Now, "No brainer thankfulness is the easy part of thankfulness, now what about being thankful, in all circumstances? Here are some more things I have learned over the past few weeks.
To be thankful to God in all circumstances takes faith. If you consider this command, no matter what happens to you, as a Christian, we are to be thankful for it. Again, that's easier to do when God is blessing your life, answering your prayers and things are fine...but what happens when things go the opposite way? Say some stuggles, sickness, job loss, persecution, suffering or any number of calamities that can occur in this world? How can a Christian can still be thankful in these circumstances?.
I don't think anybody in their right mind would be thankful for sickness, or suffering, or any thing bad to happen to them. I have heard the answer comes from our verse in Thessalonians, it says "be thankful in all circumstances", not for all circumstances, now that makes a little more sense.
But still, how am I suppose to be thankful when bad things happen to me as a Christian? Well, it goes back to our dependency on God and trust in His goodness. The answer is because God has promised to work all things for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) We need to put our faith in the fact that we can be thankful because of God's promises combined with His faithfulness.
Many times in the scripture we are told that bad things are going to happen, Jesus said "in this world you will have trouble...but I leave you my peace". James 1:2 says "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance". God is so awesome that He even takes the worst that can happen to us and uses it for our good.
Consider some of the storys from the scripture. One of my favorites is Joseph in the old testament who was sold into slavery by his brothers, put into prison because he would not commit adultery with his bosses wife, abandoned by a guy he helped out but still through it all, was faithful to God and was the person who God made him to be to serve God's purpose in his generation. If you recall the story, God used everything bad that happened to Joseph to prepare him and put him in position to save God's people from starvation during the great famine in Eygpt during that time. In fact, when Joseph had the opportunity to take vengence on his brothers for doing evil to him, he told his brothers, "for what you meant for evil, God used for good." I really like Joseph's character. He had the right perspective and heart for sure. It would be enough to be thankful to God when He blesses us with good things but as my pastor once told us, sometimes God's greatest blessings come to us in packages we would prefer not to open.
I hope that some of these things I have shared with you will be some practical encouragement on being thankful to God and why it is important. I pray He blesses you and me and gives us the grace and strength to do be thankful in all circumstances and continue to teach us about true thankfulness to God so we can all practice this each and every moment of each and every day to and live with grateful hearts.
God bless and thanks be to God in and through our Lord Jesus Christ
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
No Brainer thankfulness
I considered this whole idea of thanksgiving being a national holiday at work recently as I was typing some business correspondence to one of our vendors in Japan. Sometimes, we talk about our country's national holidays and it is interesting to find out what countries around the world take time off to celebrate. As I considered telling her about how we as a nation set aside one day per year to give thanks to our God...I was instantly struck with emotion. It was both good and sad...the good part is that at one time we did this...our nations leaders set aside a day to nationally thank God. That's an awesome thought! The sad part, as I mentioned before, is how far we have move God away from this holiday in our present culture. A good question to ask many of our fellow countryman would be,not what you are thankful for this year, but who you are thankful to. Unfortunately, if there were no national day of thanks right now, I can't imagine anyone of our leadership on either side of the isle today even considering the idea. Can you?
So what does it mean to be thankful to God in the right ways as believers? In all circumstances? Are we as Christians doing a good job of being thankful and displaying an attitude of graditude? How would our lives look different if we never did anything for God, but get this thankful thing right? What would non-believers think if we were truely always thankful to God in all circumstances.
First, lets look at what I would call no brainer thankfulness. Yet, if we are honest with eachother, yes, even us Christians who should have the corner on thankfulness struggle with this. Let me illustrate with this bold yet accurate statement...never before in the course of human history have some many humans had it so good for so long living in this country. Our poverty level is indeed super richness for the majority of the world. Still need a jumpstart on why being a thankful Christian living in the USA should be a no brainer? consider this:
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy .
And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness .. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .
If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation .. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.
If your parents are still alive and still married....you are very rare.
If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
That's what I call "No brainer" thankfulness.
In addition, what about all the blessings God puts in your life on a daily basis? Have you ever considered all that God does for you in a given day? As I was preparing this, I heard a message from a pastor who gave out an excersise to try. He said, go through your day from the time you wake up, till the time you go to bed and recount all your activities,from waking, to eating, to interaction with others and then, imagine how it would be if all these things were not in your life. Then, put or give each one of these things back to yourself mentally and view them as a gift from God.
I did this excersise and in about 20 minutes time, I had a list of 23 things that for the most part are a part of my life each day. Really, If I had taken more time, I am sure I could have listed 23 or even 43 or even 63 more things as I got deeper into all that God does for me each day. Here are some highlights:
I woke up - God's gift of life
The heat was on in my house - God's gift of providing for me
I made breakfast for my sons - More of God's provision in both material stuff and opportunities to love
I went to work - God's provision again and the opportunity to be salt and light and love others
I gave some free stuff to a customer we had laying around - More provision, opportunity to love others and show kindness
I did a random act of kindness to my neighbors - provision, opportunity to show kindness
I had an opportunity to try and witness to neighbors but was scared - opportunity to pray and ask for wisdom and courage and grow in my faith
I received immediate encouragement from radio program on the drive home - God answers prayers
I had dinner - More of God's provision opportunities to be with my family love
I had time with each of my three sons - opportunites to love, teach and enjoy them.
I went to sleep - I was reminded of just how much God gives to me each day.
As I went through this excersise, I can tell you that just considering these things for the 15-20 minutes I did, completely changed my attitude. I took the focus off of any of my "issues or problems" and put it back on God and how good He is. In fact, this is what this Pastor said would happen. He said that thankfullness and depression, anger and self pity can't exist in your mind at the same time. He went on to say that, just because you are a thankful person does not mean that you will never experience negative emotions, but once you are in the midst of negative thinking, being thankful is a quick way to get back on track.
I liken it to falling into a hole without a ladder or rope to get back out. We should practice thankfulness and counting our blessings so that we will always have that ladder in our spiritual back pockets and know how to use it. It will remind us of what God has already done for us. If I had this down and were thankful all the time, can you imagine what my attitude would be like? Can you imagine how my life would look different to the outside world?
So what does it mean to be thankful to God in the right ways as believers? In all circumstances? Are we as Christians doing a good job of being thankful and displaying an attitude of graditude? How would our lives look different if we never did anything for God, but get this thankful thing right? What would non-believers think if we were truely always thankful to God in all circumstances.
First, lets look at what I would call no brainer thankfulness. Yet, if we are honest with eachother, yes, even us Christians who should have the corner on thankfulness struggle with this. Let me illustrate with this bold yet accurate statement...never before in the course of human history have some many humans had it so good for so long living in this country. Our poverty level is indeed super richness for the majority of the world. Still need a jumpstart on why being a thankful Christian living in the USA should be a no brainer? consider this:
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy .
And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness .. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .
If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation .. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.
If your parents are still alive and still married....you are very rare.
If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
That's what I call "No brainer" thankfulness.
In addition, what about all the blessings God puts in your life on a daily basis? Have you ever considered all that God does for you in a given day? As I was preparing this, I heard a message from a pastor who gave out an excersise to try. He said, go through your day from the time you wake up, till the time you go to bed and recount all your activities,from waking, to eating, to interaction with others and then, imagine how it would be if all these things were not in your life. Then, put or give each one of these things back to yourself mentally and view them as a gift from God.
I did this excersise and in about 20 minutes time, I had a list of 23 things that for the most part are a part of my life each day. Really, If I had taken more time, I am sure I could have listed 23 or even 43 or even 63 more things as I got deeper into all that God does for me each day. Here are some highlights:
I woke up - God's gift of life
The heat was on in my house - God's gift of providing for me
I made breakfast for my sons - More of God's provision in both material stuff and opportunities to love
I went to work - God's provision again and the opportunity to be salt and light and love others
I gave some free stuff to a customer we had laying around - More provision, opportunity to love others and show kindness
I did a random act of kindness to my neighbors - provision, opportunity to show kindness
I had an opportunity to try and witness to neighbors but was scared - opportunity to pray and ask for wisdom and courage and grow in my faith
I received immediate encouragement from radio program on the drive home - God answers prayers
I had dinner - More of God's provision opportunities to be with my family love
I had time with each of my three sons - opportunites to love, teach and enjoy them.
I went to sleep - I was reminded of just how much God gives to me each day.
As I went through this excersise, I can tell you that just considering these things for the 15-20 minutes I did, completely changed my attitude. I took the focus off of any of my "issues or problems" and put it back on God and how good He is. In fact, this is what this Pastor said would happen. He said that thankfullness and depression, anger and self pity can't exist in your mind at the same time. He went on to say that, just because you are a thankful person does not mean that you will never experience negative emotions, but once you are in the midst of negative thinking, being thankful is a quick way to get back on track.
I liken it to falling into a hole without a ladder or rope to get back out. We should practice thankfulness and counting our blessings so that we will always have that ladder in our spiritual back pockets and know how to use it. It will remind us of what God has already done for us. If I had this down and were thankful all the time, can you imagine what my attitude would be like? Can you imagine how my life would look different to the outside world?
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thanksgiving...our right response
Well, it's been quite some time since I posted last...I am thankful that I finally am up to sharing something...and why am I up to it you might ask?? I have been inspired by being thankful.
Being thankful is something I have been giving much thought to lately. Like most, it's because the Thanksgiving holiday is only a few days away but more importantly, it is one of the things scripture teaches us is definately in God's will for us as Christians.
If you are like me, I give much thought, probably too much thought to what God's specific will for my life is. Sometimes, it is difficult to discern especially for someone like myself who likes to have it all figured out ahead of time. I have not seen any bible verses that have God say go and work for ABC company down the street, or be sure to marry Sue Ellen and have three kids but one thing that is very specific in God's word is our instruction to always be thankful to God for everything. Remember the scripture in 1 Thessolonians 5:18 says,"give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." and Ephesians 5:20 tells us to"Always give thanks to God the Father for everything."
