Flowers on the Cross
I hope everyone who is reading this had a good Easter. I just wanted to share some thoughts about our Easter service this past Sunday. We went to a church that is non-denominational that we have been to several times in the area. Though we had not been to that particular church in about 6 weeks.
This is a church that has a traditional service and then a more contemporary service at 11 am. On this particular morning, because it was Easter we started at 10:30 am. Most of the service was music, which was loud and contemporary. I like contemporary music, but knew only one song out of all the ones he used. The pastor himself spoke for less than 10 minutes, possibly less than 5, I did not time him.
I felt after leaving that I did not attend a service, but a concert. The pastor who preaches less than 5 minutes should be ashamed of himself. People come to hear the word. I know he would say you heard the word in music, but there is a difference.
The one thing I did enjoy was the flowering of the cross. We were allowed to come up to the front and place flowers on a wooden cross. The pastor commented that we made something that was ugly beautiful. The truth is that Jesus made what was ugly, a symbol of torture now a symbol of hope. What was a symbol of hopelessness and a cruel death, now for millions comes to symbolize God's love and the extremes that God would go to to demonstrate that love.
This is a church that has a traditional service and then a more contemporary service at 11 am. On this particular morning, because it was Easter we started at 10:30 am. Most of the service was music, which was loud and contemporary. I like contemporary music, but knew only one song out of all the ones he used. The pastor himself spoke for less than 10 minutes, possibly less than 5, I did not time him.
I felt after leaving that I did not attend a service, but a concert. The pastor who preaches less than 5 minutes should be ashamed of himself. People come to hear the word. I know he would say you heard the word in music, but there is a difference.
The one thing I did enjoy was the flowering of the cross. We were allowed to come up to the front and place flowers on a wooden cross. The pastor commented that we made something that was ugly beautiful. The truth is that Jesus made what was ugly, a symbol of torture now a symbol of hope. What was a symbol of hopelessness and a cruel death, now for millions comes to symbolize God's love and the extremes that God would go to to demonstrate that love.
