4/9/2006

It's been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.

It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. In it we learned from the story in Matthew where a woman pours a bottle of expensive perfume over Jesus' head. We had a good crowd at the service and no one came late due to forgetting to change their clocks.

When I got home from that service I had a email from Donald in my inbox. He said that he had been able to pitch a baseball game for Graceland University in the Metrodome. He said that he's got an athletic scholarship that should cover much of next year's tuition at the school.

We had a neighbor who had some folding tables he wanted to donate to the church. Josh, AJ, and I were able to go to his house between services and pick them up.

The group at Kids' Church learned about the parable of the talents. They then made necklaces out of beads and plastic coins.

When it came time for Evening Worship we had a problem. With the time change the sun was still out and beaming in our back windows. This put too much light in the room for us to see the text of our songs which we project onto the wall with our overhead projector. We sang songs that were familiar and started to come up with alternative plans.

That night Heidi stopped by the house. As an employee of Home Depot she had been given a bonus "20% off" coupon. She wasn't going to use it so she gave it to the church to use for its expenses.

I got a call Monday that Jerry wasn't doing well. I went up to visit him and his wife in the hospital. They were not in the cancer ward but back in intensive care. By week's end he was back out of intensive care and focused again on fighting the Leukemia.

Onalee and I did some serious stock-up shopping for the church on Tuesday. We ended up buying a van full of paper towels, Kleenex, paper plates, candy bars, Styrofoam cups, and the like. It was good to get the supply closet restocked for a while.

A sudden intense storm that lasted only a few minutes threw off the normal rhythm of SonRisers on Wednesday. In the first 90 minutes we had fewer than 30 kids come by and we were trying to decide what to do with all the donuts that we anticipated having left over. During the last 30 minutes we had a flood of kids and ended up with nearly 90 kids for the day.

After SonRisers I found my way to Kernan Hospital and spent part of the morning with Dave. They had him up in a wheelchair and were starting him on the rigors of his physical therapy and rehabilitation.

I got a call that afternoon from Danny. He gave me the estimate on the needed roof repairs (on the old part of the building which was damaged during a wind storm a couple weeks ago). He said that if the amount was acceptable, the contractors could do the job right then. I went over to unlock the church and within about an hour the work was finished.

We had a small group at Adult Disciples that night. We read several of the stories from the Gospel of Matthew covering the time between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday.

On Thursday morning Onalee and I went to Home Depot to use the coupon Heidi had given the church. I had been wanting to go all week but felt like I should wait until Thursday to do so. When we walked in the store, they were putting out rebate certificates for the paint we were needing. We not only got out 20% off but and additional $5 per gallon back. In addition to paint, we also bought some large palm plants, some shelving, and miscellaneous hardware items.

That evening Troy, Josh, and I installed the coat hooks we'd gotten a few weeks ago. It took drilling into concrete and a generous supply of liquid nails to make it happen but we now have places for people to put their coats while at church.

We started our push to raise funds to send kids to camp. We got a couple of pledges this week. This will be a key activity for us over the next few weeks.

On Friday morning we got the Easter fliers printed at Staples. From there I picked up Lori at the airport and took her to Kernan Hospital to see her fiancé, Dave. From there it was back to Glen Burnie to get cables that connect the computer to the sound system at the church so we can begin the transition from CD to MP3 in our worship music.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. As we studied the Palm Sunday text, I asked the kids why they thought the disciples put clothes on the donkey's back. One of the answers that arose in the groups was that it was to keep Jesus from getting fleas.

Melody McNeil was in town and joined Tamara, Jenn, and me on staff for Solid Rock Cafe on Saturday evening. We had a good group of kids who played well together for the evening. Afterward Jenn arranged the plants and several other items to create a worship center for the morning.

Looking ahead to next week we have an adjusted schedule of activities. Due to spring break we will not have SonRisers this Wednesday. On Thursday evening we'll be showing the movie The Passion of the Christ. On Friday the church will be open from noon - 3:00 for reflection and prayer. In addition, we'll be distributing fliers throughout the week inviting people to our Easter activities.

Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following individuals in the forefront of your prayers:

Donte
Brian
Aries
Kayla
Beth
Lori
Patricia
Shane

Thank you for your continued prayer support.

Jeff and everyone at
The Power House
"Building the Kingdom of God Here and Now"
PowerHouseMD@Juno.com
www.pigtownchurch.org