Postgame Wrap

I'm sitting here watching the AFC Championship - Go Steelers! Greatly enjoyed seeing Kurt Warner and the Cards continue their unlikely season with a win over the Eagles and an earned trip to the Superbowl in two weeks.

Today was bittersweet.

My wife's grandmother passed away this past Thursday. Due to weekend obligations here and some other factors, Elena went to Kentucky by herself yesterday to be with her family for the visitation and funeral. The funeral was held this afternoon at 2 pm. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and your kind words this morning for our family. My sister-in-law wrote a very nice blog post here about their grandmother.

My mother, sister, and brother-in-law were in for the weekend as well. We had a very nice visit together.

Service this morning was great. The energy in worship seems to be building. There are some great days ahead.

We took a few moments to honor Dr. King in the service and remember what he accomplished. From that we looked at the last prayer Jesus prayed before going to the cross - "that they may be one." John 17:22

All of our petty differences that we let divide us and keep us from accomplishing all God has for us is tragic. We quibble and bicker and hold grudges because of the littlest things. Church people are very prone to believing that everyone has to be just like them. Anyone who thinks or speaks or is different is a threat. Anyone who disagrees is to be feared.

Now I know not everyone or every church is like this, but unfortunately there are many. They exist is almost every congregation and many congregations are primarily this way.

We have to get over it and realize that our diversity is wonderful, it is of God. We need to celebrate our differences and in unity move forward under the banner of Christ. For the rest of the sermon, you'll have to get the CD. We'll soon have the sermons posted online in podcast form along with a new church website.

I just want to give a tremendous shout out to all of our volunteers and people who make Sunday what it is at Capital City. So many people arrive early and stay late and put in time and energy teaching classes, as part of the band, working in the kitchen, running the tech equipment, caring for children, and so much more. THANK YOU!

Well, I'm going to finish the game and then crash.