Now as I have been focusing on being thankful to God, I have been learning more about what the means and the importance of it. Over the next few days, I would like to share some of what I have been learning and give you all a chance to respond with your thoughts via this blog. Let me start with two good questions. What is it really to be thankful and when we are thankful, is it God that gets the credit?
One of the things that Paul teaches us at the beginning of the book of Romans is that a characteristic of an ungodly culture is unthankfullness to God. Romans 1:21 puts it like this, speaking of cultures that God has given over to their sinfulness, "They knew God, but did not give glory to God or thank Him." I don't know about you, but for me, for years I celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday as a day with turkey and a great meal...we learned about the pilgrims and indians, the cornicopia, Mayflower and cranberries always comes to mind, but certainly, God was not the focus of this holiday nor do I think it is for much of our culture today. It was not until Jesus Christ opened up my eyes to see and continues to do so today, that I can appreciate the greatness and the importance of giving thanks to God and the gift of this national day of thanks.
And why should it not be Jesus because if you recall from scripture, He was our great model of thankfulness. At the miracle of the loaves, He gave thanks to God. At the last supper, He thanked God as he broke the bread, at Lazarus tomb, He thanked God again...He showed us how He depended on God and how we all are dependent on God. His response was thankfulness which should also be our response. Being unthankful, therefore is living blind to the presence of God, or worse, because of pride, not giving God the credit that only He deserves.
I remember a few years ago, after I had just become a christian, that I had read the story of the original pilgrims and their journeys and travels to the new land. They were God centered people for sure...willing to risk it all for the cause of Christ. I remember one journal entry saying how folks wept as they gathered at the dock to leave England and how everything they planned and did was bathed in prayer. There was no doubt about it, they knew they were taking a huge risk and were going to have to depend on God for everything. Their journey was a tough one for sure that ended in calamity with only a few surving the first year in the new land. But the ones left, kept going, and as they did, God provided for them by bringing them some miraculous help in the form of an English speaking indian who taught them many things including the ability to grow food. ( Can you imagine the chances of finding a native in a country thousands of miles away that speaks your language and knows how to grow food? Coincidence...I think not) The result was a great harvest for their first growing season. This led their leader at that time, Willam Bradford, to declare a official holiday of thanksgiving which may have lasted for several days...hence the idea of a first thanksgiving came from.
Thanksgiving was celebrated in this country from our beginning in many states as it was a custom from England to have a harvest thanksgiving but it was not until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln brought this to national attention and suggested the last thursday of November be a national day of praise and thanks. Knowing a little about Abraham Lincoln, this does not surprise me because he was a man of faith and depended on God throughout his presidency. I remember reading accounts of him face down in prayer before God all throughout the civil war. In fact he contended that the Civil was was actually a judgement from God for the sin of slavery. I have no doubt that he understood the Pslam that says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" I also have no doubt that he understood the importance of giving thanks to God in light of the above verse. If you are any type of a history buff...go to the following link and read President Lincoln's original thanksgiving proclaimation...I may make you cry...http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
I will continue this blog on tuesday with more on our country's attitude on thankfullness to God and what I would call "No brainer thankfullness"
God Bless,
Vince
Being thankful is something I have been giving much thought to lately. Like most, it's because the Thanksgiving holiday is only a few days away but more importantly, it is one of the things scripture teaches us is definately in God's will for us as Christians.
If you are like me, I give much thought, probably too much thought to what God's specific will for my life is. Sometimes, it is difficult to discern especially for someone like myself who likes to have it all figured out ahead of time. I have not seen any bible verses that have God say go and work for ABC company down the street, or be sure to marry Sue Ellen and have three kids but one thing that is very specific in God's word is our instruction to always be thankful to God for everything. Remember the scripture in 1 Thessolonians 5:18 says,"give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." and Ephesians 5:20 tells us to"Always give thanks to God the Father for everything."
Now as I have been focusing on being thankful to God, I have been learning more about what the means and the importance of it. Over the next few days, I would like to share some of what I have been learning and give you all a chance to respond with your thoughts via this blog. Let me start with two good questions. What is it really to be thankful and when we are thankful, is it God that gets the credit?
One of the things that Paul teaches us at the beginning of the book of Romans is that a characteristic of an ungodly culture is unthankfullness to God. Romans 1:21 puts it like this, speaking of cultures that God has given over to their sinfulness, "They knew God, but did not give glory to God or thank Him." I don't know about you, but for me, for years I celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday as a day with turkey and a great meal...we learned about the pilgrims and indians, the cornicopia, Mayflower and cranberries always comes to mind, but certainly, God was not the focus of this holiday nor do I think it is for much of our culture today. It was not until Jesus Christ opened up my eyes to see and continues to do so today, that I can appreciate the greatness and the importance of giving thanks to God and the gift of this national day of thanks.
And why should it not be Jesus because if you recall from scripture, He was our great model of thankfulness. At the miracle of the loaves, He gave thanks to God. At the last supper, He thanked God as he broke the bread, at Lazarus tomb, He thanked God again...He showed us how He depended on God and how we all are dependent on God. His response was thankfulness which should also be our response. Being unthankful, therefore is living blind to the presence of God, or worse, because of pride, not giving God the credit that only He deserves.
I remember a few years ago, after I had just become a christian, that I had read the story of the original pilgrims and their journeys and travels to the new land. They were God centered people for sure...willing to risk it all for the cause of Christ. I remember one journal entry saying how folks wept as they gathered at the dock to leave England and how everything they planned and did was bathed in prayer. There was no doubt about it, they knew they were taking a huge risk and were going to have to depend on God for everything. Their journey was a tough one for sure that ended in calamity with only a few surving the first year in the new land. But the ones left, kept going, and as they did, God provided for them by bringing them some miraculous help in the form of an English speaking indian who taught them many things including the ability to grow food. ( Can you imagine the chances of finding a native in a country thousands of miles away that speaks your language and knows how to grow food? Coincidence...I think not) The result was a great harvest for their first growing season. This led their leader at that time, Willam Bradford, to declare a official holiday of thanksgiving which may have lasted for several days...hence the idea of a first thanksgiving came from.
Thanksgiving was celebrated in this country from our beginning in many states as it was a custom from England to have a harvest thanksgiving but it was not until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln brought this to national attention and suggested the last thursday of November be a national day of praise and thanks. Knowing a little about Abraham Lincoln, this does not surprise me because he was a man of faith and depended on God throughout his presidency. I remember reading accounts of him face down in prayer before God all throughout the civil war. In fact he contended that the Civil was was actually a judgement from God for the sin of slavery. I have no doubt that he understood the Pslam that says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" I also have no doubt that he understood the importance of giving thanks to God in light of the above verse. If you are any type of a history buff...go to the following link and read President Lincoln's original thanksgiving proclaimation...I may make you cry...http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
I will continue this blog on tuesday with more on our country's attitude on thankfullness to God and what I would call "No brainer thankfullness"
God Bless,
Vince
Monday, October 13, 2008
Worship is not for your benefit - Rick Warren
The follow excerpt was taken from the Purpose Driven Life page 66 and also goes along with other biblical teaching I have heard about what worship should be:
" Worship is not for your benefit - As a pastor, I receive notes that say, " I loved the worship today. I got alot out of it." This is another misconception about worship. It isn't for our benefit! We worship for God's benefit. When we worship our goal is to bring pleasure to God, not ourselves.
If you ever said, " I didn't get anything out of worship today," you worshiped for the wrong reason. Worship isn't for you. It's for God. Of course, most "worship" services also include elements of fellowship, edification, and evangelism, and there are benefits to worship, but we don't worship to please ourselves. Our motive is to bring glory and pleasure to our Creator.
In Isaiah 29 God complains about worship that is half-hearted and hypocritical. The people were offering God stale prayers, insincere praise, empty words, and man-made rituals without even thinking about the meaning. God's heart is not touched by tradition in worship, but by passion and commitment. The Bible says, " These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."
" Worship is not for your benefit - As a pastor, I receive notes that say, " I loved the worship today. I got alot out of it." This is another misconception about worship. It isn't for our benefit! We worship for God's benefit. When we worship our goal is to bring pleasure to God, not ourselves.
If you ever said, " I didn't get anything out of worship today," you worshiped for the wrong reason. Worship isn't for you. It's for God. Of course, most "worship" services also include elements of fellowship, edification, and evangelism, and there are benefits to worship, but we don't worship to please ourselves. Our motive is to bring glory and pleasure to our Creator.
In Isaiah 29 God complains about worship that is half-hearted and hypocritical. The people were offering God stale prayers, insincere praise, empty words, and man-made rituals without even thinking about the meaning. God's heart is not touched by tradition in worship, but by passion and commitment. The Bible says, " These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sunday September 7,2008
Greetings you all,
First let me say thanks to all of you for all you did in making last sunday a great day had by all. Thanks again for whoever helped and put equipment away while I was helping someone with their car. I got back to help out and it was all done...that's outstanding team work and the cords looked like they even got rolled up right. (Don will be happy) This, gang, is the way we are supposed to work together. ( to the praise of God the Father through our Lord Jesus)
Please review the song list for this week. This is a tenative list subject to change upon review by Jeff. My gameplan was to open with "I will do the same", my guess is that no one is familar with it, however, it is a great worship song and is very simple to play. My hope is that we can put together on thursday night and come up with a version all our own...we will try this and see what happens without spending a ton of time on it...
