May 6, 2026

If you were in church on Sunday, you may have wondered if I had arranged for the choir to give me a particular answer to my question and to have someone come from the congregation into the choir loft during my sermon.

The answer is no, I did not.

That was all God.

If you weren’t there or haven’t seen it, I recommend checking the service out on Facebook or YouTube.

But that is only half of the story.

Honestly, I was just not feeling it yesterday. I had spent the first half of the weekend with 4 college friends. We had gathered at the home of my very best friend whose husband had died on Palm Sunday. Although two of us had been able to attend his funeral, this was the first time we had been able to gather as a group. The main point of this gathering was to support her in this time but we also got to celebrate two birthdays and Cinco de Mayo as well.

I had to leave a bit early to get home and get some rest before Sunday. However, I did not sleep well Saturday night. I blame the chocolate cupcake I ate at 7PM. Or maybe worrying about all that was happening Sunday.

After leading Chapel in the Pines for the first time, I came to church thinking about all the things I had to do to prepare for worship. By the time I got to the sermon, I just wasn’t in a good headspace. All the time I was preaching, I was thinking: why did I say that? What is the congregation getting out of this? Where did I think I was going with this? Then I realized I had forgotten to give the choir a heads-up about the question I was asking them. I really was putting them on the spot!

So for our visitor, Amy Fisher, to respond to the choir’s prayer request without any planning or promoting from me (she later said she was moved to respond), was truly a God-thing.

And for all of that to happen without me feeling like I had done the best job ever, that is God at work in worship. Despite not being perfect, God shows up. I’m convinced now more than ever of the authority God has give us to pray in Jesus’ name. How about you?

May God show up in your life in wonderful ways this week!

Amelia