Giving Thanks!

While I don’t know that I need to do a full debrief on special services – like our Thanksgiving Day service – yesterday held enough to be thankful for that I wanted to share!

Our 10am Thanksgiving Day service was probably the best blending of our traditional and contemporary formats that has occurred in my time at First Trinity. The band, the adult and handbell choirs, traditional liturgies and a great sermon all made for a fun and worshipful service to praise our God for His many blessings. The finale came as the band and organ joined together for the final hymn and filled the sanctuary with sound. We tried an experiment with the slides, too. If you noticed, we were able to add the melody line to the slides for the final hymn. Let me know how you think that worked!

The day continued for my family with the Thanksgiving meal with a last minute venue change! The original plan was to head to my parents to meet with my family. However, my father went to the emergency room Wednesday morning with more atrial fibrillations (He was in for these two weeks ago) and ended up being admitted to they could regulate some new meds. Since it was looking like he would be in for a couple of days, we moved the meal to our house and planned with my brother to get everything ready so Mom could stay at the hospital. However, a few hours before the food was ready my mom walked through the door with my dad in tow! They had decided around noon that everything was fine and released him. So, to top off an already good day, we got to spend Thanksgiving as a family when we thought that would not be possible.

While it’s true on any given day, we were able to say wholeheartedly this Thanksgiving: God is good…no…God is great!

A Turkey’s Letter

Thanksgiving: It’s a day to be grateful for all the blessings that God has given us; a day to celebrate His faithfulness; a day to spend with family feasting and enjoying each other’s company…

…unless, of course, you are the turkey!

Caleb (4th grade – age 9) had a fun and unique school assignment due this past week. Students were to pretend they were Farmer Brown’s turkey and write him a letter giving 3-4 reasons why their life should be spared this Thanksgiving. Below is Caleb’s submission – completely unedited! – for you to enjoy.

 

Dear Farmer Fred,

I am a turkey. Yes it is a rare talent for a turkey to be able to write. That is one reason that you should spare my life. It is almost time for “Go to Market day”, so please consider this letter.

One reason I hope you will spare my life is that I could get you worms for fishing. I have the ability to tell the good worms from the bad ones. Plus, I can leave the hole I dug to get the worms for you to plant in. I can also clear worms from the garden (if you will let me in).

Another reason why you should spare my life is that I am very good at cooking. I’m very good at using the toaster oven. I can also work the microwave. I can scoop ice cream super fast. I can also wash the dishes and make them spotless.

Lastly, I can be your personal alarm. I can wake you up in the morning. I can also warn you of intruders. Plus, if you tie a stool in the back of your pick-up truck, I could gobble if you start to back up when there are cars coming (yes I know your mirrors aren’t on your truck).

I hope you will consider all these reasons and see what I can do for you and your family.

from,
your very nervous but hopeful turkey.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Prepare to Worship – Thanksgiving & November 29-30

We have a busy week this week! I hope and pray that you will join of for one (or more!) of our upcoming worship services.

Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 27, 2008 – 10:00am

Our Thanksgiving Day service will be lead by Pastor Bob Klinebiel as Pastor Whited returns from the Holy Land that day. Worship will feature our Handbell and Adult choirs, members from our worship bands, and Lutheran liturgies mixed contemporary and traditional music. Pastor Klingebiel’s theme for the morning is “Praise the Lord!”

The readings for Thanksgiving:
Old Testament:  Deuteronomy 8: 7-18
New Testament:  2 Corinthians 9: 6-15
Gospel:  Luke 17: 11-19

1^st Weekend in Advent: November 29-30

Pastor Whited is back with us this weekend for the start of Advent and the new church year. Yes, Advent – the beginning of the Christmas season and all the craziness that goes with it. But it is also a great time of year as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Pastor’s theme this week is “God is Enough,” which reminds us that it is God who supplies all that we really need.

