rally day

 as i wrote about last week, sunday was a big day in our church.  we were celebrating rally day, putting a bit of a new twist on an old tradition of getting back to sunday school after the summer.  rally day was something that hadn't been a part of the practice here for a long time, but we felt it was a great way to kickoff a sunday school program that we had poured a great deal of energy and time into planning for the fall. 

we had high hopes for this beginning, but we weren't sure what to expect.  i had preached a sermon series called "the school of faith" leading up to rally day ,as a way of emphasizing the biblical call to continued learning and growing in knowledge, understanding and wisdom.  we promoted on the radio and the newspaper and in our neighborhood.  we made phone calls and put up a big sign at the church.  and then we prayed. 

and we were blessed.  we had over 60 people in our sunday school on sunday, with new people joining every class, and, what's more, there was just an incredible energy in the building.  there was an excitement and anticipation that we haven't had in our sunday school program for a very long time!   we played games, as you can see below, and talked about our theme, digging deep, which is why you

see me pictured with a shovel below. 

then, in worship, we had an amazing hour, filled with a sincere call to get back to school, digging deep into God's word and graduating from our past and graduating to the new thing God wants to do in our lives and in our church.  we had a crowded sanctuary and (i think) a real spirit of openness to God's Spirit leading us as we move into the fall. 

many thanks to all who helped and participated in this series and all our sunday school teachers and staff who have really shown some dedication this summer as we have prepared for this moment.  and now we are beginning our journey of learning this year, with a new passion for digging deep for a solid foundation.  it's going to be a great year!