* D PLUS 35
Pastor Fred Joyce opened the morning service with the admonition, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." He looked around the congregation and continued, "And you can't rejoice without a smile on your face. Some of you look like you've been living in a pickle factory and just got baptized in vinegar." He raised his voice, "And just in case anyone here isn't sure, I didn't do it. Our baptistery has nothing in it but water." There was laughter from everywhere in the church.
Sue looked around the church. The only white faces were those of their unit and the two members of the TV news crew that had come. The station learned where Eli went to church and sent a crew to film some background. They had no idea his flight would be there too, in fact they would not know that until later in the service. The church was old and big, and she noted, only about one quarter full. Later she learned the building was acquired in a bank sale. The congregation bought what they could afford, some day its size would be an asset.
Everyone was here, only Billie showed any outside signs of the battle. She had a cast on her leg and was still using crutches. At first Sue felt lost in a religious service that was totally unfamiliar. The songs were lively and talked of fighting a battle and winning a victory. The music was supplied by a Bass Guitar, drums, a piano, two trumpets, a sax, a flute, a cello, bongos and an electric keyboard. She had never seen such a band in church. Five backup singers accompanied the leader. After almost a half hour of exciting, almost martial music the mood changed and the songs became ones of quiet worship and honor to God. It was like the people were singing the songs to Him, not to each other. Long before the change the strangeness of the place left and a peace covered her. She had gone to Sunday School as a child but had rarely attended church since graduation from High School. Church had become irrelevant in her life but here in this totally unfamiliar place was a wonderful presence she had craved.
When the singing ended, the pastor returned to the pulpit. He made some announcements, took the offering and then walked down near the front seats. He seemed so comfortable. He was not like pastors she had known, so stodgy and formal. He was warm and friendly. Although there were several hundred people in the church it was as though he was talking to a small group of friends.
"My sermon for today," he began, "is going to be short and simple." From somewhere in the front came an "Amen", followed by a "Thank you Jesus."
Everyone laughed. This really was not church as Sue had known it. Pastor Fred smiled and as if nothing had happened, then went on, "It's about the love of God."
"Several weeks ago some of the people here today were far from home, in a place near Harrisburg Pennsylvania. I grew up in Harrisburg, I went to church there as a child, I went to the same tent revivals there that a man named Harry Hanshue attended. Harry saw a man named Clifton Erickson teach of the love of God and so did I. Harry Hanshue was a man of love, a man after God's own heart. He saw the message Brother Erickson preached was a message from God. He founded the Hanshue sect. When he died, he was succeeded by a man who cared only for himself, a man who did not know or love God, no matter how much he claimed to hear from him. This is evidenced by his lack of love for his fellow man. In first John four seven and eight it says love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God. The one who does not love does not know God. Harry Hanshue loved and heard from God, Brother Gideon as he is called did not love nor did he know or hear from God. He was a fraud. He served only himself.
"I know God, I know his love, I know he cares for me, I know he cares for each and every one here in this building, this city, this state, this nation, the whole world, no matter what you are, who you are, where you are from or what you've done. Let me assure you, God loved you so much that He gave His son Jesus to die for you. Jesus allowed himself to be nailed to a cross and He died for you. No matter what you've done you can be forgiven and you too can know the divine peace He's given to many of us. No matter how good you have been you still need His forgiveness. No matter how bad you have been, it's still available to you. If you want to know Him, right now, ask him to forgive you and ask Him to help you live for Him. Let me repeat, He loves you."