The readings for this week:
Old Testament: Psalm 34: 1-8
New Testament: Romans 8: 31-39
Gospel: John 1: 14-18 

Songs:
Gathering:  “Meet With Me”
Opening:  “You’re Worthy of My Praise”
                 “Spirit of Truth”
Offering:  “He Brings Peace” (Sunday only)
Closing:  “Holy is the Lord”
Sending: “Prepare the Way”

Worship Debrief – “Now Begins the Days of the King” (Nov. 22-23)

We were blessed this weekend by a message from Bob Foerester – School and Education Congregation Ministries Facilitator for the Eastern District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. This is the celebration of Christ the King Sunday – the final Sunday in the Liturgical year – and we were challenged to allow Christ to take His rightful place as king in our lives.

Saturday, 11/22 – 7:00pm:

• It was a smaller crowd tonight. Okay, it was a normal sized congregation. But after the past couple weeks of higher attendance, it seemed small.
• Due to some events that we needed to highlight, we did the announcements at the beginning of the service. I thought it worked rather well and I’m wondering if this something we should look at changing permanently?
• There was an awkward moment following the sermon as the band got ready and we were forced to leave “dead air”. I’ll be trying to tweek that in the coming weeks. Interestingly enough, this was caused by doing the announcements at the beginning.

Sunday, 11/23 – 11:15am:

• I thought the service flowed really well this morning.
• Sue Steege and Pat Canfield did a great job tag-teaming the worship leadership.
• It was interesting not to project anything on the screen until after the message. While this was not planned, it was good to know that we can function without the technology when we have to.
• I also got some interesting feedback following the service. A former band member approached me and mentioned that they had a new family sitting behind them for church. She was attempting to speak with them following the service, but the band’s sending song was too loud. What do you think? Do we need to turn the volume down on the song we play as people are leaving? 

My family and I also got to enjoy “The Chosen Garment, the Bible in one act” – the Special Events ministry’s dinner theater featuring Steven Mosely. It was a subdued show without a whole lot of action, but it was great and still kept our attention. When it was over, Samuel (son #2) said of the 45 minute presentation: “Wow! I thought it would be a lot longer!”

If there was anything that you noticed or heard someone comment about, please leave it in the comments below.

We Close with Thanksgiving!

In just under a week we set aside a day to be thankful for God’s blessings in our lives. Thanksgiving is a day to enjoy an abundance of food, family, and maybe even some football. We will be worshipping at the church at 10am, blending elements from both our Traditional and Contemporary services. But, Thanksgiving is significant for another reason as well: It marks the end of the church’s Liturgical year.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the liturgical observances – I suppose it goes with preferring “contemporary worship.” But being at First Trinity has given me a new appreciation for some of the festivals on the church calendar…particularly Advent (a time of preparation for and anticipation of the birth of Christ) and Lent (a time of somber reflection on our sinful nature and need for Christ’s suffering and death). It is through these seasons – and others in the church – that we get a fuller appreciation of the wonder and sacrifice in God’s plan of salvation, all the way from the manger to the cross.

Advent marks the beginning of the Liturgical calendar and this year starts on the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving. As a worship leader, it is challenging to find music that we can use to build anticipation as the rest of the world runs headlong into Christmas without so much as a second thought! It would be easy to delve straight into the Christmas music like so many others, but then we would lose the celebration of expectant hope that permeates Advent. Our new hymnals came with some resources that make it easier to translate some of the Advent Hymns into the contemporary setting. I would be very interested to hear what songs (hymns or otherwise) have meaning for you this Advent season. No promises, but we have the potential to expand our repertoire bring you a worship experience that will ultimately enhance your holiday season.

As you get ready to wait for Christ’s birth, enjoy the turkey. Enjoy the family. Enjoy some football. And most of all be thankful! We have the greatest gift we could ever be given – our salvation. And so it is very fitting that the church year ends in Thanksgiving.

Prepare for Worship – “Now Begin the Days of the King” (Nov. 22-23)

If you’ve been reading their blogs, you know that Pastor and Sue (and others) have been spending some wonderful days over in the Holy Land walking, quite literally, where Jesus walked. I have really enjoyed following their trip and have an increasing longing to make the journey myself someday.

