Worship Debrief – Lessons in Gratitude (Aug. 29-30)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU…

I’m practicing for a “No-complaining” day that we were all challenged to take following the message this past weekend. We live in a culture that likes to complain…and complain a lot. Just think about how often you’ve complained about traffic, your co-workers, the government, your family…you name it. Gratitude is a practice that we need to regularly participate in. It’s a choice!

To learn our lesson, we looked that the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. God provided for them regularly all that they needed. Still, there were four mistakes that the children of Israel made that led to their destruction:

1. Idolatry
2. Sexual Immorality
3. Testing of Christ (that is: Willful Defiance)
4. Grumbling

Scripture teaches us that gratitude is a result of a certain kind of character, which we must develop.

• Who do I make responsible for the joy and gratitude factor in my life? Me!
• When am I going to practice gratitude? Today…right now!
• What should I be grateful for? Everything.
• What about when I’m disappointed? Practice “Defiant Gratitude”…be grateful anyways.

Saturday, 8/29 – 7:00pm:

•          Thanks again to Tom for filling in for Matt on drums.
•          It was great to have both Elisa and Barb singing together!
•          I like that, with such a small congregation at this service, we can still laugh at the idea of a “25^th Anniversary Sue Steege” doll.
•          We’ve taken to doing a closing song while the congregation leaves…which can take as little as 30 seconds. Sometimes, however, some people stay to listen/worship more. Thanks for making it fun!

Sunday, 7/26 – 11:15am:

•          Thanks to Jubal for filling in the drums this morning.
•          We had Jake take the lead for one of the verses on “God of Wonders” at the beginning of the service. Did you know that he’s got a regular gig on Friday nights at the Good&Rich coffeehouse in Clarence?
•          Children’s message was interesting in that I took Joel up with the rest of the boys. Whenever Sue sent the kids to say “Thank You” to someone, Joel went with them…away from where I was. When she dismissed the kids, Joel again went the wrong way and Sue had to direct him back to me.

So, what in our worship particularly helped you draw close to God? What did not? Share your story in the comments below!

Worship Renewal 2 – Release the Poets

Ross Parsley, Worship Pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO and founder of the New Life School of Worship writes: “There will always be a healthy tension between following a prescribed liturgy and facilitating the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit through something new. … The balance of surprise and prediction; interest and familiarity are what contain the makings of a wonderful worship service.” In other words, we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water! We need the new to stay relevant and effective, but the old to keep us grounded and approachable. All too often, we bias ourselves one way or the other.

I have a confession to make: I’m an artist. While my job here at the church is a good deal of administration, I do it because I want to create…to make something new! We artists are kind of wired a little differently than many people. We take what we experience – be it a God experience or otherwise – and convert it to words, music, painting, drama, dance, etc. so that we can convey not just the facts, but the feeling of what we’ve experienced. It’s just what we do. Yes, it can make us a little (OK, maybe a lot!) eccentric. But we are really just trying to communicate old truth in a new and fresh way.

So, how do we release these people in our congregation to “do their thing” without leaving the rest of us in the dust? Ross Parsley brings three keys from the ministry of New Life Church:

1. The Power of Love – We artists are somewhat naturally fearful and performance-driven people, and we need to be converted to loved, accepted, and discipled children of God. As we discover who we are in God, our artistry will begin to reflect His heart. We just need an environment that allows us to be who we find ourselves to be.
2. Safe Risk-Taking – We need “safe” places to take risks and explore creativity where failure will not damage the artist or those they minister to.
3. Speak the Truth in Love – Easily said, less-easily done! Artists need – and even want! – to be evaluated and corrected if necessary. We need to be loved (see #1 above), but need to hone our craft. That means learning what works, and what does not!

If this seems abstract, it’s because it is. That’s the world we artists tend to live in. But there are some practical, less-abstract ways you can help. What are some “safe places” in our church for artists to take some risks? Are there people you know gifted in “speaking the truth in love” who can help mentor some of our artists? Do you know of any budding artist in the congregation who needs to be “unleashed?”