The worship set is pretty straight forward...no surprises there. I would like to do " How deep the Fathers love for us" as a pre-lude to communion. I also thought as long as we are on stage we might as well go right into a closing song: " If we are the Body" right after Jeff's benediction. (My goal here would be to get us familar with using closing songs as we had discussed)
I look forward to thursday...it would be a great idea to try and arrive early to set up equipment and so forth.
Also, I am planning a planning session for the worship team. My goal would be to get together and set up a game plan for the last 1/4 of the year using all your input. My hope would be we could coordinate all our music at least (1) month in advance and talk about new songs, new people, ect. We also have recently come into some recording capabilities and can plan some things there as well.
I am open to suggestions on when and where to meet. I was thinking maybe Seekers, or even my house, a saturday AM? Please give me your input on this.
Again, thank you all for your efforts...may God bless them and you....Vince
First let me say thanks to all of you for all you did in making last sunday a great day had by all. Thanks again for whoever helped and put equipment away while I was helping someone with their car. I got back to help out and it was all done...that's outstanding team work and the cords looked like they even got rolled up right. (Don will be happy) This, gang, is the way we are supposed to work together. ( to the praise of God the Father through our Lord Jesus)
Please review the song list for this week. This is a tenative list subject to change upon review by Jeff. My gameplan was to open with "I will do the same", my guess is that no one is familar with it, however, it is a great worship song and is very simple to play. My hope is that we can put together on thursday night and come up with a version all our own...we will try this and see what happens without spending a ton of time on it...
The worship set is pretty straight forward...no surprises there. I would like to do " How deep the Fathers love for us" as a pre-lude to communion. I also thought as long as we are on stage we might as well go right into a closing song: " If we are the Body" right after Jeff's benediction. (My goal here would be to get us familar with using closing songs as we had discussed)
I look forward to thursday...it would be a great idea to try and arrive early to set up equipment and so forth.
Also, I am planning a planning session for the worship team. My goal would be to get together and set up a game plan for the last 1/4 of the year using all your input. My hope would be we could coordinate all our music at least (1) month in advance and talk about new songs, new people, ect. We also have recently come into some recording capabilities and can plan some things there as well.
I am open to suggestions on when and where to meet. I was thinking maybe Seekers, or even my house, a saturday AM? Please give me your input on this.
Again, thank you all for your efforts...may God bless them and you....Vince
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Songs for Sunday 8/31/08 Labor Day weekend
Well, I hope you are all getting excited for this weekend's activities. I know I am looking forward to getting together with St. Johns an having a great time. Let's pray the weather holds out for a great day of fellowship and relationship building.
Please review the song list and feel free to add you input as I value each of your contributions.
Thanks and God Bless each one of you,
Vince
Please review the song list and feel free to add you input as I value each of your contributions.
Thanks and God Bless each one of you,
Vince
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
SONGS FOR SUNDAY 8/17/08
Greetings gang and welcome back from all your assorted activities.
Are we ready to pick up where we left off?
Well, here we go with a new song list for this sunday. Please review the video with Life Song by Casting Crowns. I am hoping that everyone is familar with this song...I would like to try it as an opener for this week if we can pull it off. We will determine that on thursday.
The other songs we have done, except, I would like to polish up Everlasting God as it is a bass driven song...Jason, please give it a good listen for thursday.
Looking forward to seeing you all then.
Please take some individual time to prepare for thursday so we can make the most use of our time.
God Bless,
Vince
Are we ready to pick up where we left off?
Well, here we go with a new song list for this sunday. Please review the video with Life Song by Casting Crowns. I am hoping that everyone is familar with this song...I would like to try it as an opener for this week if we can pull it off. We will determine that on thursday.
The other songs we have done, except, I would like to polish up Everlasting God as it is a bass driven song...Jason, please give it a good listen for thursday.
Looking forward to seeing you all then.
Please take some individual time to prepare for thursday so we can make the most use of our time.
God Bless,
Vince
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Lame at the gate
First of all let me say this...you are all lame...in fact, so am I. Today I read about the lame a the gate. I was reminded in this devotional that we are all lame in certain areas and our lameness effects all area's of our lives keeping us from being all that God intended us to be.
The good news, however, is that because we are in the body of Christ in Christ Jesus, we can have victory and healing to our lameness if we are willing to be transparent (real people), confess our weaknesses (real truth) and ask to receive real healing (Really!)
If anyone has not noticed, God is answering prayers for our church body! Unfortunately, we really are like sheep sometimes, either not paying attention or not believing what is happening, but this should drive us in droves to pray both individually and together as a body if we want to have victory over our lameness.
I confessed at a recent steering committee meeting my need for Godly wisdom and help in raising my family. It was a specific cry for help and was lifted up in prayer that day. I can tell you that God answered that prayer in through a radio program, encouragement from a friend, and a book, God is showing me how deal with this need and have victory in it! I can overcome this lameness if I trust His wisdom and obey what I believe He is showing me to do.
Now this is just one area of my life and I can tell you, I am really lame!! I have many areas that I need help with and if we are honest, we all do. The great part in all this is that once we get the healing, or deliverence we need, we can trust that God might just put someone in our path that struggles with the same thing and we can help them with the same help He gave to us.
Wow!! Imagine the possibilities!! May God receive the glory and honor He deserves all made possible in and through Jesus Christ who is Lord...AMEN
Vince
The good news, however, is that because we are in the body of Christ in Christ Jesus, we can have victory and healing to our lameness if we are willing to be transparent (real people), confess our weaknesses (real truth) and ask to receive real healing (Really!)
If anyone has not noticed, God is answering prayers for our church body! Unfortunately, we really are like sheep sometimes, either not paying attention or not believing what is happening, but this should drive us in droves to pray both individually and together as a body if we want to have victory over our lameness.
I confessed at a recent steering committee meeting my need for Godly wisdom and help in raising my family. It was a specific cry for help and was lifted up in prayer that day. I can tell you that God answered that prayer in through a radio program, encouragement from a friend, and a book, God is showing me how deal with this need and have victory in it! I can overcome this lameness if I trust His wisdom and obey what I believe He is showing me to do.
Now this is just one area of my life and I can tell you, I am really lame!! I have many areas that I need help with and if we are honest, we all do. The great part in all this is that once we get the healing, or deliverence we need, we can trust that God might just put someone in our path that struggles with the same thing and we can help them with the same help He gave to us.
Wow!! Imagine the possibilities!! May God receive the glory and honor He deserves all made possible in and through Jesus Christ who is Lord...AMEN
Vince
Monday, July 21, 2008
Lesson's Learned from yesterday
First of all, thank you all again for all your hard efforts this weekend in being a part of something beautiful for our Lord Jesus. I believe His name was lifted up and His people were encouraged, I know I was...I also believe others that don't know Him may have been drawn as well.
While still fresh in mind, I wanted to note a few things we can do for future to continue to improve and magnify and honor God through this ministry.
First and foremost, we should always, especially in our private prayer times, be lifting eachother and everything we do up to God. We should offer ourselves as living sacrifices asking God to do His work through us with His annointing. If God has given us the privledge of leading others in worship of Him, then we should do it with excellence (all that we can bring to the the altar on the practical side of things...practicing, top notch equipment, preparation, memorizing songs for example) and His annointing ( all that He is wants to through us, through His power and grace that we ask for in advance through prayer and this all through Jesus.)
I was reminded of this yesterday by another pastor who there. His remindar to me helped put God back in control knowing that if we put all our effort out there with our motive to honor God and our prayer giving it all up to Him, He would work through us...I believe He did just that.
I also want to thank God for answered prayer that He would receive all the glory He deserves...as a good sister shared with me yesterday...she prayed that morning that God would hold the rain off through the morning so that His name would be honored in a public place and that after the service, it could rain all it wanted to...that my bro's and sises is exactly what occurred! To the praise and glory of God...let's not be afraid to ask God just like this in the future.
And on some practical notes -
Pre-preparation and planning on the sound system paid off big time...thanks Don
One should listen to a brother who wanted to avoid papers blowing all over the place...sorry Brian...please forgive me...you were right...Vince
Let memorizing songs be our goal for the remainder of this year ( for musicians especially ) this would eliminate alot of difficulty we had yesterday and as Jason pointed out earlier this week, if bar bands can do it, should we do no less as we our serving God through this ministry?
Christ Peace in your hearts,
Vince
While still fresh in mind, I wanted to note a few things we can do for future to continue to improve and magnify and honor God through this ministry.
First and foremost, we should always, especially in our private prayer times, be lifting eachother and everything we do up to God. We should offer ourselves as living sacrifices asking God to do His work through us with His annointing. If God has given us the privledge of leading others in worship of Him, then we should do it with excellence (all that we can bring to the the altar on the practical side of things...practicing, top notch equipment, preparation, memorizing songs for example) and His annointing ( all that He is wants to through us, through His power and grace that we ask for in advance through prayer and this all through Jesus.)
I was reminded of this yesterday by another pastor who there. His remindar to me helped put God back in control knowing that if we put all our effort out there with our motive to honor God and our prayer giving it all up to Him, He would work through us...I believe He did just that.
I also want to thank God for answered prayer that He would receive all the glory He deserves...as a good sister shared with me yesterday...she prayed that morning that God would hold the rain off through the morning so that His name would be honored in a public place and that after the service, it could rain all it wanted to...that my bro's and sises is exactly what occurred! To the praise and glory of God...let's not be afraid to ask God just like this in the future.
And on some practical notes -
Pre-preparation and planning on the sound system paid off big time...thanks Don
One should listen to a brother who wanted to avoid papers blowing all over the place...sorry Brian...please forgive me...you were right...Vince
Let memorizing songs be our goal for the remainder of this year ( for musicians especially ) this would eliminate alot of difficulty we had yesterday and as Jason pointed out earlier this week, if bar bands can do it, should we do no less as we our serving God through this ministry?
