I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:1-2)

Yesterday was the first day of June. The weekend was very full, and I haven’t written a word since sometime Friday. Busy, yes, but good busy.

• BIBLE STUDY: Saturday morning launched with another great small-group conversation around the contents of Colossians 3. Too much to capture in a short post, so I’ll simply recommend reading all four chapters; not only reading the words, but getting involved in deep conversation about ideas such as saturating our lives with Christ, and then seeing how exposure to the Jesus quality of light makes a difference in our primary relationships.
• GOLF: Next up was a fun round of golf (see image, above) with good friends. I mean no disrespect to south-central Florida, but I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf this far into the summer without being drenched in sweat by the third hole. So far North Carolina seems to suit my game fairly well.
• GOOD FOOD: Late afternoon I prepared an onion, squash, and asparagus casserole and we headed out for a Wake Forest Presbyterian Koinonia dinner. It wasn’t our assigned “meet-&-eat” group, but we happily came off the bench as last-minute substitutes when another couple couldn’t attend. It was wonderful to relax on our friends’ deck for a good hour before the entrées, enjoying a glass of wine, hors d’oeuvres, their beautiful garden, and conversation in the late afternoon breeze.

PRAYER & PASSION: Sunday morning Rebekah wrapped up her Lord’s Prayer series. I love when she gets excited, animated, and passionate about her preaching (which is pretty-much every time she climbs into the pulpit!). It reminded me of something that came up in my Wednesday Bible-study, when a couple of the men wondered aloud how they could have attended church for so many years absent such animation, energy, and vitality of faith – the quality of passion that Paul shares so eloquently in Colossians.

Rebekah and I often have the same conversation; we honestly fail to understand how any minister of the Gospel could possibly talk about the Good News without literally lighting up from the insides, without being so saturated in Jesus that the love can’t nearly be contained.

COMMUNION: Sharing communion as a church is always such a rich experience of applied grace. The imagery is so powerful; the presence of the Spirit so palpable; the work of the cross so potent, the reach of Jesus so personal, the love of God so present.

• The imagery is so powerful;
• the presence of the Spirit so palpable;
• the work of the cross so potent,
• the reach of Jesus so personal,
• the love of God so present.

Communion is the mystery of incarnation, the miracle of forgiveness, and the beauty of reconciliation wrapped up together in the practical, graspable, ingestible token of bread and wine.

We also received new members and we recognized graduating seniors; it was a worship experience loaded with palpable, visible joy.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:1-2)

A few more images, and the rest of the story from worship at WFPC: