A SENSATIONAL SUNDAY

It’s all about going beyond the eggs and chocolate bunnies.
Easter week has come and gone.

The stark reality of our history remains, the crucifixion of Jesus, an “act of torture carried out by the state to silence the messenger.”
“Holy” week has come and gone.
  It was more than just a Palm Sunday.
It was more than just a last supper.

It was more than just a good Friday.
It was more than just a Resurrection Sunday.

  We continue to live in a world with much tragedy and little secular hope but the good news is that viewed through Scriptures, the faith, hope, and love of God are grand.
Yesterday’s Easter celebration epitomizes hope and life after death.  Until Jesus took his last breath, that story spoke of his love then and now.
  That story speaks of his journey in my life.
The service was extra phenomenal, perhaps, because I have more Easter celebrations behind me than ahead or the fact that the volume was a tad sensitive to my ears so early in the morning.
  The sight of familiar faces parading by excited me.
The strains of music sent shivers to my spine.  The hymns of Resurrection took me to a deeper sense of worship.
The sermon laid the framework for believing that the resurrection really took place in history and all the superfluid lies that have been perpetrated over the centuries.
There was no time for parking lot reflections as usual.

The day did end with eggs and bunnies and children capers.
It did have a traditional Easter dinner with barbecued Salmon and trout added to the menu, compliments from a Thai family friend.
But nothing compares to how the day begun and the fact that I know the Lord and I'm not just acquainted with Him.

CARPETS OF ORANGE & GOLD

My epic poppy adventure.

“Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.”  ~John 1:3

This year, we experienced a bona fide explosion in the remote hills near Lancaster.  The technicolor display of poppies have come back roaring to

life.
The natural, never-ending, natural, blooming beauty was an experience to behold.  The view into the valley below was breathtaking.
The excitement and anticipation mounted as we traveled along,  punctuated by clouds and green mountains and occasional patches of wild flowers.
Large patches of poppies lined the roadside the closer to the reserve we got.

  I was celebrating the Lord’s creativity and acknowledging Him as the designer of this beautiful orange blanket covering the earth sandwiched between a blue sky and clouds.  I was pausing to enjoy the glory of God.

“God has made everything beautiful in its time.” ~Ecclesiastes 3:11

The visiting experience was spectacular!
Taking in the stunning view was enough to take

your breath away.  It was cold and windy, sending some of the flowers shivering, some closing up completly, giving the appearance of baby carrots sticking up from the green stems.  I am not one to complain about a blustery wind but it was a little insane. I  pulled up my hoodie and strolled on.

“Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.” ~ Psalm 96:12

It has been an intense blooming season.  As far as my eyes could see, a sea of orange with occasional patches of yellow gold fields sprinkled with an assortment of other wild flowers here and there.
The sunlight filtering through clouds.  Others moving, creating large shadows upon the never ending  carpet of orange creating an extraordinary view.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”~Psalm 19:1

It was an amazing, picturesque experience.
It is an awesome God behind the show.
Paul wrote, “God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power, and divine nature…” are seen and understood in nature. ~Romans 1:20

The master gardener’s gift that day was a jaw dropping marvel to behold, our classic California poppy state flower since 1903.  I left relaxed and refreshed.

“No poet has yet sung the full beauty of our poppy. No painter has successfully portrayed the satiny sheen of its lustrous petals. In its abundance, this colorful plant should not be slighted: cherish it and be ever thankful that so rare a flower is common.” ~John Thomas Howell

SUNDAY'S UNFOLDING EVENTs

Before you wander in a dreamlike state or say "Welcome to Grace Community Church." at having arrived, any visitor might mistake it for Heaven; that is for one issue, parking. 

The event, parking, unfolding before my eyes is an important part of every Sunday morning.
 It is the means of storing your vehicle while not in use for those couple of hours.
Finding an empty space is a common dilemma.  The availability of spaces is enough to test your sanctification and alter the mood.
 Spending pre service time in the parking lot can lend itself to some interesting observations.  In general people are very interesting. Aside from that there is the suspense from knowing that someone you know may park next to you as well as someone you know nothing about.

The parking lot is one of my favorite places because this is where Sunday's begin.  This is where the continuous, Sunday after Sunday, driving around perhaps twice to secure a spot unfolds.

As a whole, I am very appreciative of our staff pastors and very impressed by their parking lot behaviors.  
A few weeks ago, I observed one such family as they unfolded from their vehicle as one by one the children exited (5 of them) to stand quietly and patiently, although a bit wiggly at the side while the parents got organized with the stroller and such and then paraded across the parking lot out of sight.
It made such an impression on me that I in gratefulness applaud the teaching at GCC.

As I was waiting in the car this past Sunday, a car pulled up directly in front of me.  Upon parking, the endearing couple both in sunglasses lean toward each other, no small feat in a large SUV, for a kiss, oblivious to my peering eyes, almost embarrassed by the fact of witnessing such an event, they then turned to give some last minute instructions to the children seated in the back.  Again they leaned toward each other for another smooch before exiting the vehicle.

  As a young boy, around four exited, he gave his mother a hearty squeeze around the waist as an older sister made her exit.  The mother shouldered her large bag as they made their way accross the parking lot.
This is what GCC is all about.  This is what makes GCC, putting into practice what has been learned.