Christ Peace in your hearts,
Vince
Friday, July 11, 2008
Painesville PIP Song list
Well, here it is...
Song Key
Love the Lord your God - G
Fields of Grace - E
Marvelous Light - A
Everything Glorious - C
Creed - G
How Firm a Foundation - G
Lean on Me - G
If we are the body - E - Capo on 2cnd fret
Not by might - Vince only - There is no other name - G
All bow down - B
Amazing Grace - F
There are 11 songs here...I tried to pick stuff Jason has already been working on and other songs we could do without much trouble. The arrangements for the ones we know will be the same as we have been practicing with room for a little fine tuning as necessary - flowing from one song to another, for example.
I would like to practice How firm a foundation, Lean on Me, If we are the body and There is no other name with you all prior to thursday. Is this possible on Sunday? Can we maybe get together a little earlier on sunday if necessary? Please give me your input on this...
Thanks,
Vince
Song Key
Love the Lord your God - G
Fields of Grace - E
Marvelous Light - A
Everything Glorious - C
Creed - G
How Firm a Foundation - G
Lean on Me - G
If we are the body - E - Capo on 2cnd fret
Not by might - Vince only - There is no other name - G
All bow down - B
Amazing Grace - F
There are 11 songs here...I tried to pick stuff Jason has already been working on and other songs we could do without much trouble. The arrangements for the ones we know will be the same as we have been practicing with room for a little fine tuning as necessary - flowing from one song to another, for example.
I would like to practice How firm a foundation, Lean on Me, If we are the body and There is no other name with you all prior to thursday. Is this possible on Sunday? Can we maybe get together a little earlier on sunday if necessary? Please give me your input on this...
Thanks,
Vince
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
SONG CHANGE ALERT!!!
Do not be alarmed, do not be frightened...but, we are going to change our opening song for this week!
Yes, by an overwhelming, hit between the eyes, smack in the face encouragement, we will be doing a song called, " Fields of Grace" as an opener this sunday.
The sheet music is on the CCLI site, already added to our favorites.
To listen to this, you can visit youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HalpbqoVwYQ and play the Big Daddy Weave version of the song.
It is perfect fit for what we have been talking about in Romans that is as being "Adopted" you will see what I mean when you listen to the song.
If you have not guessed, I am very excited about this...let me know if you all have any questions.
God Bless,
Vince
Yes, by an overwhelming, hit between the eyes, smack in the face encouragement, we will be doing a song called, " Fields of Grace" as an opener this sunday.
The sheet music is on the CCLI site, already added to our favorites.
To listen to this, you can visit youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HalpbqoVwYQ and play the Big Daddy Weave version of the song.
It is perfect fit for what we have been talking about in Romans that is as being "Adopted" you will see what I mean when you listen to the song.
If you have not guessed, I am very excited about this...let me know if you all have any questions.
God Bless,
Vince
Monday, July 7, 2008
Songs for Sunday
Please see the song list for sunday 6/13/08. We will try and open with "In Me"...
Let me know if you all have any questions...great job yesterday and welcome back again Jason and Amy.
Feel free to drop comments on the blog so we can discuss on thursday...
Have a great week,
God bless you all,
Vince
Let me know if you all have any questions...great job yesterday and welcome back again Jason and Amy.
Feel free to drop comments on the blog so we can discuss on thursday...
Have a great week,
God bless you all,
Vince
Friday, July 4, 2008
Song Layouts
Wow! what a great practice we had last night and what a blessing to have Jason and Amy back! In addition, what a great job Shane is doing, it's exciting to see how God is putting this all together.
As requested, here is the song layouts for sunday with special notes as indicted...please practice accordingly and have a great 4th of july...
Creed - Verse, Chorus, Verse 2 ( don't forget the stop on " and on the third day, He rose again", Chorus, Instrumental Verse, Verse 3, Chorus - (repeat I did not make it no it is making me 3 times on last chorus) Bridge to end song...
Love the Lord Your God - Verse (2 times) - Instrumental only...Brian starts with heavy rythm guitar, we all join in on 2cnd time through on verse..Singers start singing first verse pause at end of verse before going into chorus...Chorus...Verse 2....Chorus...Instrumental verse & Chorus - Brian (Shane) does solo thru whole section...Drop down...play on G and go into Bridge...Verse 3 - 3 times ( last time retard "I will love you Lord with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength"
Unfailing Love - G and C chord intro 4 bars acoustic only vocals start - Vince only on vocals first verse only...drum roll into Chorus...Verse 2...Chorus...repeat Chorus...Verse - Instrumental for first 4 lines...vocals come back in on "And everything...drum roll into chorus and all drop out execept for acoustic and vocals...chorus - gradual build here...Chorus 3 strong build...end song with repeat of "unfailing love" stay on G and C chord as an outro...
Enough - Intro will flow from outro from previous song, Chorus - vocals at slower tempo... Verse 1 - Nate will lead us into this at faster tempo...Chorus...Verse 2...Chorus...Verse 3 Instrumental - Brian does lead here...all drop out at end of verse...Bridge...acoustic and vocals first half of bridge bass join on second half...building throughout bridge into final chorus repeat "more than enough 3 times and end song...
Communion - This is the only song I am planning to capo...Chords are in the key of G played on the third fret...Chorus...Verse...Instrumental (2 times - Brian play lead here) Bridge...Chorus 2 times...last time acoustic and vocals only on chorus...
Hopefully all this makes sense and helps...let me know if you all have any questions....
God Bless,
Vince
As requested, here is the song layouts for sunday with special notes as indicted...please practice accordingly and have a great 4th of july...
Creed - Verse, Chorus, Verse 2 ( don't forget the stop on " and on the third day, He rose again", Chorus, Instrumental Verse, Verse 3, Chorus - (repeat I did not make it no it is making me 3 times on last chorus) Bridge to end song...
Love the Lord Your God - Verse (2 times) - Instrumental only...Brian starts with heavy rythm guitar, we all join in on 2cnd time through on verse..Singers start singing first verse pause at end of verse before going into chorus...Chorus...Verse 2....Chorus...Instrumental verse & Chorus - Brian (Shane) does solo thru whole section...Drop down...play on G and go into Bridge...Verse 3 - 3 times ( last time retard "I will love you Lord with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength"
Unfailing Love - G and C chord intro 4 bars acoustic only vocals start - Vince only on vocals first verse only...drum roll into Chorus...Verse 2...Chorus...repeat Chorus...Verse - Instrumental for first 4 lines...vocals come back in on "And everything...drum roll into chorus and all drop out execept for acoustic and vocals...chorus - gradual build here...Chorus 3 strong build...end song with repeat of "unfailing love" stay on G and C chord as an outro...
Enough - Intro will flow from outro from previous song, Chorus - vocals at slower tempo... Verse 1 - Nate will lead us into this at faster tempo...Chorus...Verse 2...Chorus...Verse 3 Instrumental - Brian does lead here...all drop out at end of verse...Bridge...acoustic and vocals first half of bridge bass join on second half...building throughout bridge into final chorus repeat "more than enough 3 times and end song...
Communion - This is the only song I am planning to capo...Chords are in the key of G played on the third fret...Chorus...Verse...Instrumental (2 times - Brian play lead here) Bridge...Chorus 2 times...last time acoustic and vocals only on chorus...
Hopefully all this makes sense and helps...let me know if you all have any questions....
God Bless,
Vince
Thursday, July 3, 2008
It's all about the fish!
Well, not really but fishing is pretty cool. I like fishing...I like it a lot. My boys seem to have been bitten by the angler bug lately as well. We have perused the local fishin holes from some dandy bass action and as you can see from the screen shot...at least one did not get away. (Until we released him so he would grow to be bigger bass). Of course, I had nothing to do with the actual catching of the fish, that belonged to a young man who really enjoyed catching that dandy!
I can't say what it is that we like about fishing so much...maybe it's being out in nature? Maybe it's the excitement of getting that great big fish on our line...feeling the tug...hearing your drag let out...maybe because it's relaxing or just plain fun.
So this leads me to think about what Jesus said, " Come and I will make you fisher's of men" Could it be that the same excitement and experience one gets from fishing could be the same as bringing someone to Christ? Have we ever thought of sharing our faith with someone as a means to "catch" that person for God's kingdom. Have we ever considered that all we do everyday is either helping bring people into God's net or driving them away? That's a scary thought.
Here's a better question, have you been caught yet? Does Jesus have you in his net? If so, maybe ask Him to show you how you be a better fisher of men.
Vince
I can't say what it is that we like about fishing so much...maybe it's being out in nature? Maybe it's the excitement of getting that great big fish on our line...feeling the tug...hearing your drag let out...maybe because it's relaxing or just plain fun.
So this leads me to think about what Jesus said, " Come and I will make you fisher's of men" Could it be that the same excitement and experience one gets from fishing could be the same as bringing someone to Christ? Have we ever thought of sharing our faith with someone as a means to "catch" that person for God's kingdom. Have we ever considered that all we do everyday is either helping bring people into God's net or driving them away? That's a scary thought.
Here's a better question, have you been caught yet? Does Jesus have you in his net? If so, maybe ask Him to show you how you be a better fisher of men.
Vince
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sunday July 6th, 2008
Greetings,
I hope you enjoyed last week's anniversery celebration...I hope we continue to grow together in love as we grow together in Christ.
Here are this weeks songs...the opening song is still undetermined as I would like to talk to Pastor Jeff and get a little more clarification on his message. Communion is a song we have done before, by third day.
I would encourage everyone to read Pastor's blog and respond...answer the questions he poses and we will discuss this ourselves for our devotion on thursday p.m.
I look forward to seeing you all then and we may have some surprises in store which I am looking forward to.
