A friend of mine emailed me this week, commiserating that we were probably the only two people around here who have been enjoying this cooler, rainy, overcast weather.  Of course, now that I’ve typed that sentence, the sun just came out.  Ironic timing, that.  God has a sense of humor...

I was going to write about how much I love the weather this week (cool, overcast, kinda breezy), but since I’m writing this in the middle of a brewing thunderstorm, perhaps I should hold off on that until I see what kind of damage the storm will bring as of tomorrow morning...

So I got to go stand in the fairly cold wind and rain to watch Josiah Christianson’s final football game in his elementary school league this Saturday morning, and it was a blast.  No, they didn’t win, but the experience was just a lot of fun.  One of the coaches kind of apologized to the parents for the weather, but I just said that “It’s football weather!”  I mean, you might rain out a World Series in baseball, but you don’t let a little thing like hypothermia ruin a perfectly good football game...

Hopefully, this Update finds you and your household doing well as you prepare this week for Reformation Weekend.  Yes, that’s right -- 498 years ago Saturday, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church there in Wittenberg, sparking off the Protestant Reformation.  Luckily for us today, stores like to stock up on candy in preparation for the celebration...

What a great weekend!  Not only was the weather nice, but the service was just Spirit-led from start to finish.  Long story short, I kept praying and praying about whether or not my sermon was going to strike the right tone, and I was still deep in prayer about it when we began our worship time...

Welcome to the Fall!  I just mowed my lawn today, and it was nice to be able to do it without sweating, since it was in the 60s this morning.  Now, if we can just get some more overcast days rolling in, Pastor Kevin will be a happy man...

I hope that this Update finds you doing well, wherever you are.  I know that several of our FCCers are experiencing some complicated issues in their lives right now (two people struggling with eye problems, one with serious kidney stone issues, another with post-surgical rehabilitation, etc.), so if you’re having a hard week, you’re in good company...

What a busy day we had here at FCC this week!  First off, we rushed through a lot of information in Sunday School, so we’ll have to start next week off right with talking about those pirates...

So the Pumpkin Festival has come and gone, and I ate my requisite annual corn dog (and it was delicious, thank you).  Only another 51 weeks until the next Pumpkin Festival begins -- mark your calendars now...

I can’t help but be excited -- it’s Pumpkin Festival week, and that’s the social event of the year in Central Illinois.  Well, some people would point to the Turkey Festival in Tremont, or the Heart of Illinois Fair in Peoria... but it’s really the Pumpkin Festival in Morton (I mean, can you get pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin chili at those other fairs?)....

This has been a crazy week.  It’s been a good one, but a crazy one.  Hopefully, this Sunday Morning Update finds you well-rested after your three-day weekend...

I know that you’re probably reading this in September, so welcome to Autumn!  I say that with my tongue firmly in my cheek, since our thermometer says that it’s currently 97 degrees outside...

More than one person noted that my first Sunday back from vacation had overcast weather outside and Irish music in the prelude inside.  It’s like God was saying, “Hey, it’s good to have you back...”

Okay, technically, I haven’t been at First Covenant for the past two weeks (because we’ve been on vacation), so I can’t really give you too much of an Update on what’s been going on here.  I know that the Teen Challenge guys came on the 9th and shared about how God has impacted men who are working through drug and alcohol addictions, and I know that Floyd Huebner spoke on the 16th about the Gideons and their ministry of sharing the Bible with people around the world -- so check out their websites for more information about those ministries...

I hope that this Sunday Morning Update finds you healthy and happy, wherever you may be.  We had a great day of worship this week here at First Covenant, so I hope that you were able to take the time to worship with people as well.  You may be reading this a bit early this week, because I’m writing it early this week.  See, I just finished up teaching my Logic and Critical Thinking class at Spoon River College this week, so I’m going off on a two-week vacation, starting Monday... and I wanted to get this written and posted before we left....