Sue Steege will be back this weekend, but Pastor and Susan get to enjoy some extra days visiting Egypt. This week Bob Foerester – School and Education Congregation Ministries Facilitator for the District – will be bringing God’s word to us. In his own words:

“In Tolkien’s book Return of the King, there’s a man who is supposed to be the caretaker of the throne until the rightful ruler takes his place there. But when it comes time for the king to take the throne, the caretaker refuses to let go of it. Today, Christ the King Sunday, as we anticipate the birth of that King in a manger, today is the prefect time for each of us to make sure that the rightful King is finally on the throne of each of our lives! Today, the Christian church throughout the world echoes the words from the final episode of the Tolkien’s trilogy, “Now begin the days of the King!”

The readings for this week:
Old Testament:  1 Samuel 8: 1-22
New Testament:  Colossians 1: 13-23
Gospel:  Matthew 25: 31-46

I know I always enjoy hearing Bob preach. I also like the Lord of the Rings – both the books and the movies! – so I’m really looking forward to this week’s worship! 

Sunday
Gathering:  “Hope Set High”
Opening:  “Hold On”
              “I Come To Worship You”
Offering:  “Seek Ye First”
Closing:  “Days of Elijah”
Sending: “Salt and Light”

Saturday
Opening:  “Days of Elijah”
              “I Come to Worship You”
Prayer:  “All Who Are Thirsty”
Closing: “Salt and Light”

How does that song go again?

Over the past few months, the bulk of the worship planning has been “outsourced,” if you will, to Jubal Myer. I had been needing to find ways to free up some time for other parts of my job and delegating the weekly planning has turned out to be a pretty good move. It’s amazing how freeing it can be to get a deadline off your back…well, sort of off your back. I’m still responsible for making sure everything gets where it needs to go. I can just breathe a bit easier getting that done now! Interesting trivia tidbit – Jubal was actually my predecessor as Contemporary Worship Coordinator.

Currently, Jubal and I meet roughly every two weeks to coordinate the planning process and bounce ideas of each other. There were a few things we discussed at our last meeting that I wanted to get your feedback on:

• 1) We are exploring printing the melody lines to the songs (technical name: “Lead Sheets”) in the bulletin – this is currently done at the 5:30 Saturday and 8:45 Sunday services. It was being done when I first started in 2001 and was discontinued for technical reasons (no one knew how to use the software when Mary Maxwell left!) Is this something that would be helpful to you? Or would it be distracting and difficult to read? Or…?
• 2) We are also talking about reducing the print volume in the bulletin – going “paperless,” if you will. With this line of thought, we would make greater use of the projector and screen – projecting lyrics, liturgies, possibly Lead Sheets, etc.

Nothing is set in stone and there are some technical considerations that will come in to play. But now is your chance to say “Hey, I’ve always thought it would be nice if ______________.” What are your thoughts?

Worship Debrief – “The Trinity” (Nov. 15-16)

With Pastor and many others touring the Holy Land this week and next, we were blessed to have Jason preaching again. He is usually good, but this week he seemed to me to be a notch up. Maybe it was because he was tackling the immensely vast and difficult topic of the trinity. Maybe it was just because I was in the mood for his preaching.

Anyway, the sermon was done in three parts. We in the contemporary services got to hear it all together. But the traditional services had each part separated by a verse of the sermon hymn. I got to see this in action on Saturday night at 5:30 and it was interesting. On the whole, I thought Jason did a good job of condensing an explanation of the Trinity into a 20-ish minute presentation.

Saturday, 11/15 – 7:00pm:

• We had a great and diverse congregation. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I counted at least 35…which is more than usual.
• The band had fun!
• We adjusted to the offering being taken “at the door” after the service. We dropped one song from our lineup and used it as “sending music” while the congregation was leaving. How do you think that worked?
• I loved Jason’s description of the Holy Spirit’s work in our salvation. Having ministered in many denominational settings, I’ve seen the question of how salavation works get sticky. The Holy Spirit reaches down and grabs hold of us. We then are able to – and must, out of trust – grab hold of God (our decision to accept/follow Jesus). It is Biblical truth bridges denominational divides. Awesome!!!
• The screen went goofy with the colors. It’s a projector thing…we are working on it!

