a service to remember

false advertising on my part a few weeks ago... late october, my church had a retirement service for pastor j, who is indeed retiring... however, that was not his last week, like i made it sound to be... next sunday is... however, the congregation had a few tricks up its sleeves even today.

every sunday, pastor starts out inviting people to come up and make announcements... the last person in line was the youth group president, and she told pastor "so, we have a surprise for you!"... having noticed that EVERY SINGLE child in the congregation was packed into the 10:30 service instead of distributed between the two services, he remarked he figured *something* was going on... she told him that in thanks for all his hard work over the years, he got the service off, and he should go sit with his family... pastor was totally thrown for a loop... 8am service went as normal, he was ready to preach again, etc., and here he was, being told he wasn't allowed.

the older youth (junior high/HS age) read the various prayers/responses, etc., then there were a few more treats

for the kids sermon, with all the kids packed up front, one of the 8th graders led, and commented "so pastor, over the years you've given many a kids sermon to generations of kids!... most times you use props... like bicycle handlebars to talk about how God helps steer our lives, or trophies to help us remember the only reward that counts in the end is heaven... well today, pastor, you're our prop, so come on up here!"... while pastor sat up front in the middle of the pile of small children, the older kids brought up gifts to him... a white robe, for him to remember all the kids he's helped tell about the robe of rigteousness... a baseball cap for teaching others about the helmet of salvation... a teddy bear to thank him for all the love he's shown to everyone, and a book to give him back some of the wisdom he's shared with others... decked out in all of the above by the end of the message, it was funny, but also extremely touching.

for the actual sermon, the junior high kids read personal testimonies of what they've learned from pastor j.

finally, at the end, all the children in the congregation went up front and sang "this little gospel light of mine", changing the last verse to "Pastor's light will never leave, cause we're gonna let it shine"

finally, as the praise band played ray boltz's "thank you", pastor was escorted to the back to hug each and every kid on their way out...

not your typical service, but absolutely fantastic (you can't tell how much we all love pastor j at all, can you?)

next week promises to be the adult version of the same, it'll be quality.

the end.