Re-Creation

rec·re·a·tion

Pronunciation:

\ˌre-krē-ˈā-shən\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English recreacion, from Anglo-French, from Latin recreation-, recreatio restoration to health, from recreare to create anew, restore, refresh, from re- + creare to create

So I am making anew from a previous blog entry on another blog (that I have now deleted) because I was asked to censor myself.

cen·sor·ship

Pronunciation:

\ˈsen(t)-sər-ˌship\

Function:

noun

Date:

circa 1591

1 a: the institution, system, or practice of censoring b: the actions or practices of censors ; especially : censorial control exercised repressively

Technically I wasn't told to remove the blog entry.

What was said was "I wouldn't have put that up". Yes, it was my own conscious that led me to take it down. Now, the blog that I was told to take down will come next. This will be a re-creation of a field trip that I took.

Water's Edge Church in York County. I was hugely excited to take a field trip to this church because I have heard rumor that it is a rapidly growing church that is led by young adults and attracts young adults. Of course I no longer fit into that realm of "young and beautiful" but I wanted to experience this church for myself.

1st impression - the parking lot greeters were lively and energetic. I felt as though I were an airplane being directed to the gate as the young man ran backwards making hand signals for us to follow his lead and then turn into a particular parking space. That was kewl!

2nd impression - the door greeters. Actually, they were no more hospitable than any door greeters at any theater. They held open the doors and said welcome. The only thing they didn't do was rip our ticket in two.

3rd impression - the foyer. Lots of people. Families checking their elementary aged children into various and assorted classrooms, a greeters station that offered a wide assundry of brochures, a hostess station with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (yum!) and coffee, and two doors with signs that read "These doors open 10 minutes prior to service". Wow. Aside from the children's classes it could've been the Chrysler Hall (which also offers an open bar, not that I

drink).

The band was extremely well rehearsed though they only play three songs which was a shock and disappointment. I guess I always assumed contemporary meant lots of praise songs!

There were a few announcements that I didn't really pay attention to since they didn't really concern me. An interesting thing that did happen though was a pizza eating contest where they literally drove a Mini Cooper on stage to "deliver" Pizza Hut pizza to the contestants who had to wolf down a slice in a minute. The winner was given a coupon to Pizza Hut.

Pastor Stu followed with a thirty minute message. (the following was cut and paste directly from the removed blog)

The message was about our sin and God's mercy and justice. About God disciplining us for our sin and yet covering our sin by the sacrifice of an innocent lamb. History lesson ... what is Passover? Then he tied it all in to Jesus' last Passover Feast and the sacrifice of Jesus as the lamb whose blood was shed to cover our sin. Then he explained communion which we shouldn't partake in until we understand what the bread and juice are, the composition, the meaning; ask yourselves two questions: What does God think of me(immediately I thought "I am a horrible sinner who is unforgivable and unlovable) and What do I think of God (of which I had no thought)? Then we closed our eyes and pondered those two questions.

Here is more of the honesty part because I said that I would be totally honest on this blog. I have a distant relationship with Jesus, sitting at a small table and waiting patiently for me to come around. John doesn't agree with me on this - God actively pursues us, he doesn't sit around waiting for us to respond. I get this, finally. While at Water's Edge it hit me, on the head like I was a nail. THIS, meMonica, is what I've been telling you for the past four years. There I sat, eyes closed and tears streaming down my cheeks, and I walked over to that table and approached Jesus and he looked at me with absolute love and understanding and he stood there and opened his arms and I just let myself be engulfed in his presence. I let him cover me - cover my sin. And then a weird thing happened ... I smiled and I danced with Jesus. Right then I could answer the two questions. God thinks of me as forgiven because Jesus has covered my sin. And I think that I can develop a relationship with God because Jesus is walking beside me. I understood the composition of the communion wafer and the juice. I could take communion. But I didn't. When the pastor said "if you can answer those two questions, then peel open the wafer and place it in your mouth" I just sat there. I couldn't open it there because it wasn't the place for me to. I still needed more conversation with Jesus and I'll have that tomorrow, at my own home church at the rail on my knees before the cross.

THAT is my final impression of Waters Edge - the place where I turned to Jesus and collapsed into his arms and wept. For that I am extremely grateful.

And here is where this blog will end. The original continued for another paragraph but I'll censor myself. Amazing, huh?