Sunday Summary

It was another great Sunday here at CSUMC. Here are some of the highlights:

• Rob and Lorelle Wandell shared about the Handbell festival and how it will benefit Carpenter's place. The festival is This Saturday, April 28th at 4:30 and will be held at Rockford Christian High School. Tickets are $5 and proceeds will go to Carpenter's place. Please see the Wandells or Rob Kennan for tickets.
• We heard the news that Betty Lou Leach is finally home!
• Mary Pulliam of Love In The Name of Christ... Love, INC... here in Rockford brought us information on Love, Inc. Reminding us of how important it is for us to all be involved. Love Inc is a strategy for helping those in need in our Community. It connects people with the love of Christ outside the doors of our congregation. What a great ministry!
• The Choir presented "The Colors of Your Love" as the Offetory Anthem.
• The Scriptures were Acts 9:1-20, and John 21: 1-19.
• Rob shared "It is well with my soul" on the piano we had on loan from hosting the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center's presentation of the renowned pianist Awadagin Pratt.

Pastor Keith's sermon was entitled "Love's Symtoms" and here are some highlights from his words:

• "The Goodness of God is always proven to be a reality in our lives and in our world, even in the face of tragedy like what we witnessed at Virginia Tech."
• The story of Jesus speaking to Peter and asking repeatedly, "Do you love me" is Jesus' way of letting PEter know that he is forgiven for his denial. Three denials become three confessions of love.
• Evidence of Love: On May 2, 1962, a dramatic advertisement appeared in the San Francisco examiner: “I don’t want my husband to die in the gas chamber for a crime he did not commit. I will therefore offer my services for 10 years as a cook, maid, or housekeeper to any leading attorney who will defend him and bring about his vindication.” One of San Francisco’s greatest attorneys, Vincent Hallinan, read or heard about the ad and contacted Gladys Kidd, who had placed it. Her husband, Robert Lee Kidd, was about to be tried for the slaying of an elderly antique dealer. Kidd’s fingerprints had been found on a bloodstained ornate sword in the victim’s shop.
  During the trial, Hallinan proved that the antique dealer had not been killed by the sword, and that Kidd’s fingerprints and blood on the sword got there because Kidd had once toyed with it while playfully dueling with a friend when they were both out shopping. The jury, after 11 hours, found Kidd to be not guilty.
• Evidence of Love: The story of Liviu Librescu, a holocaust survivor who was killed trying to protect his students in the Virginia Tech Tragedy.
• Evidence of Love: Jesus. Alghough he had been denied and betrayed, he did not stop loving the disciples. He came back to forgive them and help them learn how to minister without him.
• Pastor Keith also told this story: A Rabbi once asked his students, “How can you tell when night has ended and the day is about to begin?” The students argued for a while and finally one of them said, “Rabbi, could it be when you look off in the distance and see two trees you are able to tell that one is a fig tree and the other is a palm tree?” The Rabbi answered, “No.”
  So the students argued a bit longer until another brave pupil offered an answer. Rabbi, could it be when you look off in the distance, and seeing two animals, are able to distinguish that one is a sheep and the other is a dog?” Again the Rabbi answered, “No.”Finally, exasperated the students asked, “Rabbi, tell us then, how do you know when the night has ended and the day is about to begin?” The Rabbi looked at each of them in turn and said “It is when you can look upon the face of any man, woman or child and see there a brother or a sister. Because if you cannot do that, no matter what time of day it is, it is still night.”
• Pastor Keith reminded us that feeding God's sheep means showing God's love to all people!

If you missed any of our services this weekend, please join us again this week. Saturday at 5:12, Sundays at 8 and 10:45!