Tregaron and its wonderful residence!

My senior Pastor and the Music Minister have asked me take over the ministry and become the Pastor at an independent living facility that our church has had services at for the last fifteen years.  It's called "The Church at Tregaron", has about twenty five people each Sunday.  99% women, from many different theological backgrounds, with an occasional husband or son attending.  They are a lovely group of people, who are very caring and who are just appreciative that someone is taking the time to provide them spiritual care.  They have been a very receptive to the Gospel Message but everyone has expressed already having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our King.
The ministry team is made up of a gentlemen and two ladies who do all of the music and set up and one lady who does snacks and hands out hymnals and the bulletins.  I have found that Lifesprings Church put some money into the equipment that we use. I have preached in many nursing, independent living and assisted living and only the really high end facility have anything to support a service. Our mother church really shows how much they care about these loving folks.
Personally, music has not and probably will never be a strength, unless we start singing like the Old Appalachia Baptist's?  You'll have to look that one up, I found it really interesting.  We sing hymns out of the old Baptist Hymnal and sometime the Music Leader gets a little excited.  He really does love God's music and he just pours his whole self into rejoicing in God. I so enjoy watching a man who is on fire for the Lord and shares so much through his worship.  It makes it hard to laugh and sing at the same time!
God has luckily gifted all of His people in different ways.  I have to remember that though I have been there for a few months know, one of the Ladies and her now deceased husband started it 15 years ago and the music guy has been there almost as long.  They are very gracious with me, even when they think I'm supposed to be the leader of our little circus but I'm supposed to do it the way it has always been, Ha, ha, ha...
It's all to the Glory of God! May he bless you and keep you close to His bosom!

People are people no matter what!

Why would someone, in this case myself, say "People are people, no matter what"?  I believe that we are losing how special we really are.  I do understand that we are all totally depraved individuals, only seeking self gratification but there is a cultural shift to make people no longer special but God did.

"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

   " So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them."

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28 ESV)

I hear it all the time, you can't pick or read any articles that deals with humanity, medical or ethics and not find it mentioned but what is it?  The quality of life, is usually the word thrown around.  Just imagine you've just had your first baby and the Doctor and Nurses are fussing and you think somethings wrong.  Then they bring you your baby and you notice she has downs syndrome. The Nurse, pats you on your shoulder and tells you shes so sorry.

I use this incomplete illustration because I have heard Doctors and Nurses who have said "this child should not have been allowed to be born, what is there quality of life going to be".  What they have forgotten is that even this beautiful child is created in the image of God and dismissed because she's not going to be like everyone else.  That's OK, because you know everyone else usually isn't so great, that's why the path to Hell is a broad road.

I want to leave on a question because there is a lot more and I want to continue talking about this.  The question is: "How do we steer society back to one that celebrates life?"...to be continued...