there were none to give. If you want, you can drop the cards in the offering plates on Sunday morning and the counting teams will get them to the pastoral staff for distribution. Pastor Rondy Smith sent me an email today telling me that our food pantry is low again due to the number of people who are coming to the church weekly for food. Would you shop for dry staples and leave them in bins in the Center Lobby for the next few Sundays? All of us want to help people who have genuine needs. This is one way to help.
I look forward to Sunday.
In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Howard
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