4-11-21 Sermon Notes “Feeling Disconnected”

“We are sorry, but the number you have dialed has been disconnected,” said the robotic voice. Have you ever got that message? I have gotten it many times – especially since the proliferation of cell phones. Phone lines are not the only things disconnected. I would dare say that over the last year, we have all felt disconnected at times. It’s like we have left one thing behind, and we haven’t reached the “new normal” yet, and we are hung there…in limbo…not knowing whether to laugh or cry. That is the way the Israelites felt when they laid the foundation of the new Temple. The old was gone. The new was not yet here. They were in between. We read about this liminal time in the Book of Ezra:
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away. (Ezra 3: 10-13 NRSV)
The new series we will start this Sunday is called, “Reconnect.” That will be our focus for the next six weeks, and it will really set the tone for the whole year - #Reconnect2021.
See you Sunday,
Pastor Sam