On the last day, we had perfect weather for a Sunday morning service outside in the chapel of the prayer garden. It is one of my favorite places at Trinity Pines Retreat Center.
Before everyone entered the prayer garden to pray and prepare for worship, they were given a clingy cross.
We returned to the theme of living water begun the evening before. We used a call and response out of the Psalms to open after Bobby began leading us in worship. We talked about the feast of the tabernacles or booths and about the time in John's Gospel where Jesus on the greatest and last day of this feast stood and talked about living waters. We poured out water on the steps of the outdoor chapel as the priests may have done to clean the alter area during this last day of the festival. We talked about how an encounter with living water follows us (I walked through the water and left foot prints everywhere). We talked about how we can run into dry times (especially after the spiritual highs of a retreat) and how we can all return to that living water...that Jesus is just a breath, a prayer, a moment away.
Then I filled the same bowl that had been used the night before with clean water and invited people to come forward holding their cross in their hands. I then dunked their hand and cross in the water and in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, invited them to remember their baptism and be blessed (we had talked about how we had died with Christ so that we may also be raised with Christ). I had a towel on my shoulder to dry the hands of those that wanted it. It was another powerful moment for many.
Here are some shots of Bailey, Bobby and me participating in this last day of worship:
Thanks to everyone for their participation...it was an honor and a pleasure to lead this group a little ways along the journey.
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