Day 2 – Worship and Relaxation
What a joyful time we had at Memorial Christian Church for their Sunday services. Gene McCoy, chairman of the board at Central Christian College, has been the preaching minister there since 1993. The congregation has done well under his leadership and they have a real spirit of friendliness and encouragement there. At first I regretted the one hour drive when there was a non-instrumental church of Christ just 10 miles away. But we were glad we made the trip after we got there. It also gave us a good chance to eat out for lunch one more time, since there aren't any fast-food restaurants here in Horseshoe Bend.
Quick observations on the church service. The preaching service came first, starting at 9:30. The auditorium was fairly full and everyone seemed very friendly. We started with a promotional video for the National Missionary Convention. The missions theme returned at the end of the service, as the congregation joins in what they call a "Harvest Prayer," where they recite Jesus' command to ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest field.
Worship was led by Gene and Becky McCoy, as well as another lady singing. It was a nice blend of choruses and hymns, all done very upbeat and in a smoothly transitioned medley. Lots of different people were involved in the service, from the husband-wife team reading Scripture and praying, to the communion meditation and closing prayer.
I got one neat idea from the church service: they play announcements on the powerpoint during the offertory (no special music). People actually pay attention to the announcements that way, and some of them are actually entertaining or cute. Someone in the church spends time creating attractive slides with all the information spelled out on the slide in an easy to read format. The best response came from a picture of a newborn baby from the congregation with all the pertinent information listed right there.
Gene preached from 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1 about fellowshipping with the Lord or with the idol’s temples. It was a nice blend of exposition and exhortation.
After preaching came Sunday school, and all the kids split up to different rooms. We adults went to a Bible study of Exodus, where they were discussing the 10th plague from Exodus 11. Hubert Pickett was the teacher. I found out that Hubert and his wife Janet (Lusby) both were Central graduates, so it was nice to see the College's influence through both the preacher and his wife (McCoys) and the Sunday school teacher.
Since today is Mike and Colan's birthdays, we let them pick the restaurant. Mike was hungry for fried chicken, even though we had it last night at Karen's Kitchen. (He thinks he could eat it every day!). He picked Popeye's chicken and biscuits, a chain that is more in the south than where we live. Ordering for a huge family at a new restaurant is a bit of a challenge, but we pulled it off.
We spent another hour in Mountain Home (aka civilization) at the Christian Bible Outlet and Wal-mart before driving the hour back.
By the way, here’s the quote of the day. We’re looking at stuff in the Christian Bible Outlet and Alex is talking about how much money he needs to buy something he wants. So he tells Colan, “My Grandpa gives me a dollar every time he comes to see me. I wish he would come a thousand times.” Looks like he understands multiplication.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach again. We canoed, played in the sand, and jumped around in the water.
Dezi and Sandy made supper for us to share in the condo.
It was by far the best meal we had all weekend thus far. The kids are wrestling out in the sunroom while the adults get a little game time in the living room. Mike and Dezi taught us a new game (to us) called “Blockus”. Pretty fun and interesting.
Now we’re on the Internet in the recreation center listening to a guy named Dave Sharp play old country songs on his guitar. I heard him sing “On the Road Again” and Mike said he needed to hit the road again. Now he’s playing old Johnny Cash Songs. He started with Folsom Prison Blues and now he’s playing the Ring of Fire. Now he’s imitating June Carter. Not a pretty sight (or sound).
I’m about to finish up here. It’s getting too wild for us in the rec room. Most of the people here are retired, but there are a few children around who are stuck here with their grandparents. I’m sure glad my grandparents took us camping instead of a place like this. They’re currently listening to Dave Sharp imitate Dolly Parton singing “I will always love you.” My guess is that they’ll be warped for life from that. Before I could get this posted and leave, he asked everyone to sing along as well. It’s just getting better every minute.
Right before I posted this, Big Dave Sharp started singing the Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton, and to my amazement, Mike was singing along with everyone. We've been here too long.
Signing out for now.
Quick observations on the church service. The preaching service came first, starting at 9:30. The auditorium was fairly full and everyone seemed very friendly. We started with a promotional video for the National Missionary Convention. The missions theme returned at the end of the service, as the congregation joins in what they call a "Harvest Prayer," where they recite Jesus' command to ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest field.
Worship was led by Gene and Becky McCoy, as well as another lady singing. It was a nice blend of choruses and hymns, all done very upbeat and in a smoothly transitioned medley. Lots of different people were involved in the service, from the husband-wife team reading Scripture and praying, to the communion meditation and closing prayer.
I got one neat idea from the church service: they play announcements on the powerpoint during the offertory (no special music). People actually pay attention to the announcements that way, and some of them are actually entertaining or cute. Someone in the church spends time creating attractive slides with all the information spelled out on the slide in an easy to read format. The best response came from a picture of a newborn baby from the congregation with all the pertinent information listed right there.
Gene preached from 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1 about fellowshipping with the Lord or with the idol’s temples. It was a nice blend of exposition and exhortation.
After preaching came Sunday school, and all the kids split up to different rooms. We adults went to a Bible study of Exodus, where they were discussing the 10th plague from Exodus 11. Hubert Pickett was the teacher. I found out that Hubert and his wife Janet (Lusby) both were Central graduates, so it was nice to see the College's influence through both the preacher and his wife (McCoys) and the Sunday school teacher.
Since today is Mike and Colan's birthdays, we let them pick the restaurant. Mike was hungry for fried chicken, even though we had it last night at Karen's Kitchen. (He thinks he could eat it every day!). He picked Popeye's chicken and biscuits, a chain that is more in the south than where we live. Ordering for a huge family at a new restaurant is a bit of a challenge, but we pulled it off.
We spent another hour in Mountain Home (aka civilization) at the Christian Bible Outlet and Wal-mart before driving the hour back.
By the way, here’s the quote of the day. We’re looking at stuff in the Christian Bible Outlet and Alex is talking about how much money he needs to buy something he wants. So he tells Colan, “My Grandpa gives me a dollar every time he comes to see me. I wish he would come a thousand times.” Looks like he understands multiplication.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach again. We canoed, played in the sand, and jumped around in the water.
Dezi and Sandy made supper for us to share in the condo.
It was by far the best meal we had all weekend thus far. The kids are wrestling out in the sunroom while the adults get a little game time in the living room. Mike and Dezi taught us a new game (to us) called “Blockus”. Pretty fun and interesting.
Now we’re on the Internet in the recreation center listening to a guy named Dave Sharp play old country songs on his guitar. I heard him sing “On the Road Again” and Mike said he needed to hit the road again. Now he’s playing old Johnny Cash Songs. He started with Folsom Prison Blues and now he’s playing the Ring of Fire. Now he’s imitating June Carter. Not a pretty sight (or sound).
I’m about to finish up here. It’s getting too wild for us in the rec room. Most of the people here are retired, but there are a few children around who are stuck here with their grandparents. I’m sure glad my grandparents took us camping instead of a place like this. They’re currently listening to Dave Sharp imitate Dolly Parton singing “I will always love you.” My guess is that they’ll be warped for life from that. Before I could get this posted and leave, he asked everyone to sing along as well. It’s just getting better every minute.
Right before I posted this, Big Dave Sharp started singing the Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton, and to my amazement, Mike was singing along with everyone. We've been here too long.
Signing out for now.
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
8:11 PM
