Sumter Pastor Clay Smith: Faces in need of grace...
He struggles with memories of a sin committed in college She feels guilty about an abortion He is scared when Mom and Dad fight She has a doctor's appointment this week about a lump she discovered He wishes he could summon courage enough to ask a girl out on a date She hopes no one discovers she is living with her boyfriend
He doesn't hate people of another race anymore but feels guilty about things he said in the past She keeps sinning but calls it "just a little harmless gossip" He criticizes others for being judgmental but can't see the log in his own eye She had an affair seven years ago, her husband doesn't know about, with a man who showed up to visit church this morning
They feel guilty because the truth is neither one of them wanted their fourth child She married her second husband on the rebound and thinks she made a mistake He lost his temper last Thursday night and cussed his boss - then he lost his job They have a special-needs son who is 25, and they wonder what he will do when they are gone
She is raising her great-grandchild He found blood in his urine all last week but hasn't told his wife They had a fight on the way to church about her drinking too much last night at a party She wants to leave her husband, who is cheating, but doesn't know how she will support herself He is in denial that his kids are troubled She doesn't know how to tell her husband that she has run up $25,000 in credit card debt he doesn't know about
His wife caught him looking at porn last night No one knows that her father abused her ... They just found out they were pregnant Their teenage son was arrested this week Their 6-year-old daughter told them yesterday that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart
They just celebrated 45 years of marriage - 39 of them happy He checked the obituaries this morning, didn't find his name, and decided to come to church She just finished a week of working two jobs, trying to raise two kids by herself, and was just asked to volunteer in the preschool ministry
He fell off a ladder last week but doesn't dare tell his wife it was because he fainted She grew up in church but has never been able to shake her attraction to other women She wonders why other children make fun of her red hair
She is 14 and just had sex for the first time last Friday He is terrified to tell his parents he didn't get into med school She got a call from her mother this morning, blessing her out for not checking on her He is wondering if he can pop the question this afternoon after their picnic in the park
He hopes no one sees the bruise on his cheek, put there by his Dad She is hungover from the party she went to last night They are heartbroken because the pregnancy test came back negative again
She is angry because last week, her husband told her he was being deployed for the third time this year His wife died five years ago, and he still misses her She wonders if she turned the stove off and then wonders if dementia is setting in
They worry their child still isn't potty-trained He has $10,000 worth of bills due at his business and only $2,000 in the bank They haven't heard from their oldest son in 13 months and pray tonight is the night he calls .
She is wondering if she is good enough to be baptized He is working up the courage to ask the pretty woman in the singles group out to lunch He feels guilty because he volunteered to help out on a church project yesterday and forgot to show up
He wondered what beer tastes like and snuck a bottle of his Dad's Coors Light out of the refrigerator last night She doesn't like to fly and is nervous about her upcoming business trip He has a PET scan this week and is scared about what the results will be.
The ghosts of her childhood haunt her nightmares every night He is frustrated that his employees don't seem to get it He has questions about faith that the preacher never seems to answer in his sermons
Just faces at church. Just people needing a place of grace.
The Rev. Dr. Clay Smith is the lead pastor of Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter. Email him at claysmith@adbc.org.