Last week was a whirlwind of activity. It began with a good day at Shorewood on Sunday. I finished a four part series on Music in the morning and continued with Galatians 5 in the evening. We had good attendance in all our services with meetings of various types taking place all afternoon. The beginning of the school year gets most folks back into life's "normal" routine.
By the way: our services are now videocast live over http://www.shorewoodbiblechurch.org/. Using Media Player allows for full screened viewing—you can actually read the chalk board!—and include the whole service: music, announcements and all!
Monday I worked on radio and prepared for TV taping and the upcoming weekend conference. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in Detroit doing TV. One special treat was an unexpected (but genuinely welcomed) opportunity to take a short boat ride down the Detroit River.
We traveled the striking Detroit River front as far south as the Ambassador Bridge, circled Belle Island and ventured out into the edge of Lake St. Claire. The weather was perfect, the water smooth and the fellowship with Greg (whose boat we were on), Leon (who arranged the trip) and Tom (who is always a gracious host while I’m there) was truly refreshing. I appreciated it more than I could say. I have a special love for the water and boating. Greg’s 30-foot Sea Ray was a perfect ride!!
When I arrived home Wednesday afternoon—about an hour late due to flight delays—I had a message that Lynn Syer had departed to be with Christ. She had been ill for several years, and although still a relatively young mother, her death was not unexpected. We were destined to have an exceptionally blessed memorial service—I’ll get to that in a moment.
That evening I taught Luke 24 and had an intense counseling session with a trouble couple. And then, finally, Cynthia and I were able to go home and say hello!
Thursday morning Allen and Teresa Leach arrived from Pennsylvania by train. We picked them up at Union station—after their train was delayed over an hour (proving that flying isn’t the only place delays occur)—had lunch at one of our favorite downtown places, Ed Debevic’s, and then made our way home to prepare for the trip to the Ridge Farm conference.
Did I mention that in the midst of all this we are remodeling our master bedroom and bath? The demolition is complete and our house is thus in general disarray. Finding our cloths, shoes—even toothbrush—has turned into a real challenge! Friday morning we were at several home supply stores trying to decide on fixtures, etc. for the project. In the afternoon we drove south to central Illinois.
The meeting at Ridge Farm Bible Church is the longest continuous running conference I participate in. I started going there in early 1980’s and have continued till now. It is always the weekend after Labor Day and folks come from a wide area to enjoy an in-depth weekend in the Word. Morris Chesnut has led this assembly from its beginning and it is good to see the fruit of his faithfulness to the Word rightly divided.
After the Saturday evening meeting we drove home in order to be at Shorewood on Sunday. I taught Colossians 3:17 in the morning and continued Galatians 5 in the evening, but it was the afternoon that held the real excitement.
After Lynn Syer’s home going, it was her 10-year-old son who called to give us the news. Neither Cynthia nor I were home Wednesday morning to take the call so he left a message on our answering machine: “Hello, this is John. I wanted to tell you that my mom when to heaven this morning at 9:33. We are alright. It’s hard, but I’m ok.”
Needless to say, that message melted our hearts!! When we meet on Sunday afternoon for the memorial service, it was touching to see an extra large host of friends gather to pay tribute to Lynn and offer encouragement to her husband, John, her children, Katie and Little John, and her siblings. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with great liberty and the crowd gave close attention. I closed by quoting Little John’s message on our answering machine. There weren’t many dry eyes at that point! Lynn’s memorial turned into a time of great rejoicing and a grand testimony to “life in Christ Jesus.”
Lynn was an endearing person, but mostly she was an enduring saint. Having suffered one devastating illness after another over the past 7+ years, she continued to rejoice in the Lord in spite of “present sufferings.” Just a few days before her death we had rejoiced together over Romans 8:18; she genuinely looked forward to the “glory that shall be revealed in us,” and was a living demonstration of the excellency of the power of God’s Word to strengthened us by His Spirit our inner man “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.”
We closed the service with the gospel song,
Tis So Sweet to Trust In Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know ‘thus saith the Lord!’
Amen! It’s times like these that make “the care of the church” a benediction rather than a burden.
Maranatha!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment