A couple of weeks ago, when preaching from John this was the phrase that rang in my ears. And the answer:

"While fantastic acting and direction can help evoke emotion in an audience, nothing sets the tone in a film quite like its soundtrack. But while scores and songs are usually carefully chosen to match the dramatic arc in a film, there are times when a scene and accompanying song seem entirely mismatched. This dissonance between song and action has the power to make the scene even more poignant, emotional, or in many cases, more terrifying."

Today, Friday the 10th of August, a parishioner had surgery early in the morning, and a deacon is getting married in the afternoon, or has already been wed depending on when you read this. We can sing, "Ruan and Dennis are Going to the chapel and..." well, you know the lyric, and we all say, "Alleluia."

Living in Florida in the summer and in Orlando in particular (the lightning capital of the world), we know a little something about losing power. Then add in the hurricanes, I am sure you all remember that little gal named Irma. Many of you spent days without power. Sometimes when we look at the church as a whole or at our individual Christian lives, we and the world looking at us might ask, "Where's the power?" In the lessons this week God wants to remind us that there is no shortage of power with him.

The prophet Amos is shown a string in our passage for Sunday. More exactly, a plumb line. God shows him this instrument used by skilled builders; held above and weighted below. A simple tool with powerful diagnostic potential. There is much more to the prophet Amos and the book that collects his ministry-long span of messages and visions. You can see a brief overview of the book here that may help put his message in context.

I remember a conversation between my

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,