Sundays Archives - Small Things Are Big Things

February 16, 2014 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Sundays – The Sound of Heaven Touching Earth

We are always blessed by going to church.
Sometimes by the message.
Ha. (See what I did there? Church is so much more to us than a pastor’s message.)
For me last week, I was blessed most by a song.
(I didn’t write about last week during nap time because we went to Costco… which you know jacks up the whole day.)

One lyric in the song says, “The sound of heaven touching earth.”

This line kept playing over and over in my head.
I started to think about the sound of heaven touching earth.
What is the sound of heaven touching earth?
Then I started to look around the room.
Like most church-goers, we sit in the same place every week. I love getting to know the people near us more every week and I love looking around at the same faces in their same areas.

I looked at my friends.
Close friends, as well as friends I don’t know very well… yet.
(Because I think everyone is my friend. Even you, my bloggy friends who I have never talked to. I’m insane. But happily insane.)
I looked at their faces and I started to think of their stories.
The laughter I have shared with many most of them.
The amazing things they are doing with their lives.
The tragedies some have faced.
Joy.
Healing.
Redemption.
Then I heard it.
The sound of heaven touching earth.

Here’s the song, hope you are as blessed as I was by listening.

February 4, 2014 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Sundays – Psalms 100 {free printable}

These short 5 verses that make up Psalms 100, embody joy and thanksgiving to me. Which is probably why it’s been read for a thousand years for Jewish worship services (“Shacharit”).

(Print the rad graphic above for free here)

Psalms 100

I was reminded this week that God came for everyone.
He has been faithful through all generations.
He certainly has been faithful to me.
This Friday will be a year since my mom passed away. I can’t believe I have a whole year of memories without her in them.
How is that even possible, when she feels so present to me everyday?
And so far away.

Worship is loud, being filled with gladness, joyful, singing, knowing the lord is God.
Worship is remembering where we are from, that we were created, and we are His.
Worship is being thankful, walking toward God, and respecting His name.
Worship is holding on to His goodness and love, which lasts forever.
Worship is believing that God will be faithful to my children, my great-grandchildren and my great-great-grandchildren…

January 28, 2014 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Sundays – For All Creation is Waiting Eagerly

I love our church.
It’s our family.
Every week I glean something from the teaching.
My thoughts bump around in my head, get stuck there, then are eventually lost.
Just like clockwork, we go to church (join us!), out to lunch (join us!), then home to put kids down for naps (you aren’t invited!) and take it easy the rest of the day. I’m going to commit that nap time to writing my down my Sunday thoughts.
Welcome to the new series called, Sundays.

Romans, yo!

Today our pastor, along with two other men, read the bulk of the book of Romans out loud (Chapters 1-11, and a few verses of 12). Just as the early church would read the letters during their meetings, we read the book as our whole service.
It was powerful.
The Bible is enough.
If you’ve never read Romans, it’s a great book… if you liked to be punched in the face and turned upside down.
I’ll try to grab a few of the thoughts bouncing around in my head! I could probably write a post about each of the things that stuck out to me today. Because the nature of this service was so different than the norm, I’ll just write what struck me most. I want to finish before the kids wake up. And I’d like the weekly series to coincide with the weekly teaching.

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. Romans 1:25

My heart hurts when people have been hurt by The Church (or a church). The truth about God gets distorted and it’s easy to believe lies. What pains me most isn’t when people don’t believe, or even stop believing, it’s when they trade the truth for something else.
You know the people who believed, were disillusioned, and now are obsessed with something else. Maybe another religion (including atheism), or some lie of this world. Something that makes you busy, promises satisfaction, but will never satisfy.
Things that money can buy (great food, vacations), or the things that suck your time (your kid’s sports, excessive fitness regime).
Not abandoned or walked away but trading the truth for counterfeit.

For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. Romans 2:28-29

Getting to the root of the problem. The heart.
When I look at the belief system in different families or hear about families, I’m reminded, “God doesn’t have grandchildren.” It doesn’t matter what your parents or grandparents, think or believe. It comes down to your heart.

They don’t know where to find peace. Romans 3:17

That’s just sad.

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? Romans 6:16a

When people trade in the truth for lies they become slaves to the very thing, they think gives them freedom.

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Romans 8:19

I love the illustration of all creation waiting eagerly to be back with God.
I’m eagerly waiting for something more.
Are you?