Sunday morning found me at First Christian Church in Granbury, Texas, where the grand reunion continued. A dear friend from my early days working with the new church movement is the associate pastor there. She did not know I was coming, and as she opened her invitation to the table recalling the times when we say, "Remember when," I remembered.
Dr. Joey Jeter preached at Granbury this morning on the subject "Sharing the Double Feast." We Disciples are a double feast church. Whenever we gather for worship, we feast on the Word of God faithfully proclaimed, then we gather at the table of the Lord to share the feast of grace in the Lord's Supper.
Dr. Jeter carefully interwove scripture and story to challenge us as Disciples to make our words good. We have spoken about unity as our polar star, yet we have many generations of regret among Disciples as we have chosen to divide. We have come to place where many of this generation see us and our words as irrelevant at best and hypocritical at worst. Yet we still have the opportunity to make our word good and to enjoy the double feast of word and table.
First Christian demonstrated great hospitality and spread a feast of barbecued brisket and sausage. Church members gave a warm, friendly and genuine welcome. Even as I returned to the car this evening, I spotted a badge that said, "Granbury, Texas." I one more opportunity to give thanks.
I cannot sign this off without talking about the music. It takes a lot to get me excited about a handbell choir, but let me tell you, these folks were good! The choir's anthem was an arrangement of "Seek Ye First" accompanied by handbells. The offertory featured three ringers on "Simple Gifts."
It was a moving morning in Granbury. God is good.
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