Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

One of our small groups at Grace Baptist Church is called “Presence.”  “Presence” meets on Monday evenings.  I believe they chose to name their group “Presence” after being inspired by the life story and writings of a man named, Nicholas Herman.  Nicholas is better known as Brother Lawrence.  Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite lay brother, who lived in the 1600s.  He’s best known for a small book, “The Practice of the Presence of God.”  In that book, he writes, “If I were a preacher, I would preach nothing but practicing the presence of God.  If I were to be responsible for guiding souls in the right direction, I would urge everyone to be aware of God’s constant presence, if for no other reason than because His presence is a delight to our souls and spirits.”

Last Sunday, we listened to the story of the Patriarch Jacob unexpectedly encountering God’s presence in Genesis 28.  In response, Jacob was faced with a decision.  Likewise, we said that when God finds us, we, too, are faced with a decision.  We said when we surrender to God, we discover God’s presence was with us all the time.

This Sunday, we are going to consider how we can, in Brother Lawrence’s words, “practice the Presence of God.”  Our scripture text for Sunday is Luke 23:32-43.

See you on Sunday Morning! And oh, by the way,  “Go Birds!!!!”

Pastor David