Today is Palm Sunday. It always sneaks up on me — I never seem to know when Easter will be. I wish it would stick to a particular day, or even a particular month! Fortunately, Palm Sunday is sort of like that automated phone call you get from the dentist three days before your appointment, except in a more positive way. When you see the kids waving palm branches, you know Easter is only a week away.
Pastor Reg preached today, and he mentioned that Easter, as compared with Christmas, is actually worthy of a lot more celebration, from a theological perspective. Yet most of the time even Christians spend a lot more time fixated on Christmas than we do on Easter. I suppose he’s right — time to break out the Easter lights and hang our Easter Baskets by the chimney with care.
I love the tradition our church has of bringing the kids up on Palm Sunday to sing for the congregation. It is a lot of fun to see each of them waving the palms (or sometimes colored gauze handkerchiefs) at their parents, while their teachers try desperately to arrange them on the risers without any fatalities.
The kids did a great job singing for us. I was sorry they only stayed for one song.
Our church has begun a building campaign to expand the facilities to deal with recent growth in attendance. Although we’ve grown, I didn’t realize how dramatically until today — there must have been 60 or 70 kids up on the stage this morning. Add the thirty-odd volunteers and toddler and nursery-age kids who stayed in their classrooms, and I begin to understand how our church growth is making itself felt not only in terms of how full the sanctuary is.
Being full to the rafters is a good problem, but I can’t help agree with one of our church members, who wished that we could just clap our hands and a new building would be ready. As we embark on a multi-year fund-raising and building plan, I wonder how we’ll deal with the sheer number of adults and kids that fill our church each Sunday, before the new facility is ready.
I suppose we could seat a bunch of folks up on risers, on the stage, if we give ‘em palm branches. I’m sure the pastor wouldn’t find it too distracting, to have people sitting behind him. It will be sort of like having church ‘in the round’.
Project 365, Day 88
Tim
Yo Tim: This is from Mom/Grandma. “Great Use of Ferns.” They work very well.
Of course, if Jesus had come to Lakewood, people would have waved fern fronds, and would’ve cast their raincoats on the ground for Him to ride over. We’re just trying to keep it real.
Lol
Love this line. We’ve tried to be more intentional the past few years as we not3ed this in our family.
Palm Sunday is sort of like that automated phone call you get from the dentist three days before your appointment