Sunday, October 29, 2006

Family Reunion

1600 people gathered in one room singing praises to God.

Not so incredible in other parts of the country. At Harding, there were more than that in chapel each day (though how many were actually singing is up for debate). At College Church and Richland Hills and many others in the Bible belt, that would be low attendance. But for us in the Northwest, 1600 is incredible.

Welcome to TLC Sunday. Once a year, most of the Churches of Christ in the area meet together at the convention center for a family reunion of sorts. Today's was fantastic.

From the singing to the lesson to the fellowship to the singing (did I mention the singing?), it's good to gather with family. I especially appreciated Randy Harris' interpretation of the story of the prodigal son-- that the story was told to those in the religious world as a rebuke for their disdain toward sinners. Fast forward to today and we have the same problem. It's a message I've heard a hundred times, but still fail to carry out. I so love hanging out with my sisters who are nice and clean and pretty well mannered that I don't carve out time to eat with sinners.

The family reunion was made a little sweeter by the fact that my parents were there, just back from a long trip.

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