I was working the audio board Sunday morning while Pastor Robbie Bailey preached. For a moment, my attention wandered from Robbie to the congregation below. I smiled. I knew those heads.

Not every one of them, of course, but so many were familiar to me. And with some of them, I knew the story behind the face. Suddenly, I was filled with such affection for them.

I love these people.

I sat there for a moment, almost breathless. It wasn’t the first time love had surprised me so completely.

I attend a Bible study by phone on Wednesday nights. A few weeks earlier, while listening to those familiar voices, I realized I had fallen in love with them too. I had never seen their faces or sat beside them. Week after week, we opened Scripture together, prayed together, and came to know one another through the sound of a voice over the phone.

Along the way, affection had found its way in. I remember marveling at the beauty of such love.

Sitting in the audio booth on Sunday morning and looking at those familiar faces, I felt it again. My attention returned to Robbie. Dr. Wayne had hijacked my job at the board for the day, leaving me free to listen.

Robbie’s sermon was about the underdog. In the middle of it, he spoke of Jesus placing a longing within us. I don’t remember his exact words, but their enormity overwhelmed me.