God Bless you all,
Vince
I hope you enjoyed last week's anniversery celebration...I hope we continue to grow together in love as we grow together in Christ.
Here are this weeks songs...the opening song is still undetermined as I would like to talk to Pastor Jeff and get a little more clarification on his message. Communion is a song we have done before, by third day.
I would encourage everyone to read Pastor's blog and respond...answer the questions he poses and we will discuss this ourselves for our devotion on thursday p.m.
I look forward to seeing you all then and we may have some surprises in store which I am looking forward to.
God Bless you all,
Vince
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Father's day greeting
Well thank you all again for your efforts each week...and welcome to Shane who graced us with some pretty cool saxaphone work on thursday...I look forward to seeing you all again on thursday.
Take some time this week and read Romans Ch. 5. Don't be too intimidated by it, just try and pick out 1 or 2 things that strike you as you read it. We will talk about it on thursday.
In addition, check out the video...be sure to read the link so you understand what's going on in the video...it's a pretty cool story about one dad's love for his kid...let me know what you all think.
God Bless,
Vince
Take some time this week and read Romans Ch. 5. Don't be too intimidated by it, just try and pick out 1 or 2 things that strike you as you read it. We will talk about it on thursday.
In addition, check out the video...be sure to read the link so you understand what's going on in the video...it's a pretty cool story about one dad's love for his kid...let me know what you all think.
God Bless,
Vince
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
It's all about the faith! (Read Romans Ch 4.)
Wow! God's word is great...I have been spending some time in the Word just over the past few days which is a switch for me. Sometimes I spend devotional time reading a book or other Christian teaching...sometimes I will listen to teaching on the drive by radio during the day...I must say, however, that there is no substitute for reading the word of God directly and I would encourage you all to do so. (This includes myself)
As you know, we are studying from the book of Romans during the next several weeks and I would challenge each worship team member, even those who have not been with us in recent weeks, (I am not talking about Peggy here), to open up God's word, pray that He will speak to you through it, and read it, for our devotional time each week, we can spend some time discussing what we read...I would be very excited to see what will happen to each of us if we are diligent to do this...
You can see the songs we are doing from the post...with Pastor Jeff's permission, I think "We will not be shaken" would be an excellent closing song based on Romans 4 for this week. Other song notes: Brian, we will be doing "We give you glory" in the key of D.
Other note: LET ME KNOW IF YOU DOWNLOAD ANYTHING OFF OF CCLI SONG SELECT..I NEED TO REPORT AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL MASTER COPIES WE MAKE...THANKS...VINCE
I look forward to seeing you all on thursday...6:45pm as usual, earlier if you get there.
God Bless you all,
Vince
As you know, we are studying from the book of Romans during the next several weeks and I would challenge each worship team member, even those who have not been with us in recent weeks, (I am not talking about Peggy here), to open up God's word, pray that He will speak to you through it, and read it, for our devotional time each week, we can spend some time discussing what we read...I would be very excited to see what will happen to each of us if we are diligent to do this...
You can see the songs we are doing from the post...with Pastor Jeff's permission, I think "We will not be shaken" would be an excellent closing song based on Romans 4 for this week. Other song notes: Brian, we will be doing "We give you glory" in the key of D.
Other note: LET ME KNOW IF YOU DOWNLOAD ANYTHING OFF OF CCLI SONG SELECT..I NEED TO REPORT AND KEEP TRACK OF ALL MASTER COPIES WE MAKE...THANKS...VINCE
I look forward to seeing you all on thursday...6:45pm as usual, earlier if you get there.
God Bless you all,
Vince
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Great job
Just a quick note to let you all know what a great time we had on sunday at both times of worship. I can't wait to get together again and thanks to everyone who helped out to make this a great day.
Here is this weeks song list. The opening song is from Jeremy Camp and it's about time we get down to learning and presenting it this week...it's off our fall list so everyone should be familar with it (I hope)
look for more postings this week...if not, enjoy the David Crowder vid...This might be a song we consider for future.
God Bless you all,
Vince
Here is this weeks song list. The opening song is from Jeremy Camp and it's about time we get down to learning and presenting it this week...it's off our fall list so everyone should be familar with it (I hope)
look for more postings this week...if not, enjoy the David Crowder vid...This might be a song we consider for future.
God Bless you all,
Vince
Friday, May 23, 2008
For those of us that need courage!
What do you think of when you hear the word courage? I know for myself, if I am afraid of doing something, I consider that to be a lack of courage on my part. In other words, there must be an absence of fear in order for me to have courage...fear must be gone...courage must take it's place before I do something.
As I was reminded today, listening to some teaching on the book of Ester, she showed her courage by acting and perservering in spite of her fear. In other words, she had fear, but she decided she would act anyway and in doing so, brought deliverence to her people. (Please read the book of Ester for full details). If she would have waited till she had the courage, she may not have ever moved ahead.
What a great lesson for our Christian lives. This life we are called to is a call to step out in spite of fear because our cause is a righteous one. And in Ester's case, and also in ours, courage will increase as we step out in spite of our fear when our cause is righteous.
And keep this in mind, we never step out alone...as I was reminded this morning...every Christian no matter where you are in your walk with God, is a temple of the Holy Spirit...get a hold of that...Christ resides in you! But it will do you and His kingdom no good whatsover if we don't believe this and act accordingly...with courage in spite of our fears because He who is in you,(Christ,the source of our strength) is stronger than he who is in the world...(Satan, the source of our fear)...let's pray for one another that we may all step out where God has called us to.
In Christ,
Vince
As I was reminded today, listening to some teaching on the book of Ester, she showed her courage by acting and perservering in spite of her fear. In other words, she had fear, but she decided she would act anyway and in doing so, brought deliverence to her people. (Please read the book of Ester for full details). If she would have waited till she had the courage, she may not have ever moved ahead.
What a great lesson for our Christian lives. This life we are called to is a call to step out in spite of fear because our cause is a righteous one. And in Ester's case, and also in ours, courage will increase as we step out in spite of our fear when our cause is righteous.
And keep this in mind, we never step out alone...as I was reminded this morning...every Christian no matter where you are in your walk with God, is a temple of the Holy Spirit...get a hold of that...Christ resides in you! But it will do you and His kingdom no good whatsover if we don't believe this and act accordingly...with courage in spite of our fears because He who is in you,(Christ,the source of our strength) is stronger than he who is in the world...(Satan, the source of our fear)...let's pray for one another that we may all step out where God has called us to.
In Christ,
Vince
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
THIS WEEKS WORSHIP -
Looking forward to thursday and sunday...let me know if you all have any questions...looks like Me, Brian, Nate and Karen....Note to Brian, all songs will be done in capo 2 except for last song which I am not sure of yet.
Also, plan on the kids doing some worship and praise songs at the beginning.
As I think of you all, I could just give you such a great big pinch!! (in a loving way of course)
I would write more but I am a little pressed for time....God Bless you...
Vince
Also, plan on the kids doing some worship and praise songs at the beginning.
As I think of you all, I could just give you such a great big pinch!! (in a loving way of course)
I would write more but I am a little pressed for time....God Bless you...
Vince
Thursday, May 1, 2008
What do you need??
Well, here we are, it's thursday 5/1/08 and finally a song list! It's a good thing you guys are understanding and patient...right???
I am looking forward to this week, I believe God is doing some great things in our church and wants to do much more. Sometimes, however, it is a question of us wanting to see God do more.
I always am concerned that our western Christian church, especially the church in America, is the church in Laodecia that is talked about in the book of Revelation (Revelation 3-14:22). The folks that thought they needed nothing from God because they had much in this life. Yet, Jesus gave His strongest rebuke to this church saying that their lukewarm, need nothing attitude pretty much made Him want to puke...in fact He said, if you really knew what you looked like it's like this, you are blind, naked and poor! He encouraged this church to buy from Him real gold and get some medicine from Him for their eyes so they can see what's really going on! Then He promised and finished by saying, that He stands at the door and knocks, if anyone opens the door for Him, He would come in and have supper with them, eat with them, be with them. Wouldn't it be awesome to have Jesus over your house for dinner? He wants the same thing too! Think about it the closeness Jesus wants to have with us! It's no wonder He is upset here, He knows what we are missing, all the good awesome things He DIED to give us.
Let's open the door of our hearts to Him as we gather this week and in our own private times alone in prayer...Seek His face, not just His hand and He promised...those that seek me, will find me! Awesome God!
I am looking forward to this week, I believe God is doing some great things in our church and wants to do much more. Sometimes, however, it is a question of us wanting to see God do more.
I always am concerned that our western Christian church, especially the church in America, is the church in Laodecia that is talked about in the book of Revelation (Revelation 3-14:22). The folks that thought they needed nothing from God because they had much in this life. Yet, Jesus gave His strongest rebuke to this church saying that their lukewarm, need nothing attitude pretty much made Him want to puke...in fact He said, if you really knew what you looked like it's like this, you are blind, naked and poor! He encouraged this church to buy from Him real gold and get some medicine from Him for their eyes so they can see what's really going on! Then He promised and finished by saying, that He stands at the door and knocks, if anyone opens the door for Him, He would come in and have supper with them, eat with them, be with them. Wouldn't it be awesome to have Jesus over your house for dinner? He wants the same thing too! Think about it the closeness Jesus wants to have with us! It's no wonder He is upset here, He knows what we are missing, all the good awesome things He DIED to give us.
Let's open the door of our hearts to Him as we gather this week and in our own private times alone in prayer...Seek His face, not just His hand and He promised...those that seek me, will find me! Awesome God!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Important news and updates
Just a note to let you all know the song list has been posted for this week...I am hoping Pastor Jeff will be willing to play drums this week...