Sunday, 11/16 – 11:15am:

• Some less familiar songs this week, or so it seemed. The singing seemed quieter at times.
• The projector went goofy in this service as well during the sermon. Fortunately, I was able to play with it and get it to work temporarily. A Permanent solution is forthcoming. (NOTE: It worked fine for both Traditional services. Hmm…)
• My two sons attending the worship service (I still have two in the nursery…but only for two more weeks!) have taken to standing with their arms around Darcy and me for the prayer time. I’ve enjoyed the together-ness in prayer!
• Oh yeah, the mic that didn’t work for the prayer partner? That was my fault! I had turned it off before the service and forgotten to turn it back on. Oops!

I hope and pray that you had a wonderful time of worship this weekend. Let me know if there was something in the services that struck you – we value your feedback.

Preparing to Worship

Each week I post the upcoming themes for our worship services under the title: “Prepare to Worship __________ .” My goal is to let you know our focus ahead of time so that you can be ready to connect with God when you come to one of our weekend services – you know, like the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared!

Yes, you heard me right. We can and should prepare to come to worship!

We spend about an hour each weekend gathering together, lifting praise to God, and hearing from His word. Maybe two, if you attend a Sunday Bible class. But that should be the climax in our worship of God, not the whole of it. Worship is something to be done anytime, anywhere, and in just about any way. And worship is definitely something for which we should prepare. You don’t go on a date, or to a party – or anywhere for that matter – without getting something ready. You psych yourself up for it…get excited. Coming to a worship service should be no different.

Some of the ways that I like to prepare for worship are:

• Listening to Christian music on the radio while driving to church. I listen primarily to the Family Life Network (FLN), but The Reach FM and WDCX are also options in the Buffalo area.
• Playing and singing through the songs for that week on my guitar.
• Since I lead during our worship services, I will sometimes take time to listen in on the sermon at an earlier service to be filled with God’s word before I’m “up to bat.”
• The scriptures for the week are provided in my post (with links to an online Bible tool!) so that you can read through them ahead of time. I usually do this in my planning phase.

There are many other ways to prepare for our worship services. I would love to hear what you might do. There’s nothing like copping a great idea off of someone else and making it work for yourself.  So please, feel free to share freely!

Prepare for Worship – The Trinity (Nov 15-16)

With Pastor and crew off to Israel, we again get to hear from our Director of Student Ministries, Jason Christ. He will be speaking on The Trinity and for the two traditional services, the message will be in three (short!!!) parts.

Readings this week:
Old Testament: Genesis 1: 26-27
New Testament: Acts 2: 1-4
Gospel: John 14: 15-31

The traditional services should be interesting – each part of the message will be separated by a verse from a hymn. We briefly tossed around the idea of doing the same in the Contemporary services, but there really isn’t enough time at this point to work out the logistics. For those attending at 5:30 on Saturday or 8:45 on Sunday, you’ll have to let us know how it went!

Regardless of which service you attend, I pray that you will meet with God this weekend and in some way – great or small – be transformed by His awesome and mighty hand of salvation.

Sunday 11/16

Gathering:    “You Are God Alone”
Opening:       “We Sing Hallelujah”
                     “Because We Believe”
Communion: “Take My Life (Holiness)”
                     “We Are Hungry”
                     “You Are My King (Amazing Love)”
Offering:       “Your Love O Lord”
Closing:        “Mighty To Save”
Sending:       “Be Glorified”

Saturday 11/15

Opening:      “We Sing Hallelujah”
                    “Because We Believe”
Prayer:          “Take My Life (Holiness)”
Closing:        “Mighty To Save”
Alt/Sending: “Be Glorified”