Christmas Eve service...

"No, you have to get through two 'Rum pum pum pum's"
~my favorite quote from a night of rehearsing (speaker shall remain anonymous)

Seriously, thank you all for being involved. I'm looking forward very much to having the praise team lead some singing this year; something a little different.

See you all Wednesday night! I'll post the order tomorrow as well as have copies for you all.

~tom

Your Last Praise Set

For those of you who weren't on this week, Greg gave us an interesting exercise that I'd encourage you all to do. Here it is...

It's your last day on earth (you're about to face your mortality...). You get to pick the praise set for your last worship service. It can be as long or short as you'd like. What songs would you choose and why?

Here's mine:
In Christ Alone
-This song really sums up what our faith is based on
Come Home Running
-I so often find myself falling away from where I need to be. This song really speaks of God's love to me in a very personal way as well as his desire to maintain relationship with me.
How Great is Our God
Glorious (this is a Chris Tomlin song we don't do)
Be Thou My Vision
Breathe
Holy
You Are the One
The Heart of Worship
-As someone who's been so invested in music for so long, the reminder that worship is so much more than that weighs heavy when we sing this.
Step by Step
-A simple statement, but sincere, and something I need reminded of. I will seek you in the morning, I will learn to walk in your ways, Step by Step you'll lead me.

Some of these I chose because the music takes me to a deep place of worship. The overall theme of my set focuses on the glory and awesomeness of God; something I would want to focus on as my last act of earthly worship.

Share your set if you'd like, as well as the reasons. More important, sing your set! These songs are meaningful to you for a reason, so praise your Father with them.

"Worship can take us from sorrow about death to anticipation." (Tom's paraphrase of Greg)

Olivia

An update on Olivia, The surgery started at 7:00 am, so it was an early day they wanted us there for 6:00 am. She went through the first stage and the Dr. came in around 11:00 am and described what he had done and that the reconstruction by Dr. Losee had started. The surgery was complete at around 1:30 pm. It was successful, with only one small transfusion. She was then transferred to intensive care. I was so relieved to see her even though she had a giant bandage on her head. The bandage had Teddy Bear ears on it which was kind of cute. As of 7:00 pm she had a fever of 101 and was very mad. She pulled a couple of tubes out which I had expected to happen. They gave her Tylenol and antibiotics for the fever. We are so thankful for all the prayers and support. I just can't wait to see her home and well.

Thanks

Matt and Grace

At the risk of sounding stupid...

I recently have come across some good writing on the blogs I check in on. Great ideas, well written and researched, and a challenge for me to grow as a Christian. As a fellow part-time blogger, after reading something like that, it's easy to think that the bar of what qualifies 'good' entries is higher than I'm going to be able to get over, so I might as well leave the deep thoughts to someone else! What I have to say might have theological errors or not be backed up by enough scripture...or might not be profound enough to amaze the whole room (or cyber group) :) .

But...I started to think about what it means to 'work out your salvation with fear and trembling.' Aren't we all supposed to take part in this? Shouldn't we risk saying the wrong thing in order to get ideas out there, hopefully coming across more truth and insight as we share our collective knowledge and discernment gained from our individual walks with Christ? In Luke 2:41-52 we read the story of Jesus staying behind in the temple while his parents left Jerusalem. What was he doing in the temple? He was "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions"!! The story ends with "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."

Hmmm...could those two things be related? I don't know enough about Jewish history and culture to be sure if the Q and A Jesus partook of with the rabbis was a typical way of learning. But it sure sounds like a good method to me! The closest thing we get to bouncing ideas off each other and asking questions is in Sunday School class...and even then the topic may not be one that's on your heart, and the setting may not allow your ideas to be voiced. So, I guess what I'm really saying is, I hope you will all join me (at the risk of sounding stupid) in laying out your thoughts, questions, and insights, so that, like Jesus, we may all grow in wisdom and stature (ok, maybe not stature so much), and in favor with God and men!
~Becky

Agnus Dei

...is a Latin term meaning Lamb of God, and was originally used to refer to Jesus Christ in his role of the perfect sacrificial offering that atones for the sins of humanity in Christian theology.

