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Showing posts from February, 2018

"Nostalgia and Newness"

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January 14 was my first Sunday and sermon at Sardis Presbyterian. Leading up to that, I had been wondering who would show up. Frankly, every Sunday I wonder if anyone will show up! These days there are so many other possibilities for a Sunday morning and most of them are more interesting than one of my sermons. (Thank God for sanctuary choirs and worship bands!) But on January 14, I figured the “new pastor bump” would come into play and that attendance numbers bolstered by curious members would be further augmented by the new pastor having a lot of family in town who would feel obligated to visit Sardis and maybe some old friends would be there, too. Members, family, and friends did, indeed, show up in force and it was one of the most exciting days of my life.   It has been a wonderfully strange month as I have experienced in equal measure the excitement of newness and overwhelming nostalgia. Those two things do not usually happen simultaneously. God has been blessing me with cau