Prepare for Worship – Lessons on Gratitude (Aug. 29-30)

Do you ever feel that gratitude is lost in today’s society? We seem to feel that we deserve everything that we do (and don’t!) have. So when someone provides for or blesses us in some way, it doesn’t take us long to start grumbling for more. Sometimes we don’t take enough time to linger in the joy of being blessed and cared for. Other times we just don’t know how to express that gratitude. I had one of our band members this week share an incident for which they were extremely grateful, and the question was asked: “What do I do with this gratitude I’m feeling?”

This weekend, Pastor will be bringing us “Lessons on Gratitude.” The Bible is far from silent on the issue of gratitude and there are many examples written in scripture that teach (or, in some cases, warn) us to be grateful. Come and join us for worship, and hear from God’s word how joy can overtake us when we stop grumbling.

The readings for this week:
Old Testament:  Exodus 16: 1-3, 15-16
New Testament:  1 Corinthians 10: 6-12
Gospel:  John 6: 41-51

Sunday
Gathering:  “God of Wonders”
Opening:     ”All I Have”
                    ”I’m Forever Grateful”
Offering:     ”Thy Kingdom Come”
Closing:      ”Thanks Be to God”
Sending:     ”Rock of Ages”

Saturday
Opening:  “All I Have”
                 ”I’m Forever Grateful”
Prayer:    ”Thy Kingdom Come”
Closing:   ”Thanks Be to God”
Sending:  ”Rock of Ages”

Worship Renewal 1 – Review Worship Practices

I want to begin to dive into the 7 Steps to Worship Renewal that were introduced last week. So, here we go!

Most of us would agree that God deserves our very best. The question is: are we giving it to Him? In the first Step to Worship Renewal, Michael Neale – Worship Pastor at The People’s Church in Franklin, TN and speaker at Seminars4Worship – discusses reviewing our worship practices to see if they need to be changed or revamped. The idea is not to throw away the old for the new (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!) but rather keep our practices from becoming, as the author says, “stagnant, indifferent, comfortable, lazy, apathetic, and ineffective. Even the most creative ideas can become dead orthodoxy if overused and never refreshed.” When we stay in our worship environment, we get used to it and it becomes commonplace. We don’t notice the special-ness of what may (or may not) be happening…and we are not renewed!

Mr. Neale has a rather long “laundry list” of questions to ask ourselves regarding our worship practices. While there’s too many to list them all, I wanted to dive into a few and see what came out. So…here’s your chance to jump into the discussion!

• Are people fully engaged in what is happening in our corporate settings?
• Are there historical practices of worship that could be revisited?
• When was the last time we visited a church that is very different from ours? (yeah, I know…this is considered taboo in some Lutheran circles.)
• Are the songs we’re singing actually being sung in the congregation?
• Are we seeing lives changed as the come to faith in Christ?

Please don’t feel you have to respond to all the questions. But I would encourage you to share whatever jumps out at you as you ask them.

Worship Debrief – Revealing Jesus (Aug. 22-23)

Again, we heard from Jason as he followed up last week’s message from the Work Camp themes. Last week we saw “Jesus Revealed,” and this week we looked at “Revealing Jesus.” It was basically a look at Peter and the journey that he took from realizing who Jesus was to boldly proclaiming Jesus as Savior.

In another look at last week’s theme, we saw that Peter, James, and John were part of Jesus’ inner circle – they knew Him. Therefore they were the three that Jesus chose to reveal His true self too when he was transfigured on the mountain. While Peter wanted to stay on the mountain, Jesus was preparing him to go and tell others.

Scripture gives us a great example of how Peter was transformed by Jesus. Following Jesus’ ascension in the book of Acts, we start to see Peter preaching rather than just sitting on the mountain. He is bold rather than fearful, and we can learn our lesson from him. We all, at some point, started a relationship with God and climbed (or are climbing) to a mountain-top in our journey where everything about God is alive to us. We are learning, living, and listening to God. But then things start to go downhill and we are faced with a choice: abandon our walk with God, pretend everything is OK, or plunge down into the dip and see what happens. It’s in that dip that we are best able to reveal Jesus, because others will see our faith when it doesn’t make sense and begin to wonder where it comes from.

