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Jim and I were having breakfast with my daughter and her boyfriend last Saturday and I was telling them how hard it is to keep track of days and dates during this pandemic. She said, “Yeah, today is Blursday, right?” We laughed and laughed. But it’s so true!
Last Sunday our tech team of Eric Peterson, Nick Rossi, and Jim, along with our musician Sara Hundley, and I recorded worship for 8/9 and 8/16. It meant I needed to have the sermons for those two weeks ready. So, we recorded the sermon for 8/9 and 8/16 then took a break. Then Sara recorded the music for those two Sundays. After a couple of hymns into 8/9 I said, “Isn’t that the Hymn of the Day for 8/16? It goes so well with the sermon.” She checked the plans and it was the correct song. A bit later we recorded the Prayer of the Day and the Prayers of Intercession. As I was reading the prayers written for 8/9, I kept thinking that it went better with the 8/16 sermon and music. I mentioned it to Sara, and she said she was thinking the same thing. Long story short, on Blursday when I had written the sermons, I had downloaded the Gospels backward. Duh.
Anyway, all that to ask, have you noticed how well the music, prayers, and scripture readings go together? Unfortunately, the worship/music team and I can’t take all the credit for that. We subscribe to a program called Seasons and Sundays which is through Augsburg Fortress, the publishing company of the ELCA. Each week there are so many resources we use. As I said, prayers, liturgy, and music suggestions are right there at our fingertips. ELCA churchwide has a whole team of people dedicated to writing prayers and liturgy so our worship services flow toward and from the Gospel reading for the day. It would take hours for me to do that every week, so I am grateful for this wonderful resource. Often, I make a tweak or two, so it fits our context, but for the most part, they are far more creative than I!
So, this Sunday, l invite you to listen carefully to the music and prayers and how they relate to the Gospel reading and the sermon. The Holy Spirit is definitely at work!
What day is it again? Oh yeah, Blursday. Hang in their friends…even if we don’t know what day it is, God does and is walking right beside us through it all!
“See” you Sunday!
Pastor Lu