We also visited this park in Converse this afternoon.
There are swans living on this little lake. Lots of fishermen out and about. Harrison is dying to go to the beach, but this lake gave him a little taste of the beach. It was very windy and it smelled like the beach, so it satisfied him a little. We walked all the way around the lake too, which satisfied me. Something about a little accomplishment like that makes me happy. We had to find a place to jump the creek leading to the lake, but we eventually did.
And because of the time change (lose an hour), we decided to go to a church close to home so we wouldn't have to get up early. We've been watching them build their new building as we drive by, so I've been wanting to visit and see it anyway. It's called Agape Christian Church, and boy, was it fun!
This was a different experience for us, and I'm so glad we went. The people were very expressive, emotive, and interactive. It was communion Sunday (maybe they do it every Sunday, I'm not sure), and they passed out little pre-packaged cups of juice with a cracker sealed in on top. So your own little disposable communion set. They took communion toward the beginning of the service and spent some time talking about Jesus' death and resurrection and it being of First Importance. We sang two songs, but they took their time singing them. They had a small brass section as part of their instrument get-up. One of the songs was a calypso-type song, and it was just a lot of fun. Movement was encouraged. We are very stiff Mid-Western white folk, so it's hard to get us to move very much, but I enjoyed watching the congregation as they enjoyed the song.
The greeting time was 3 minutes and they had visitors stand up right before greeting time so that members would come say hello. There were more visitors than I expected. This could have been awkward, but everyone was so friendly and outgoing that the time went by quickly. One lady asked if she could pray for me about anything and then she prayed over me. Everyone was talking around us and I could see several other groups praying, so it all flowed naturally.
Then we went into the sermon; but, as Liz said, a person could show up at any point in the service and get a good sermon. There was quite a bit of sharing from the stage, what with communion time and worship leaders and what-not. At some point the preacher or someone had said that their service goes for an hour and a half max. Well, we were out of there after two hours. :-)
The sermon was very good. He quoted Scripture quite often and naturally, some of it was planned as evidenced by the slides on the screen, but a lot of it just came out as he was speaking. It was on the Woman at the Well and how we need to repent of our sin and share our story. He was not afraid to call out sins, and he called out the perfectionists who act like they have it all together (those are my toes he was steppin' on).
After participating in this congregation, I have to say I understand some of the kids in my neighborhood a lot better. Also the kids I worked with at a mission in inner city St. Louis who I was so frustrated with when I was in college. Here in San Antonio, we've been to an hispanic service, a liturgical service and now a predominantly black service, and it is so enlightening and encouraging to worship with believers who do it differently than you do. I wish Agape CC all the best as they minister in our neighborhood.
And this is our house most Saturday mornings. Computer time, sometimes with friends, sometimes just siblings. When I was a kid, we would go to a neighbor's house sometimes and watch Saturday morning cartoons. We never had a TV ourselves, but if we were around one, we were glued! Good memories though, of junk cereal and cartoons.
Harrison has been reading a lot more. He's working his way through the Penderwick series, my complete set of Calvin and Hobbes, and he just started a book I enjoyed as a kid: A Dog Called Kitty. He loves stories. He says he might want to write when he gets older.
No comments:
Post a Comment