This morning in church, we combined our two services into one for the holiday weekend. Combining is always kind of fun and makes for a less stressful Sunday in the Children’s Ministry department! We decided to do our typical first service ministry format, ending with a short (30 minute) large-group gathering. We related the red, white and blue in the American flag with some characteristics of Jesus.
As we celebrate our country’s birthday, the colors of our flag could make us think of these qualities:
RED reminds us of the courage of soldiers as they defend our country
WHITE reminds us of purity and the right decisions we pray our leaders are making on our behalf
BLUE makes us think of “justice for all” and the opportunities and freedoms we’ve each been given
And when we think of Jesus, our flag can remind us:
RED stands for the red blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross
WHITE shows us that only the blood of Jesus can cleanse our hearts from the dirt of sin
BLUE makes us think of the true-blue faithfulness of Jesus when he tells us He will forgive our sin when we ask.
OK….now all that said, all I wanted to do at the end of this devotional time was to hand each child a mini-American flag to wave as we sang “God Bless America.” And since we do live in America and it is the 4th of July weekend-no problem-right? WRONG!! There is not a small flag in Atlanta. And not because they are all sold out- but because the stores aren’t carrying them. Not Wal-Mart, not Party City, not Walgreens, not Kroger. I didn’t see a single Happy Birthday, America sign or poster or red, white and blue bunting or hat or FLAG in any of these stores to celebrate the 4th. I did see a few fireworks…whoo-hoo!
I guess what makes me mad about this whole thing is the obvious, dis-heartening, sickening lack of enthusiasm for the principles upon which our country was founded, the patriotism of a generation ago and commonality of honoring our country as the absolute best in the world is quickly waning. I suppose a lack of small flags at WalMart is not the end of the world- but it just seems like another indicator that the country I knew until really quite recently has changed drastically and quickly for the worse.
One bright spot of this 4th of July weekend was the patriotic celebration at our church, Mount Paran North, on Friday night. The Cobb Symphony played a patriotic package of music with our choir joining in on a few songs. Nearly everyone had pulled out their red, white and blue clothes which added to the festivities. The evening was fun, patriotic and full of pop style orchestral pieces of music. Best of all though was the obvious honoring of our country and the veterans and current military for sacrificing themselves on behalf of the citizens of our country. At a point in the program, the theme song for each branch of the military service was played while veterans and currently enlisted service persons filled the front of our sanctuary. It was a moving reminder that these men and women have experienced and been through situations I can’t even imagine. Take a look below:
Well- all said, I still continue to pray, “God Bless America!”
Wow, I actually bought some small flags for Super Book Olympics at party city. They had several packs of 15. That is strange that you couldn’t find them.