Helping us to recognize God

“Welcome Back Sunday” on Sept. 9 was a time for greeting members of the congregation who had been away on vacation or “up at camp”. It was a time to enjoy the choir returning from its summer break and it was a time for Sunday School teachers to get reacquainted with families and their children.

And on this Welcome Back Sunday, Pastor Casey Collins helped us to get reacquainted with God in a variety of ways.

For starters, Pastor Casey asked the children gathered at the front of the sanctuary to call out elements of what they thought God looked like — loving eyes, long curly hair, a flowing robe, a big smile with teeth. With each thought, Faith York created a portrait of God on a white board.

It wasn’t exactly an image of God any of us would have expected, but who of us has ever seen God?

Our next task in God recognition was to listen to scripture passages about God and to call out characteristics of who God is. Both children and adults participated — compassionate, loving, merciful, our refuge, gracious, mighty and awesome, our guide. Each characteristic also was written on a white board at the front of the sanctuary.

And finally, following Communion, everyone was asked to stop at a table in the corner of the sanctuary and trace one of their hands onto a table cloth. The exercise echoed Pastor Casey’s sermon and was used to illustrate that whenever we do good for others, God is in the palm of our hands.

The table cloth with all of our hands will be used in future weeks as part of Sunday School lessons.

Click here for more images of Welcome Back Sunday 2018: