Rainey Prays on Some Days

The General Idea For a special Thanksgiving service, set up flipchart stations around the sanctuary. Have a slide projected that instructs parishioners as they enter the sanctuary to think of something or someone they are thankful for and why they are thankful. They should then go write it on a flipchart.   During the service, these will be read. Materials Needed ·   Flipchart stands ·   Flipchart pages ·   Flipchart markers Set Up Set up several “Thanksgiving” stations around the sanctuary with a flipchart stands where people can write on a blank flipchart page. You might want to write something like “I am thankful for . . .” at the top of the page. Also, prior to the service, assign one person per station to monitor the station, make sure the flipchart pages are collected, and that person can then share the responses for their station later during the service. Instructions Either in the five minutes leading up to the service or during a five-minute interva

I recently taught through the book, The Prodigal God , by Tim Keller. When teaching chapter five on The True Elder Brother (“My son, everything I have is yours”), I opened by playing the song " Highway Patrolman " by Bruce Springsteen.  The song is about an older brother who is a highway patrolman that frequently bails his younger brother Frankie out of trouble. The song portrays well a moral older brother with a wild living younger brother, expressed with the chorus: Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good The older brother believes it is a moral obligation to look after family members in a way the elder brother in the biblical story does not, pointing out the need for a "true elder brother" tha