In addition, I have been notified by CCLI that we will need to report any usage of song material each week. What they are looking for is anytime we download a copy of any song on the CCLI site,and this is very important (THAT WE ARE USING FOR THE FIRST TIME), we will need to report it to them. If you all could just let me know anytime you download something from CCLI just send me a quick email note on it and what you download...I will make the determination if we have used it for the first time or not...thanks
In addition, please be invited and encouraged to read all the blogs and participate if you would like to...Christ peace in your hearts...Vince
In addition, I have been notified by CCLI that we will need to report any usage of song material each week. What they are looking for is anytime we download a copy of any song on the CCLI site,and this is very important (THAT WE ARE USING FOR THE FIRST TIME), we will need to report it to them. If you all could just let me know anytime you download something from CCLI just send me a quick email note on it and what you download...I will make the determination if we have used it for the first time or not...thanks
In addition, please be invited and encouraged to read all the blogs and participate if you would like to...Christ peace in your hearts...Vince
Monday, April 21, 2008
Come on get fired up and just do it !!
I must say, was that not a great message we heard yesterday??? At first, I was thinking wow, what a bunch of stuff I missed doing, or could have done like Sarah Groves did or even our friend who is serving in Romania...no doubt, I have some regrets...don't their testimonies urge you to get involved?
I remember when I first really got on fire for the Lord and just how much I was willing to do and places where I was willing to go...wow! did He open some doors for me...places I could have never seen myself serving in nor could I have ever pictured myself finding any enjoyment there or fufillment...but remember...we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has planned in advance for us to do and remember...for His glory....he allows us the priveledge to participate...and remember what Jesus said...you must give up your life to find real life...it's scary sometimes hard...it sacrifice...but it's worth it!!
Although we may go far away, we don't need to look to far to find places to serve or needs to fill...we have church right in front of us that is full of needs and full of potential good works...(if we are the body why aren't His arms reaching...hands healing...words teaching?) Has God put something on your heart to do? Let's encourage eachother, let's pray for eachother and let's work together and let's just do it...come on...get fired up...Christ peace in your hearts...Vince
I remember when I first really got on fire for the Lord and just how much I was willing to do and places where I was willing to go...wow! did He open some doors for me...places I could have never seen myself serving in nor could I have ever pictured myself finding any enjoyment there or fufillment...but remember...we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has planned in advance for us to do and remember...for His glory....he allows us the priveledge to participate...and remember what Jesus said...you must give up your life to find real life...it's scary sometimes hard...it sacrifice...but it's worth it!!
Although we may go far away, we don't need to look to far to find places to serve or needs to fill...we have church right in front of us that is full of needs and full of potential good works...(if we are the body why aren't His arms reaching...hands healing...words teaching?) Has God put something on your heart to do? Let's encourage eachother, let's pray for eachother and let's work together and let's just do it...come on...get fired up...Christ peace in your hearts...Vince
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
It's all about the fruit!!!
Well, here I am at this place in time...It's been quite a few months and weeks for me some highs and pretty big lows including experiences of death,doubt and depression for sure, you can add some fear and struggle and it can only mean one thing...God is doing something very good in my life!
I have been brought to this day and reminded that my whole purpose in life or should I say our purpose as Christians is to bear fruit for God's glory. We have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has planned in advance for us to do. Unfortunately, when we lose perspective, when we take our eyes off of Jesus, when we forget this motive for what we are doing, we stop bearing fruit or at least we lose our joy in doing so. (forget our first love?)
I lost this perspective and had to be reminded of it by God drawing me closer to Him through some trials and pain and sorrow. Yesterday, I felt Jesus so close to me that I felt like being a young toddler again, who in a strange place, with strangers all around, clings tightly to their parents leg always reaching out and touching so contact is always maintained. (pray without ceasing?) Yearning to follow very closely and afraid to lose sight...(dependence, this is good no?)
This, I believe is a good thing because no fruit can be produced without closely abiding with Jesus.
My goal for today is to focus and meditate on the fact that all fruit bearing is for God's glory. Currently, I lack this perspective. My attitude has been I will do this thing because I will feel guilty or even fearful if I did not do it. I would like that perspective to change to the following...just as the birds, trees, seasons, stars, oceans and everything else God created brings Him glory, so should I (we) being a human being created in His image and likeness bring Him glory by being an imitator of Him.
With His Spirit guiding us in truth (the truth), and our willing obedience to His way,(the way)we will produce great fruit in every aspect of our life: work, relationships, thoughts, attitudes, worship, marrige...you name it, every area of our existence. Sound like the abundant life, (the life) Christ died to give to me and you...
I have been brought to this day and reminded that my whole purpose in life or should I say our purpose as Christians is to bear fruit for God's glory. We have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has planned in advance for us to do. Unfortunately, when we lose perspective, when we take our eyes off of Jesus, when we forget this motive for what we are doing, we stop bearing fruit or at least we lose our joy in doing so. (forget our first love?)
I lost this perspective and had to be reminded of it by God drawing me closer to Him through some trials and pain and sorrow. Yesterday, I felt Jesus so close to me that I felt like being a young toddler again, who in a strange place, with strangers all around, clings tightly to their parents leg always reaching out and touching so contact is always maintained. (pray without ceasing?) Yearning to follow very closely and afraid to lose sight...(dependence, this is good no?)
This, I believe is a good thing because no fruit can be produced without closely abiding with Jesus.
My goal for today is to focus and meditate on the fact that all fruit bearing is for God's glory. Currently, I lack this perspective. My attitude has been I will do this thing because I will feel guilty or even fearful if I did not do it. I would like that perspective to change to the following...just as the birds, trees, seasons, stars, oceans and everything else God created brings Him glory, so should I (we) being a human being created in His image and likeness bring Him glory by being an imitator of Him.
With His Spirit guiding us in truth (the truth), and our willing obedience to His way,(the way)we will produce great fruit in every aspect of our life: work, relationships, thoughts, attitudes, worship, marrige...you name it, every area of our existence. Sound like the abundant life, (the life) Christ died to give to me and you...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
New posting
Hey gang,
Please send me any important dates you may have upcoming so I can post them to OUR NEW GROVE WORSHIP TEAM CALANDER!!! Yeah Baby!! Feel the excitement!!
Please send me any important dates you may have upcoming so I can post them to OUR NEW GROVE WORSHIP TEAM CALANDER!!! Yeah Baby!! Feel the excitement!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Sunday 4/6/08
Greetings you all,
Thanks again for all your efforts.
I wanted to write some thoughts down for this week, but I came across a great article that we should all get a chance to read and discuss on thursday. Please if you have a chance, read the article I have posted titled:" What is the Holy Spirits role in worship" by Rich Muchow. Be prepared to talk about it on thursday as our devotional. I think this will be beneficial to our team.
You will note the songs for this week as listed. Let's have Brett on drums this week if available, (let me know asap if not), Brian on guitar, Peggy and Karen vocals, me on acoustic. We are going to try the David Crowder song :"Thank you for loving me" for this week and see how it goes as an opener... The communion song - "Simple prayer" can be done individually or with accompaniment...let's see how it goes on thursday.
See you all then and God Bless,
Vince
Thanks again for all your efforts.
I wanted to write some thoughts down for this week, but I came across a great article that we should all get a chance to read and discuss on thursday. Please if you have a chance, read the article I have posted titled:" What is the Holy Spirits role in worship" by Rich Muchow. Be prepared to talk about it on thursday as our devotional. I think this will be beneficial to our team.
You will note the songs for this week as listed. Let's have Brett on drums this week if available, (let me know asap if not), Brian on guitar, Peggy and Karen vocals, me on acoustic. We are going to try the David Crowder song :"Thank you for loving me" for this week and see how it goes as an opener... The communion song - "Simple prayer" can be done individually or with accompaniment...let's see how it goes on thursday.
See you all then and God Bless,
Vince
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
What's up for this week?
Well thank you all again for you fine efforts last week...we received a great message and really enjoyed all the fellowship that occurred on easter sunday...kinda makes you wanna do it again eh?
This week features a little different twist to things as Brian will be leading the worship set for this sunday with Nate on drums and myself on bass. I would like, however, to open up with "How deep the Father's love for us" featuring Brett on the Jambee and supporting vocalist Karen.
Look forward to seeing you all on thursday for fellowship and practice...
God Bless you all,
Vince
This week features a little different twist to things as Brian will be leading the worship set for this sunday with Nate on drums and myself on bass. I would like, however, to open up with "How deep the Father's love for us" featuring Brett on the Jambee and supporting vocalist Karen.
Look forward to seeing you all on thursday for fellowship and practice...
God Bless you all,
Vince
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Is it really Easter Already??
You know, something is not right. I looked at my calandar for today and compared it to the last two years and did you know, easter was in April last year and the year before?
Now, what's up with that? Who changes these things? Do we have easter when we feel like it? Does someone throw darts at the calandar and say: " March it is!" Don't get it...but anyway, it's here and I am glad. (Maybe we needed it to come early this year?)
Thank you all again for you great work on thursday P.M. which made sunday even more special. We got some pretty good participation from folks and may have some new surprising additions as a result...we will see...
For this friday and sunday, please review the list of songs selected. I would like to see Brett do percussion on Friday AM...I know I will be there and anyone else who is off and wishes to come, be at the YMCA at 7:30am....
For sunday...we have a surprise song we are doing...the Easter Song...I want to try this on thursday P.M. and would ask anyone who wants to try and sing it, (including Dave and Darlene) to try and get a listen to it beforehand if possible. I have (1) copy on CD but could burn others if you all could supply me with a disk since I am plum out...
For musicians on sunday, I would like to see Nate on drums, with Brian leading our opening song and having me play bass on it. It would be a great fit for us to do.
