Music-filled Sunday

Sunday was a day full of music!

I took my Intermediate and High School orchestras to a church in Guebwiller, France. The church has several connections to BFA, and last summer one of the elders asked me if I could take the strings there to play for a service!

Randy Kent fed us croissants, juice, coffee and tea for breakfast.

My students are multi-talented. Four of my six high school players also play piano! Two of them played for the service.

I forgot to take pictures of our group set up on stage (15 crammed onto a small stage), so I tried to capture them in action after we were done. Some of them like posing for the camera….

B.K.’s father preached the sermon on the second half of Philippians 3. He gave me a run-down of the message on the way there. He opened with a story of a missionary in China many years ago who came back to America on the same boat as the President. The President had all kinds of parades and crowds to welcome his return from a fishing expedition, but the missionary had no one. When he complained that they got no recognition for doing work that was much more important, his wife said, “We’re not home yet.”

In his message he addressed some of the questions with regards to the disaster in Japan. It’s that same answer – “We’re not home yet.” It’s still a fallen world, and this earthquake/tsunami/radiation problem is just a reminder that we are not made to live forever on this earth the way it is now.

We played hymns that went along with the focus of the text, in that keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus is the main thing. We played “Seek Ye First,” “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” “Teach Me Your Ways,” “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” and “In My Life Be glorified.”

After the service, we went to McDonald’s for lunch and headed home. There’s no Mickey D’s in Kandern, so the kids don’t get to eat there very often.

Later in the afternoon, BFA’s Beginning Band had a combined concert with beginning bands from the community. I was able to attend and enjoy the cooperation of BFA with German school groups.

Sunday evening was a wonderful piano concert and message by Karen Purpero. The theme was “Freude auf den Frühling,” or Looking Forward to Spring.”

She tied in the way the melody comes back in a complicated, dissonant piece of music. In the same way, we go through deserts in our lives, but we can trust that we will get through it and it will get better.

She also said that we are all created for a purpose. How do we find out what that purpose is? Get to know the Creator!