Worship Review

I wanted to take a quick review of worship @ the 9:30 service this morning. For the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I thought it was well attended and very full. Some people had trouble finding seats.



Opening Worship: Musically, I thought the praise team sounded good. It's so hard to see if people are getting into God's presence sometimes from the front. I would probably give it a 3.0/5.0.



Sharing of Joys/Concerns: This is one of my favorite times of the service. Today was awesome as many people share about what they are thankful for without anyone asking them to. It was started by a young boy (8 yr. old) who shared he was thankful for his family. It was just uplifting to hear everyone's thankfulness. 5.0/5.0



Sermon: Hmmmm....how do you rate yourself on the sermon? I thought it went well. The delivery was decent...it certainly could have been more polished. The content was alright, although I always wish after the fact that I would have put more time developing ideas and thoughts before hand. I think I fall into the trap of going with the first thought rather than developing the idea more fully. In all, I thought the sermon was ok. You can go to www.avenue.umc.org/listen later in the week to listen to the sermon. (Or search Avenue United Methodist Church on iTunes in the podcast to listen in. 4.0/5.0



Closing Worship: There was a nice response to the message. People brought there tithing committment cards forward to the altar (which was unrelated to my message). There were also many who came forward to pray about how to respond to Christ's birth this Christmas Season. 4.5/5.0



All in all, I thought it was a good Sunday, with a good challenge for us all to respond appropriately to God's love for us this Christmas Season.

Give Yourself Away

I'm working on next Sunday's sermon. It's not quite advent and technically (in our church, at least) past thanksgiving. So I think it will be a ThanksAdvent Sermon. I doubt it is the first of its kind!

The text I am working from is Matthew 25:31-46, which is Jesus' parable about the sheep and the goats. It's a parable about judgement (doesn't that warm the heart as we head towards Christmas?) In short, what seperates the sheep from the goats is the sheeps lifestyle of service and care for 'the least of these brothers of mine."

Who are these 'least of these?" There are many people it could refer to. The quick answer is that the least of these are the needy people stuck in poverty in our world. But often when Jesus says "Brother" he is refering back to his disciples. So 'the least of these brothers of mine" could be refering to Christian disciples or Christian missionaries who are in need. This passage is encouraging hearers to care for those who are in need, especially those doing the work of God in this world.

This is especially important this time of year. "Black Friday" looms around the corner when hoards of people will storm the stores looking for the best bargain. The average family in America spends close to $900-$1000 at Christmas...many putting that on a credit card and paying into the new year. (I should probably put a reference here, but it's at work!!) As Americans we want to get the best deals on the best gadgets and get as much as we can at Christmas time. Talk about the Christmas Spirit.

This Christmas, there are missionaries all over the globe who are struggling to make ends meet as their share the gospel of Christ. In our own country, there are those committed to serving the poorest of the poor to offer them the hope of God's love. I am challenged this Christmas season to take care of those in need, especially those doing God's work in our world.

I will be listing some links to sites where you can get invovled and help our brothers and sisters who are on the front lines and in need. They are working to help the world experience the transformational love of Jesus. This is our invitation to join with them.

Comfortable Worship

Last month, I attended the Seminars4Worship event in Lancaster, Pa. It was a pretty good event, especially since I have only attended youth ministry conferences before. There was some good worship and speakers. I was blessed to have about twenty minutes to speak with Brian Doerkson one-on-one. While we spoke, he recommended Mark Labberton's book Dangerous Worship. Never one to turn down a good book, I snatched it up and have been working through it.



There are many parts that resonate with me in this book and I want to highlight one. In chapter one Labberton writes:

"The privileges of churches like these (growing/expanding churches) can shroud the gospel in such middle and upper class consumer-oriented style and content that salvation sublty becomes more about providing a warm blacket of cultural safety that about stepping out inthe bracing winds of spiritual sacrifice."

This could describe our church very well. First, let me say that Avenue is a good church, filled with people who strive to live out their faith. We wrestle with the implications of the gospel and how we are to live. But many times I think it's easier to settle for the 'blanket of cultural safety" than to really pursue what Scripture asks us to do. It's easier to send money around the world than to go ourselves. It's more comfortable to house a food pantry rather than going out to those in need. It's more comfortable to go through the motions of worship, rather than seeking a real, authentic encounter with the living God.

I want to worship dangerously. I want to pursue God at every moment of the day. I want to lead a life that is abundant and full because I am fully devoted to following God. This is how I desire to worship.

Welcome Back

This is nothing more than me saying that I am reviving the blog. I've been writing on myspace for awhile, but I wanted to come back to this. I'll probably continue to blog some on myspace, but it will be lighter stuff. I want to blog here on things regarding faith, life, worship, and being a dad. I will probably put my first real post back here on Friday regarding next Sunday (Nov. 25th) sermon. Peace.