With that being said, we have a lot of things going on this week, but don't lose the moment. If you have an opportunity, listen or even read the lyrics for the song..."How great the Father's Love for us." I think it will help you capture what this week is all about.
God Bless and thank Him for you all...
Vince
Now, what's up with that? Who changes these things? Do we have easter when we feel like it? Does someone throw darts at the calandar and say: " March it is!" Don't get it...but anyway, it's here and I am glad. (Maybe we needed it to come early this year?)
Thank you all again for you great work on thursday P.M. which made sunday even more special. We got some pretty good participation from folks and may have some new surprising additions as a result...we will see...
For this friday and sunday, please review the list of songs selected. I would like to see Brett do percussion on Friday AM...I know I will be there and anyone else who is off and wishes to come, be at the YMCA at 7:30am....
For sunday...we have a surprise song we are doing...the Easter Song...I want to try this on thursday P.M. and would ask anyone who wants to try and sing it, (including Dave and Darlene) to try and get a listen to it beforehand if possible. I have (1) copy on CD but could burn others if you all could supply me with a disk since I am plum out...
For musicians on sunday, I would like to see Nate on drums, with Brian leading our opening song and having me play bass on it. It would be a great fit for us to do.
With that being said, we have a lot of things going on this week, but don't lose the moment. If you have an opportunity, listen or even read the lyrics for the song..."How great the Father's Love for us." I think it will help you capture what this week is all about.
God Bless and thank Him for you all...
Vince
Monday, March 10, 2008
New day same game plan
Well, sorry we missed getting together yesterday, I would have made it but there was just snow-way...
Anyway...thanks to all who showed up on thursday p.m. I thought practice went very well...
For this coming sunday, Jeff decided to not skip the message he had prepared for yesterday so we will also continue with the same set list and plan for this coming sunday. What I would like to do on thursday, however, is to spend time working on our booth for sunday...and leave our practice time for sunday a.m. (Musicians, however, should be running through the song list on their own so we keep things fresh till sunday.)
Bring your best ideas for thursday p.m. let's make this thing special...
God Bless you all and prayers for rest for our Bro Brett.
Vince
Anyway...thanks to all who showed up on thursday p.m. I thought practice went very well...
For this coming sunday, Jeff decided to not skip the message he had prepared for yesterday so we will also continue with the same set list and plan for this coming sunday. What I would like to do on thursday, however, is to spend time working on our booth for sunday...and leave our practice time for sunday a.m. (Musicians, however, should be running through the song list on their own so we keep things fresh till sunday.)
Bring your best ideas for thursday p.m. let's make this thing special...
God Bless you all and prayers for rest for our Bro Brett.
Vince
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Get in the Game baby!
In the voice of Dick Vitale ( college hoops analyst and guy who always says "Yeah Baby") Don't you think it's time for some other folks to "Get in the Game Baby!"
Do you realize what tremendous players are sitting out there in the "stands" of our church each sunday waiting, probably wondering if they will ever be in the game? Well, this sunday is a great opportunity to encourage our bro's and sisse's to move from the seats, to the bench and into the game. Everyone has something to contribute to and for the benefit of eachother and the building of Christ body.
I don't know about you, but this whole concept really excites me when I consider the possiblilities!
Well, let's show them about team this sunday. I would encourage you all to wear some type of sports shirt, a baseball shirt would be fantastic. There are some great things planned for sunday.
See you all on thursday for more details
Vince
Do you realize what tremendous players are sitting out there in the "stands" of our church each sunday waiting, probably wondering if they will ever be in the game? Well, this sunday is a great opportunity to encourage our bro's and sisse's to move from the seats, to the bench and into the game. Everyone has something to contribute to and for the benefit of eachother and the building of Christ body.
I don't know about you, but this whole concept really excites me when I consider the possiblilities!
Well, let's show them about team this sunday. I would encourage you all to wear some type of sports shirt, a baseball shirt would be fantastic. There are some great things planned for sunday.
See you all on thursday for more details
Vince
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A few quick things
Just a note to let you all know that as you can see, I am still working on set list and things for this sunday 3/9/08.
Also, I am down a cell phone again...seems it could not take a double trip in the washing machine and dryer...they don't make em like they used to...
Keep in touch....God Bless...Vince
Also, I am down a cell phone again...seems it could not take a double trip in the washing machine and dryer...they don't make em like they used to...
Keep in touch....God Bless...Vince
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Life is a Team Sport --- We are a TEAM
You know...I am really thankful for all you guys...I may not say it enough or even show it enough, but I am. Every now and then, God shows me how His body is really supposed to work and grow. Sometimes, I get the wrong notion that I am in it all by myself...that's not the way it works in the church and aren't we glad for that.
Yes, God puts the body together, just the way He wants it and we need to realize that and just as we depend on God, we should also depend on eachother. EACH ONE OF YOU IS VITAL!! and gifted to serve the body...which by the way...is our highest goal and where we will find our true life and happiness...(RISK IT ALL TO SERVE OTHERS...IT WILL BE WORTH IT!)
I am excited with the recent additions of Karen, Darlene and Dave and look forward to see what God is going to do with you very special people...for sure, you are going to learn patience, very corny humor and how we can serve the brothers and sisters by helping them worship through song. No question...we need you...this whole ministry is a team sport...
See on thursday PM...by the way, my cell phone is back up...call me if need be...I will email my cell # to you all...
God Bless you...
Vince
Yes, God puts the body together, just the way He wants it and we need to realize that and just as we depend on God, we should also depend on eachother. EACH ONE OF YOU IS VITAL!! and gifted to serve the body...which by the way...is our highest goal and where we will find our true life and happiness...(RISK IT ALL TO SERVE OTHERS...IT WILL BE WORTH IT!)
I am excited with the recent additions of Karen, Darlene and Dave and look forward to see what God is going to do with you very special people...for sure, you are going to learn patience, very corny humor and how we can serve the brothers and sisters by helping them worship through song. No question...we need you...this whole ministry is a team sport...
See on thursday PM...by the way, my cell phone is back up...call me if need be...I will email my cell # to you all...
God Bless you...
Vince
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Show me the Money
Well, I hope your all's week is going well...great job again on sunday from all who participated and braved the storm to come on out...thanks to Nate for stepping in at the last minute to fill in for our good brother Brett...who in doing his job, kept the streets open for safe travel for us all...thanks bros...
Looking forward to this week and getting together with you all on thursday. As we talked about last week...let's all try and be ready to start our thursday practice right at 6:45 pm. I would like to take the first 45 minutes to review and refresh. Be prepared to share with one another your biggest joy and your biggest downer of the week. Also, think about the following questions:
What is God's will and purpose for my life? - what are my biggest passions? Where have these two things met in my life?
See you all on thursday...Christ peace...in your hearts...Vince
Looking forward to this week and getting together with you all on thursday. As we talked about last week...let's all try and be ready to start our thursday practice right at 6:45 pm. I would like to take the first 45 minutes to review and refresh. Be prepared to share with one another your biggest joy and your biggest downer of the week. Also, think about the following questions:
What is God's will and purpose for my life? - what are my biggest passions? Where have these two things met in my life?
See you all on thursday...Christ peace...in your hearts...Vince
Monday, February 4, 2008
The Big Day Sunday February 10th 2008
Again, I must thank you all for all your efforts and sharing your gifts and talents to uplift others in providing music for yesterday...
I thought yesterday went well with Dave's message on the persecuted church. I think we should prepare to talk about this for thursday...especially the worship we saw in some of the churches- incredible!!
And speaking of incredible...can you believe the big day is already here??
The worship set list is published as you can see. Please pay attention to the new song "By His Wounds" I am thinking about trying this with Brett on jambee, Brian on acoustic and myself on mandolin...Peggy I think we should trade off on singing the verse simular to what they are doing on the recording...
I look forward to seeing you all on thursday PM...let me know if you all have any questions, concerns or insights...
Christ Peace In Your Hearts...
Vince - P.S. - thanks for bearing with me...
I thought yesterday went well with Dave's message on the persecuted church. I think we should prepare to talk about this for thursday...especially the worship we saw in some of the churches- incredible!!
And speaking of incredible...can you believe the big day is already here??
The worship set list is published as you can see. Please pay attention to the new song "By His Wounds" I am thinking about trying this with Brett on jambee, Brian on acoustic and myself on mandolin...Peggy I think we should trade off on singing the verse simular to what they are doing on the recording...
I look forward to seeing you all on thursday PM...let me know if you all have any questions, concerns or insights...
Christ Peace In Your Hearts...
Vince - P.S. - thanks for bearing with me...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday February 2, 2008
Hey gang,
Great job yesterday of just coming together and giving the best of yourselves for others.
I did notice one person who was very much into the worship...I was afraid to look elsewhere...but even if it was just was for one, one is enough...I believe we gave our best and God blessed our time of worship because we asked Him too. Let's not forget to do that each week.
The game plan for this coming week is as posted on the blog. We have a special guest speaker, Dave Wibel who will be talking to us about the persecuted church.
Please pay particular attention to our opening song...Praise you in the storm. I would like it if we had a musicians practice prior to thursday just for this song...Brett & Brian, are you available? ... please let me know...figure about 1 hour tops...
Brian mentioned getting together at Seekers this week...Is there a night before thursday that would be open for anyone???
I would say at this time to just concentrate on the opening song and worship set list...our communion song Peggy and I can handle acoustically.
Other than that, thankyou again for all your efforts and dedication...
Peace in ...your hearts...from Christ...
Vince
Great job yesterday of just coming together and giving the best of yourselves for others.
I did notice one person who was very much into the worship...I was afraid to look elsewhere...but even if it was just was for one, one is enough...I believe we gave our best and God blessed our time of worship because we asked Him too. Let's not forget to do that each week.
