We love to fellowship together!
Saturday morning afforded a pefect opportunity to slip away from the busyness of home lives and gather for a ladies' brunch at La Madeleine. With delicious pastries at hand, an edifying devotional given by Mrs. Lawrence, and live music in the background (compliments of JB and John), we had a delightful time!
Mrs. Lawrence gave a wonderful devotional entitled, "The Ministry of Reconciliation." It was all about communicating as a Christian with truth, meekness and fear, careful words, wise reproof, wisdom and kindness, grace, compassion, and the goal of reconciliation.
Needless to say, Marilyn loved the gift basket that our pastor's wife had put together for her. :)
Later that evening, our whole church gathered at the daycare center where we meet for services to participate in night 3 of the missions conference. The evening included special music, a Parade of Nations, a Passover meal demonstration, and the Lord's Supper.
The idea for a Parade of Nations was conceived based on the fact that we have so many different countries and cultures represented in our small church body: Bulgaria, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Colombia, Guyana, Ghana, and the United States. For the parade, representatives from each country donned traditional dress and shared with our church interesting facts about their nation such as the geography, religious beliefs, and language of that country. The line of parade participants stretched all the way to the back of the room and definitely outnumbered the few Americans still seated in the chairs. It was a wonderful sight! We are so blessed to attend a church with multiple cultures coming together to worship the same Savior.
Following the parade, John Lawrence shared a demonstration of the traditional Jewish Passover meal, and explained how every detail throughout the meal points to Christ in some way. The symbolism is so rich...and yet so many Jews miss it. My compassion for these needy people has definitely increased as a result of this missions conference.
To close out the evening, we shared in the Lord's Supper, which was Jesus' version of the Passover. I learned that He deliberately left out many ceremonial aspects of the traditional meal to signify His fulfillment of those pictures. Only broken bread and poured-out wine were shared with His disciples to portray His forthcoming crucifixion.
Despite its length, Saturday night's servcie a great time of worship, education, and edification.
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