Celebrate!
This year, September 1st marked the conclusion of what has been for me an absolutely wonderful birth month! Birth "days" just don’t seem to cut it for me. I like to celebrate the whole month, though I have never been able to get my family to participate. This year (because of the very, very big number) we celebrated my birthday all month long. And it was awesome.
Thanks to my amazing family and wonderful friends I received surprise after surprise, the whole month of August. I love surprises, but more than anything I love to celebrate! Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, whatever and wherever.
You can tell a lot about a person by what they celebrate. When I was growing up I had friends whose parents would go all out if their kid got a base hit at their baseball game. I couldn’t imagine what they would do if my friend ever hit a Grand Slam! It was a huge deal. Sports were not my family's thing. We celebrated birthdays and good grades. An ‘A’ was always good for a trip to Dairy Queen! A straight 'A' report card, well me just say this, Indians know how to party!
You know what? Parties are a big deal because parties show us what people celebrate, and what people celebrate shows us what people value.
Over the next three weeks we are going to look at a familiar story that Jesus tells about a surprise party that erupted, at the least likely time, for the least likely person. As we go through this story it will help us understand what God celebrates, and what we discover might SURPRISE us.
Join us this Sunday as we celebrate together, a Baptism, gathering around the table for Communion and the Fall Kick Off BBQ (immediately following the service).
Plan to come, plan to celebrate!