Last Sunday (the 14th) was a first for me – our usual pastor was on vacation, and I had offered to preach in his place, and was accepted. So, I got to preach to my own congregation. I have preached twice at CVCA, but it made me nervous to preach to a congregation that was made up of people from one to ninety-one.

A couple of years ago, I gave a talk at CVCA on the concept of “joy stomping” – the idea that people tend to “stomp” on things that make other people have joy and be happy. That can be taste in movies and music, sports teams, hobbies, etc. In the church itself, it can take the form of telling people to slow down lest they be “too excited.” It can be in the form of putting down styles of worship as a matter of opinion. My thesis was that God created us for joys, both big joys that come from God directly, as well as small joys of daily living. As such, we as Christians should be about encouraging any joy (as long as it is not sinful) and should avoid “joy stomping.”

Anyway, the sermon was an expanded version of the CVCA talk, and it seemed to go well, and I have had multiple people comment positively on it. I was pleased that I was able to get the point across.

Mer’s parents and Aunt Mary came out to support me, so the five of us, along with old family friends, Ray and Sara, went to North Canton to Grinders for brunch and for a chance to visit. We lingered a fair while and had a good time catching up.