The game plan for this coming week is as posted on the blog. We have a special guest speaker, Dave Wibel who will be talking to us about the persecuted church.
Please pay particular attention to our opening song...Praise you in the storm. I would like it if we had a musicians practice prior to thursday just for this song...Brett & Brian, are you available? ... please let me know...figure about 1 hour tops...
Brian mentioned getting together at Seekers this week...Is there a night before thursday that would be open for anyone???
I would say at this time to just concentrate on the opening song and worship set list...our communion song Peggy and I can handle acoustically.
Other than that, thankyou again for all your efforts and dedication...
Peace in ...your hearts...from Christ...
Vince
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday January 27th corrections and updates
Hey gang, great job yesterday liked having that new kid on drums...kinda different...we will have to keep him in mind for future if he's not busy
Anyway, here are some changes for next weeks set:
Opening - Everything Glorious
Everlasting God
Love the Lord your God
Unfailing Love
Marvelous Light
Brett will be on drums - weather permitting...see you all on thursday...Christ peace in your hearts
Anyway, here are some changes for next weeks set:
Opening - Everything Glorious
Everlasting God
Love the Lord your God
Unfailing Love
Marvelous Light
Brett will be on drums - weather permitting...see you all on thursday...Christ peace in your hearts
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Say what??
Had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine this AM and as we were talking about our lives, works and efforts...here is what he said to me:
"God can do a better job of working through you to worship Him than you can worshipping Him with you own effort"
Anyone care to comment or give their thoughts on my friends quote???
"God can do a better job of working through you to worship Him than you can worshipping Him with you own effort"
Anyone care to comment or give their thoughts on my friends quote???
It's fun to sing at the YMCA!!
Hey you all...stop right there...I have a new posting and am not afraid to use it!
Don't you just hate it when someone gets a new toy and just won't put it down?
Actually, I want to encourage you all to participate in this blog...read it...respond...have fun with it...comment...you get the picture.
Anyway, here it is...got a call from Pastor Jeff this A.M. and he would like us to participate in a YMCA event on Sunday 1/20 in the afternoon. ( This would be (1) week from sunday for those that are looking at their calanders right now.)
It would involve us doing (5) or so songs in the afternoon...sounds like a great time and a great chance for us to bring praise and worship on the road...(evangalistic praise opportunity?)
I think we should do it...what do you all think?
Don, we may need to bring a micro sound system ( a compact version...) any idea's on what we can put together to give us great sound in for the multi-purpose room.
If anyone else has idea's let's share them and talk about it on thursday...
Christ Peace in (your hearts)
Vince
Don't you just hate it when someone gets a new toy and just won't put it down?
Actually, I want to encourage you all to participate in this blog...read it...respond...have fun with it...comment...you get the picture.
Anyway, here it is...got a call from Pastor Jeff this A.M. and he would like us to participate in a YMCA event on Sunday 1/20 in the afternoon. ( This would be (1) week from sunday for those that are looking at their calanders right now.)
It would involve us doing (5) or so songs in the afternoon...sounds like a great time and a great chance for us to bring praise and worship on the road...(evangalistic praise opportunity?)
I think we should do it...what do you all think?
Don, we may need to bring a micro sound system ( a compact version...) any idea's on what we can put together to give us great sound in for the multi-purpose room.
If anyone else has idea's let's share them and talk about it on thursday...
Christ Peace in (your hearts)
Vince
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
New post...must read...this means you!
Hey guys, it's about 1o minutes before my lunch ends and I am writing to you out of intense excitment because I just had a diet mountain dew and have been reading from a new book that will help me be a better worship team leader and I am just excited as all get out to share with you all the great things we can accomplish and look forward to this year regarding you all and our worship team at the Grove...whew..wee!
O.K. now that I am settled down a bit...I want to remind you all before hand to practice and be prepared for our thursday rehearsal...especially look at and practice on your own the new song Love the Lord your God and Unfailing Love...we will be introducing Love the Lord your God this week and Unfailing Love the next week...prepare as much as you can on your own now.
Set for this week includes an opening song - Take this Job and Love it...we need to practice this to see if it is musically appropriate.
Love the Lord you God
Indescribable
All the Earth
All we need
We will also practice Unfailing Love...
Nate will be on drums this week but Brett, I still need you at rehearsal so you can both work on new songs...thanks...
I look forward to seeing you all there on thursday, remember...you can bring some food if desired a snack to share as well as you feel led...
Peace In ( your hearts )
Vince
O.K. now that I am settled down a bit...I want to remind you all before hand to practice and be prepared for our thursday rehearsal...especially look at and practice on your own the new song Love the Lord your God and Unfailing Love...we will be introducing Love the Lord your God this week and Unfailing Love the next week...prepare as much as you can on your own now.
Set for this week includes an opening song - Take this Job and Love it...we need to practice this to see if it is musically appropriate.
Love the Lord you God
Indescribable
All the Earth
All we need
We will also practice Unfailing Love...
Nate will be on drums this week but Brett, I still need you at rehearsal so you can both work on new songs...thanks...
I look forward to seeing you all there on thursday, remember...you can bring some food if desired a snack to share as well as you feel led...
Peace In ( your hearts )
Vince
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Correction to new song list - they are in order but for some reason... that I am just to pooped to correct at this time...the list starts with the last song first. First song on the CD is Give you the Glory- last song should be Her is Our King...Ah heck...you coulda all figured that out anyway...love...Vince
January 2008 Worship set list
You asked for it, here it is:
January 6th - What should I do with my one and only life?
Brett drums - all other musicians same
Opening Song - Gotta serve somebody - Bob Dylan
Everlasting God
You are my King - Amazing Love
Because of your love
Better is one day
January 13th - How do I balance life and work
Nate drums - all other musicians same
Opening Song - Take this job and love it
Love the Lord your God - New song
Indescribable
All the earth will sing your praises
All we need
January 20th - How do I manage money?
Brett Drums
Opening Song - Seek ye first - don't worry bout drums for this at this point
Unfailing Love - New Song
Love the Lord your God
Made to worship
You alone
January 27th - How do I leave a legacy
Nate Drums
Opening song - to be determined
Everything Glorious - New Song
Love the Lord your God
Unfailing Love
Everlasting God
Unfailing Love
January 6th - What should I do with my one and only life?
Brett drums - all other musicians same
Opening Song - Gotta serve somebody - Bob Dylan
Everlasting God
You are my King - Amazing Love
Because of your love
Better is one day
January 13th - How do I balance life and work
Nate drums - all other musicians same
Opening Song - Take this job and love it
Love the Lord your God - New song
Indescribable
All the earth will sing your praises
All we need
January 20th - How do I manage money?
Brett Drums
Opening Song - Seek ye first - don't worry bout drums for this at this point
Unfailing Love - New Song
Love the Lord your God
Made to worship
You alone
January 27th - How do I leave a legacy
Nate Drums
Opening song - to be determined
Everything Glorious - New Song
Love the Lord your God
Unfailing Love
Everlasting God
Unfailing Love
Greetings worship team - Happy New Year
Well, I hope you are enjoying your time off to reflect back on last year and consider all God has done for you, is doing and take hope in what He will do. It's been and exciting, reflective holiday season for me...not always blissfull but as I was reminded on sunday, sometimes we do are best growing in the rain.
I want to encourage you all to participate in the blog. I see it as a great gift for us to better communicate in 2008 and keep on track with the direction we want to go as a worship team. And what direction might that be you may ask?
Here are a few things I believe the Lord has place on my heart for us to grow in in the new year:
Evangelistic Praise - God inhabits the praises of His people. Besides God being at our service each week, two other types of people will always be present...those who know and have a relationship with Him and those who do not. We should make it our priority each week to prepare ourselves spiritually and musically to help both types meet with God each sunday. Our job is to declare God's praise through song and worship so that those who do not know Him will have the chance to come and know Him. Those who know Him, to know Him better.
Journey toward excellence - We owe God all...our best efforts...we should dedicate ourselves to improving our musicianship/soundengineering/singing/worship leading skills to continually improve what we do each week by: Ongoing training and workshops, better preparation and organization..Individual practice are all areas we can approach...
Love and fellowship - "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" We should always look for ways to foster an environment with the help of God's Spirit and leading, to truely love one another just as Jesus told us to do...Let's look for ways to practice love with one another...Let's find some ways to enjoy eachother besides just worship related activities...and if all else fails...let's go bowling...how bad can it be???
Please...Please....Please feel free to leave your comments, insights and concerns...
In Christ,
Vince
I want to encourage you all to participate in the blog. I see it as a great gift for us to better communicate in 2008 and keep on track with the direction we want to go as a worship team. And what direction might that be you may ask?
Here are a few things I believe the Lord has place on my heart for us to grow in in the new year:
Evangelistic Praise - God inhabits the praises of His people. Besides God being at our service each week, two other types of people will always be present...those who know and have a relationship with Him and those who do not. We should make it our priority each week to prepare ourselves spiritually and musically to help both types meet with God each sunday. Our job is to declare God's praise through song and worship so that those who do not know Him will have the chance to come and know Him. Those who know Him, to know Him better.
Journey toward excellence - We owe God all...our best efforts...we should dedicate ourselves to improving our musicianship/soundengineering/singing/worship leading skills to continually improve what we do each week by: Ongoing training and workshops, better preparation and organization..Individual practice are all areas we can approach...
Love and fellowship - "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" We should always look for ways to foster an environment with the help of God's Spirit and leading, to truely love one another just as Jesus told us to do...Let's look for ways to practice love with one another...Let's find some ways to enjoy eachother besides just worship related activities...and if all else fails...let's go bowling...how bad can it be???
Please...Please....Please feel free to leave your comments, insights and concerns...
In Christ,
Vince
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