A call late on Saturday night

So, as a pastor, I have come fear the phone ringing late on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning (along with these, also emails, texts or messages via Facebook). Typically, it is someone who has some form of Sunday morning leadership role calling (or using whichever form of communication they prefer) to notify me that they are going to be unable to fulfill their role for one reason or another. My first few years in the ministry, I used to actually feel my heart rate quicken and my blood pressure rise when these events took place as I would have to scurry to adapt and figure out how to move forward in this time of "crisis." Well, over the past few years I have experienced this phenomenon more and more frequently and have become much more adept at adapting to this natural, and now expected, occurrence.

Well, it happened again this weekend. The piano player and my smaller church called me around 8:30pm or so and informed me that she was not going to be able to be at worship. She is a wonderful servant and a very spirited-filled piano player who makes up in passion what she (self-admittedly) lacks in natural talent. I thank God daily for this woman because she has stepped up and filled the void of music leadership when there was no one else willing and or able to play the piano. This was the first time I have had such a "crisis" (the late notice phone call and needing to find a replacement) since I took on this new position so I am not as familiar with who my "go to" people are, so my pulse did quicken a bit and my blood pressure rose for a few minutes. After the initial panic (which didn't last nearly as long as I would have expected), I said a quick prayer for help figuring out what to do, and God just told me to relax and get back to the work I was doing (painting the hallway and living room while the rest of the family was out of town). God assured me that everything would work out and worship would be just what was needed for people to encounter him.

So, Sunday morning arrives and we still have no piano player. My song leader arrives about 2 minutes before worship and I inform him of the situation. He just says to me, "no problem. I guess we are going to worship 'Church of Christ' style." And so we did. We had no musical instruments expect for the ones God provided us naturally, our voices. In the midst of the silence that would otherwise have been filled with the piano, God's voice came and spoke. In the singing of the "old Gospel favorites" in the hymnal which was printed in 1938, our voices were heard praising God and it was truly a joyful noise.

My heart was strangely warmed yesterday morning in the silence and peacefulness of a "Church of Christ" style worship service. Lord, thank you for not only calming my heart, but also warming it.

Blessings,
Chris