Saturday, 8/22 – 7:00pm:

•          Thanks to Tom for filling in for Matt!!
•          This is what happens at this service sometimes: 6:59 – sanctuary is empty (or nearly so.). 7:00 (start time) – one or two people filter in. 7:03 – the congregation jumps from 2 to 20. I don’t think this will ever cease to amaze me!
•          Great time of worship tonight with a bunch of familiar faces.
•          Thanks also to Joe for filling in on sound.
•          As you may have heard, the church flooded again last week on Thursday with the thunderstorms that rolled through. Quirks of the night: the fan drying the carpet at the base of the balcony stairs made a sound that sounded like feedback; and the emergency light by the elevator was sounding like a noisy fan. Things that make you go “Hmmm…”

Sunday, 8/23 – 11:15am:

•          Welcome to Jada Barnes, who was singing with us for the first time this weekend. We are going to have quite a crew when Annie and Jennie Morris get back!
•          Sue’s children’s message was great, as always, but I was amazed at how insightful the kids were when she asked them what kinds of things get them down. There were some great answers!
•          I don’t know how visible it was to everyone, but Jason’s use of the whiteboard during the message was a nice change. Even though we had the diagram on the sermon notes, his use of the board was effective.
•          Funny story: I had to make sure that I got Jason’s mic back from him after the service. Apparently, the headsets that we use are very comfortable – Jason wore his out of the building after services both last Sunday and this past Saturday!

7 Steps to Worship Renewal – Table of Contents.

I published on Thursday a post about our Branding Statements – asking what made you feel important in Worship – and then followed it up on Friday with a post on Worship Renewal. It started to strike me as being counterproductive…then I thought about it. We are gearing up for a month-long church-wide theme in September looking at FTLC as a church “Where People Matter.” Worship Renewal is all about people. So, in retrospect, it fits perfectly!!!

If you haven’t read the post on September’s theme, you can do so here – I would love it if you could leave a comment, too!

As for the 7 Steps to Worship Renewal, there will be another 7 posts on that subject – one for each step (and then maybe a follow up…not sure on that yet.) Anyway, I thought I would list out the 7 steps from the article so that you can know what’s coming. Call it a Table of Contents! Here they are (as the titles will appear):

1. Worship Renewal 1 – Review Worship Practices
2. Worship Renewal 2 – Release the Poets
3. Worship Renewal 3 – Study Worship and the Bible
4. Worship Renewal 4 – Understand the Culture of Your Community
5. Worship Renewal 5 – Reflect on the History of Your Congregation
6. Worship Renewal 6 – Leadership and Teaching Worship
7. Worship Renewal 7 – Pray!!!

I’m looking forward to this journey and discussion.

7 Steps to Worship Renewal – Intro

I’m back into Worship Leader Magazine again – this time the current issue! – and the focus is on Worship Renewal. Not that our worship is bad or boring or…whatever. But we live in a culture that is constantly looking for something new and there is a tendency to apply that mindset to worship and call it “renewed.” This article, however, is talking Worship Renewal as a “renewal of people, transformed from within by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Since our mission is to Transform our world one life at a time through the power of God’s living word, this seemed to be a great discussion point! The intro is written by Graham Kendrick, British worship leader and author of the song, “Shine, Jesus Shine.”

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Romans 12: 1-2 (NIV)

Our worship, whether we are talking about the music or something else, is a response to God’s mercy that we see poured out on us and those around us. It calls us to a change – to be renewed – and what overflows from that renewal becomes the “voice” of our worship. Each congregation has (or should have) a unique sound that is their voice of renewal. The trick is to hear it! Some of the hidden mechanics of renewal are mission, mercy, and mentoring. Those who are giving, serving, praying, teaching/mentoring in and through our church – those who are loving others – are going to have this overflow that we can listen to. Generosity (in all forms) generates gratitude, and that will bring out a joy that voices itself in worship.

Over the course of several posts, I’m going to look 7 steps to renewal that are put forth in the article. I am going to ask questions. I want answers! Questions will involve things like our worship practices, our culture, bible study, leadership and teaching, and so on. So sit back, enjoy the ride, and get ready to let our “voice” be heard!

Help! We’ve Been Branded!!!

If you were at the June voter’s meeting, you got a preview of the branding statements that our communications team has worked on. These are some simple statements that are designed to tell people a whole lot about the congregation of First Trinity. Here’s what we’ve got:

First Trinity is a church

• Where people matter;
• That is rooted and relevant;
• Celebrating life together.