A short video with an important message...

Thanksgiving thoughts

Ok, so I'm desperately flying around the house cleaning for company, but I'm glad I took time to read this daily devotional. I think we really can really lose sight of this 'attitude of gratitude' if we're not careful! Wait until you read what some of the benefits are of a thankful heart...
~Becky

Thank You Power
by Rachel Olsen

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

This week I read about a study from the University of California that showed just how great it is to be grateful.

The researchers found that grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, more satisfaction with life, and more vitality and optimism. All good qualities I want more of in my life. They also found grateful people show lower levels of depression and stress - two things I’d like to experience less in my life.

What’s more, they found that people who keep journals about gratitude on a weekly basis are healthier. They exercise more regularly, report fewer physical symptoms, and feel better in general than people who journal about neutral or negative life events. That sounds great, and I’ll take all the help I can get in the exercise department.

Finally, the research showed that people who daily count their blessings report higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, and energy. Wow, the benefits of being grateful are remarkable and many! I guess that shouldn’t surprise me after considering today’s key verse. The Bible urges us to give thanks … all the time … in every situation … because this practice is the will of God.

Let me be clear, there are terrible things that happen to us that may not be the will of God, but us praising God and giving thanks in spite of them certainly is the will of God. As Christians, we can always find reason to give thanks – thanks for the salvation of Christ, the nearness of God, and the counsel of His Spirit for starters. The psalmist declared, “I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High” (Psalm 7:17, NIV). We can do that too.

Christian poet John Milton once wrote about every grey cloud having a silver lining. Purposing to give thanks, no matter the weather, will train us to look for it. Continuing in this manner day after day ensures that gratefulness will become our normal mode of operation.

No wonder those researchers found that people regularly counting their blessings grow happier, healthier, and more optimistic. After all, that research wasn’t discovering anything new, but rather confirming the will and wisdom of God. God already knows how great it is for us to be grateful. Now “science” does too.

What can you give thanks for today?

pray

“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me.” – C. S. Lewis

I don't think I can add anything to this quote...I just ran across it and was moved by it's simplicity and power.

~Becky

So yesterday was a long day. I spent the entire day doing about 4 things at once in a high stress environment with too little time. By the time I got home I was wiped out. Its easy at times like this to complain about work, my schedule, etc. but I remembered our songs for Sunday. Greg and I spent time when picking songs discussing the profound simplicity of songs like "Thank you, Jesus" and how its so easy to breeze past that thought in the business of the day.

I have a job (several, in fact). How great is that in the current environment? Not only that, but I have a job that's very close to what I'd like to do as a career. And countless other blessings! So instead of feeling run-down or focusing on the tough things, I want to focus on the important things.

Thank you, Jesus
Thank you, Jesus
Thank you, Lord, for loving me.

~Tom

Announcement

Bright Hope Church in Butler will be having their Christmas concert on Dec. 14 at 6:30 with their praise team Face Down.

Thanks, Matt!

All of You...

...is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough
(Chris Tomlin)

I don't know about you guys, but I need to be reminded of these words on a daily basis!!

"3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4

~Becky

Interesting Worship Blog

I was hunting around a little for some worship-type websites, and stumbled across this one: www.worshipcentral.org . I thought there were some good blog posts--Here's one example:

Missing Masterpiece

On 21 August 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' painting was stolen from the Louvre in France. The Louvre was immediately closed down for an entire week as a mass operation swung into action to hunt down the missing masterpiece. When the museum was finally reopened, thousands of people queued up to see the blank wall space, where the Mona Lisa once hung.

It seems crazy that so many people would pay to essentially see nothing. I guess this can be like our church services without the Holy Spirit. We get caught up with the external things - the songs, the sound, the lighting, how the band look, how people are responding. The danger is we judge a successful time of worship by how great the band played and how intense the experience was. All of this can happen without the Holy Spirit.

A. W. Tozer once laid down the challenge, “If God took His Holy Spirit out of this world, what the church is doing would go right on and nobody would know the difference.”

