One Special Day After Another

A big difference I've noticed between Aussie and American churches, is the emphasis on special days. The church we are currently part of in the States, seems to pay much more attention to special days. And I don't mean just special 'Christian days' I mean any special day. Every week the sermon, the music, the decorations have a particular theme. I'm not saying this is a bad thing necessarily, but I think we've only had one 'normal' service since we got here. Today it was Memorial Day. You can see the American flag to left on the stage. The first song was the American National Anthem.

 Last week it was Pentecost. The week before it was Mother's day. I'm very much used to going through a book of the Bible, Sunday by Sunday, preaching exegetical sermons, without paying much attention to special days. Especially not secular holidays. It would be like Aussie churches having a special ANZAC day service on the Sunday of ANZAC day week. That would be strange. Perhaps its a reflection of the lack of separation of Church and State in America.