Over the course of the next year, the plan is to unpack each of these in detail. We are setting aside three 4-6 week blocks of time during which every ministry in the church will focus in on one of these statements. The first is coming in September as we discover what it means to be a church “Where People Matter.” Very steeped in the Gospel message and the work of Jesus, each of the four weeks in this series will gradually expand our horizons to see individuals, families, our community (that is, Western New York), through the eyes of God.

Obviously, this takes a lot of planning! The big question for us in worship leadership is: How do we incorporate this theme into worship? I’m not talking about just singing songs and doing dramas that show that people matter. I’m talking about people coming to worship and leaving knowing that they, their families, and their communities are important to God, first of all, and then to us. So…here’s your chance to be part of the planning process:

What makes you feel important in worship?

There, I’ve opened the can of worms. Let’s see what comes slithering out!

Prepare for Worship – Revealing Jesus (Aug. 22-23)

Jason continues this week looking at the themes from Work Camp. We’ve already heard that God had prepared the world and His people to receive the Messiah, and they more or less missed Him! Now, Jesus has been revealed and that revelation comes with a responsibility: Revealing Jesus. Come hear more this weekend!

Readings for this week:
Old Testament: Isaiah 55: 8-11
New Testament: Acts 4: 1-13
Gospel: Mark 9: 2-10

Sunday
Gathering:      “How Majestic is Your Name”
Opening:        “Be Near Us, Lord Jesus”
                                “The Power of Your Love”
Offering:        ”Empty Me”
Closing:         “Lord I Lift Your Name on High”
Sending:        “Be Glorified”

Saturday
Opening:        “Lord I Lift Your Name on High”
                               “The Power of Your Love”
Prayer:          ”Empty Me”
Closing:         “Be Glorified”
Sending:        “Here is Our King”

Worship Debrief – Jesus Revealed (Aug. 15-16)

As with last year following Work Camp, Jason is bringing us a couple of messages based on the theme of this year’s camp. This week was, essentially, part 1 – Title: Jesus Revealed – and looked at the preparation for and reaction to Jesus’ life. We saw that:

God prepared the world for Jesus! Alexander the great brought a common language to the world (Greek) and the Roman Empire built roads for easier travel, both of which were instrumental in the spreading of Jesus’ message. In addition, it was the census called by Caesar Augustus that brought Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth as prophesied.

God prepared His people for Jesus! He promised a Messiah and reminded His people of His saving work. God also provided the method of Jesus’ birth as confirmation that He would be the Messiah and foretold what Jesus would do.

God’s people missed Jesus! When Jesus revealed Himself in the temple, at first the people were amazed. But then that amazement turned to disbelief and the people demanded proof. When Jesus didn’t give it to them, the lack of proof led to anger.

We need to fix our eyes on Jesus! Fixing our eyes on Him means praying for eyes that perceive and ears that understand. We test what we hear against the scriptures and submit to God’s teaching.

Saturday, 8/15 – 7:00pm:

•          What fun this week! We had almost as many people as the 5:30 service (which was very light this weekend) and we also had several youth in worship with us.
•          Jason had the podium pushed too far forward in the aisle, so when Michelle came up to read, the mic wouldn’t quite reach.
•          Jason did great with the message as usual.
•          Did I mention that we had almost as many people as the 5:30 service?
•          Great time after the service praying with the youth for Jennie Morris and a surgical procedure she is having this week. These are now being dubbed “Prayer Parties!”

Sunday, 8/16 – 11:15am:

•          We keep trying some new things with this band! Jake and I were switching guitars throughout the service. Not sure I want to do it again (a bit of a logistical distraction) but it was an interesting experiment!
•          A big “Thank You” to Cathi Doebler from the other band for filling in this morning while Sue Garvey was away!!!
•          Had a slight glitch with the wireless mic on the altar…forgot to make sure it was on and the battery was good before service. Fortunately, the battery in my monitor pack also died and I was already heading that way to get a new one. Getting Brian amplified again was no problem. God is good!
•          I think the sanctuary cleared out faster during the closing song this morning than it did on Saturday night. That has to be a first!