Happy Sunday to you all... it was especially happy for me since Bitty actually SLEPT last night, PRASE GOD!! lol 6.5 hours straight. But of course deployment insomnia struck AGAIN and I was up until 1:45am. I literally laid in bed staring at the ceiling for 2 hours. Oh how I wish I had the flexibility to kick myself in the head because my newborn was sleeping soundly and I could not fall asleep! Oh well. I eventually got about 7 hours of broken sleep. That's all I need to function lol.
I attend a non-denominational Chapel service on Post here. Which let me tell you, is AWESOME. I was raised Lutheran, but now I consider myself just a plain ol' Christian. I am a lover and follower of Jesus, not a denomination or "religion." (Oh how I dislike that term...)
But Chapel today was great! It started off by us arriving 10 minutes early. YES! Score one for the temporarily-single Mommy of 3 young kids! In the parking lost was a big white bus AKA Soldier-Mover. When i got inside the Chapel, I saw about 30 soldiers dressed in ACUs(Army Combat Uniforms) sitting in the pews. A lot of them looked younger, and most were lower ranking. I wondered why they were there... maybe a break from a field exercise for service? I dunno.
During the service the Chaplain asked who were newcomers and who was about to be deployed. Well all these soldiers raised their hands that they were about to go to Iraq. We as a congregation, prayed for them. The sermon was about Matthew 25:31-46.
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
I attend a non-denominational Chapel service on Post here. Which let me tell you, is AWESOME. I was raised Lutheran, but now I consider myself just a plain ol' Christian. I am a lover and follower of Jesus, not a denomination or "religion." (Oh how I dislike that term...)
But Chapel today was great! It started off by us arriving 10 minutes early. YES! Score one for the temporarily-single Mommy of 3 young kids! In the parking lost was a big white bus AKA Soldier-Mover. When i got inside the Chapel, I saw about 30 soldiers dressed in ACUs(Army Combat Uniforms) sitting in the pews. A lot of them looked younger, and most were lower ranking. I wondered why they were there... maybe a break from a field exercise for service? I dunno.
During the service the Chaplain asked who were newcomers and who was about to be deployed. Well all these soldiers raised their hands that they were about to go to Iraq. We as a congregation, prayed for them. The sermon was about Matthew 25:31-46.
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
He posed the question... which are we? A sheep or a goat? Are we REAL Christians or just fakes? Or have we turned our back on God and tried to run away? Or have we just never really known God?
Then the worship team started singing. And those soldiers started praying. And weeping. They came upto the alter by the dozens. Kneeling at the foot of the cross. Laying all their worries and fears at his feet.
I had goosebumps.
The sight of these young soldiers, brave and honorable, about to march off to war, afraid of what the future holds for them, now kneeling to our King and giving their fears and uncertainties to Him, was just overwhelming to me and many of the other Army wives in attendance.
They made their choice. Today, those soldiers made a decision.
They want to be sheep.
I want to be a sheep.
1 comment:
that gave me goosebumps as well. i can just imagine those soldiers crying. i wonder if we can tell if we are sheep or a goat?
Post a Comment