Scott%27s Weekly Greeting%2C September 8%2C 2020

Scott's Weekly Greeting, September 8, 2020

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
September 08, 2020

Scott's Weekly Greeting ...

Memory is a funny thing, is it not? Sometimes repetition helps us embed something into our memory. For example, if you are trying to learn the lines for the play in which you are performing, you repeat them over and over again. It is the same if you are a musician, an athlete, an artist, or someone learning a new skill. Repetition creates muscle memory. Repetition allows you to learn complex skills or learn pages and pages of dialogue.

On the other hand, repetition can also work against our memory. Repetition of a task, or event, can make it so commonplace that it simply becomes part of the scenery ... a blur indistinguishable in the passage of time. I hate to say it, but that can even happen within the context of worship! Yes, even the most sacred hour of our week can fade toward that same blur. I have offered the Lord's Prayer thousands of times, but there have been a handful of occasions in which I blanked out on the words as I led the congregation. I have participated in worship services (in other churches, of course) that were so repetitious that the congregation stopped participating.

Over the course of my ministry, I have been involved with numerous Rally Day or Homecoming Sunday services. They are all special events in my ministry and in the life of the church. However, as I look back I struggle to think of any particularly memorable moments from those services. At least, nothing that comes quickly or easily to mind.

That is about to change. I can honestly say that I will never forget Homecoming Sunday 2020!!! I have never celebrated the beginning of a new program year during a global pandemic. I have never offered a Dedication of Sunday school volunteers without the volunteers in the sanctuary with me. I have never done a drive-through Sunday school kick-off event in which we distribute 'swag bags' filled with supplies for at-home classes. None of us have done any of these things before. But we are about to!

Throughout the duration of this COVID-19 event, I have challenged you to look for the positive, look for the beautiful. There will be plenty of beauty on display this week! Kris and our Board of Christian Education and some of our teachers will be creating a wonderful carnival atmosphere in the parking lot for our families. Some of our Deacons will be here blessing backpacks and school bags. Jacqui and the Youth Choir prepared a special anthem for Sunday, and the youth also helped create the message. Fred and Freddie and our media team will once again stitch together live-action and pre-recorded elements to create a meaningful worship service. This Sunday will be a labor of genuine love ... and it will be a beautiful thing!

Yes ... Homecoming Sunday 2020 will be unique and memorable for all the right reasons. I hope that you will join us and help us as we celebrate wonder. I hope that you will join us as we hear the youth talk about and sing about what it means to be God's.


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