We mustn't let that happen. Worship without the Holy Spirit is like turning up to the Louvre to see an empty space where the Mona Lisa was once displayed for all to see. It's a challenge to remember that we must keep getting desperate to see God's Spirit at work. To be surrendered to His lead and obedient to His call. To be passionate in prayer and willing to take risks. Only then will we see true breakthrough in the worshipping life of our churches.

Watch this after the service today...

Psalm 8

A psalm of David.

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Too Much Noise

You know the experience you have when turning the radio dial to find a good station, and in between the blips of music and voice you hear lots of irritating static? Sometimes even when you find a good station, the signal's not clear enough to completely eliminate that scratchy sound competing with your favorite song. Lately, in large part because of the election that just happened, I find my 'tuner' to God filled with too much static. Too many outside voices and topics to get wrapped up in with the candidates. Too much internal monologuing about the audacity of this candidate doing such-and-such or even the great attributes of another candidate. At the end of the day, (or more accurately, on November 5th) I had to stop myself and say 'Have I giving even half or a quarter of the thought and prayer to my Heavenly Father that I have been giving to this political election?' Yikes! The voice I really needed to hear had been so covered with other noise that I was neglecting the only truth that saves, the only person who could truly never disappoint. Sometimes it seemed my spiritual radio wasn't even plugged in! Feeling convicted, I have since turned off the politics for a while, hoping to reestablish a crystal clear signal with my Father in heaven. Anyone relate?
~Becky

Worship

Psalm 51:10

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

As I sit here this morning, contemplating where to start with housecleaning today, I read my daily devotional. It was called "Clean House, Clean Heart." How appropriate! A metaphor I can relate too! Basically, the writer is comparing our hearts to our houses. Here is a key excerpt:

"...I considered how our hearts are like messy houses at times. On the outside we look in order, but on the inside our hearts are full of clutter – clutter such as unforgiveness, bitterness, self-condemnation, sadness, lack of joy, worry and much more. All this clutter makes for a huge mess behind the closed doors of our hearts. Just as putting off cleaning our homes creates chaos around us, the longer we allow our hearts to stay cluttered and messy, the more messes our bad habits make in our lives. Think about the havoc negative self-talk, selfishness, or grumpy attitudes have caused in the past."

I wonder how much 'heart clutter' can interfere with our worship? That's a question for each of us to ask on our own, but anything that distances us from our Father takes away from the authenticity of our worship. Time for a heart cleaning, anyone?

~Becky

Braden's trip

Here's the blog for the trip Braden took: http://caringheartsmexico.blogspot.com/
Check it out!
~Becky

Some good thoughts to think...

Psalm 92 (NIV)

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to your name, O Most High,

2 to proclaim your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,

3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.

4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

5 How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!

“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”

~C.S. Lewis

When I read this quote, I am reminded of the passage in the gospels of Jesus and his triumphal entry. The people were so filled with praise they could not help but express it. We read in Luke 19:39-40: Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

I long for that kind of fullness of worship--the kind so in awe of God's glory that worship cannot help but be expressed, in thought and in deed.

~Becky

VOTE!!!

Hey guys and gals. Don't forget to get out and vote tomorrow (Nov. 4th)! And take heart no matter what the outcome, because we all know God is in control! Pray for our country as well! Take care! ~Greg

Cardboard Testimonies

A good friend of mine told me about her church doing these cardboard testimonies, while the worship team played the same song you'll hear in this video. Pretty awesome--don't know if there's a chance of us doing something like this? Thoughts? I like the fact that people who are uncomfortable with public speaking (especially the kind that makes us vulnerable) have that pressure taken off, but the result is no less profound. ~Becky

Welcome!

So I thought it might be interesting to try out a worship team blog. The purpose would be just to have the opportunity to share anything from prayer requests, to scripture, encouragement, or just some thoughts. Lets keep in mind that we are now on the WORLD WIDE WEB with this one. That means that anyone and everyone can read it. So as we represent the church and the team and our God this would not be the appropriate place for the obvious things or for dealing with team issues that should be dealt with in a face to face manner (sorry, I just had to do the disclaimer). So welcome, and check back often. Read and write! Most importantly enjoy!

If you have something worth sharing with the group, you may email the info to Tom at: tomrebecca@gmail.com .