Small things can be very important

I had a nice surprise this Sunday. We held a birthday party for one of our deacons after the service, and as a result, many “irregular” attendees came to honor him, help with the birthday dinner, or maybe just to have a part in the feast we had. But whatever the reason, it was good to end the year with a church a good bit fuller than usual.

Tina tried out a traditional Puerto Rican garlic-pork recipe and it was sooo good that all the Puerto Rican ladies wanted her recipe! We usually bring home left overs, but not today! They kept coming back for seconds of that dish.

After the meal, we took some food to the home of an elderly man who has been too sick to attend services lately. We prayed with him, his wife and grand-daughter and got lots of hugs.

This week Tina and our college age kids went to the church and finished painting the interior and doing a really good cleaning.

Wednesday we had our prayer meeting in the home of a family that lives up an extremely steep road, which is really saying something here in Puerto Rico. Not ever having ice or snow and being cheap, the government has allowed roads to be built so steep, that it makes those streets in San Francisco look like roads for beginner drivers.

I preached a New Years Eve Sermon on “Gods’ Apgar Score.” A summary follows :

“The Apgar score is a system used in hospitals for rating the condition of a new born. I used this metaphor to teach about how the world evaluated the newly arrived Jesus. And how by judging him, we categorize ourselves. I spoke about the smallness of the baby, and compared it to another small thing. In Zechariah 4:10 a man holds in his hand a small object, a plum bob on a string. It is a very small object, but it is a sign than soon something big is about to begin, a project that will include some destruction and some building up. The holder of the small object will use it to make his judgments, depending on what relationship the object of his attention has with the plumb line. Jesus, though small, makes a line. God views us in relationship to his Son. What side of the line are you on?”

Tonight we are going to watch all eight hours of a DVD series we have based on the book “Bleak House” by Charles Dickens. It is really very good.

Happy New Year!