The praise team praying before the service.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005 - Week 6
Week 6 in the Purpose Driven Life Campaign was a good week as we focused on our fifth and final purpose, evangelism. There was great response to the message in both services as Christians realized what being a "witness" means from Acts 1:8. Perhaps the biggest, most difficult question from this weekend's message was, "Will anyone be in heaven because of you?"
And speaking of people in heaven, the best part of the service was when we had two people raise their hands for salvation, a teen in the first service and a man named John in the 2nd! I was so glad to see that response, as I really didn't speak clearly on inviting the Lord into our lives. Pray that these new babies grow on to maturity.
On of the special events of this day was our children doing a human video to the Kathy Tricoli song, "Carry Your Candle." As I sat there and watched, I was so pleased in how God is using our kids, and how our children's leaders are influencing our kids. I tried not to get too many tears in my eyes as I prayed that these kids wouldn't lose their desire to praise the Lord. And it was an excellent song and human video for the message which was that we are "Made for a Mission." We are made to tell others about Jesus Christ.
The music team, in my opinion, has never sounded better than it is sounding lately. The music overall this week (minus a few glitches) was great - I look forward to the day when we keep going in the worship and just really have a meeting with God. So far as the praise team, with the amount of flexibility that we have (and continue to expand upon), I am excited to see the direction the Lord takes us. What an instrument of God this team is, guiding people into true and spiritual worship every week - thank you praise team for all the work you do each and every week!
We were missing many of our regulars this week - illness, family, trips, sleepiness ;) kept many away, but the Lord continues to add to our numbers. We had 127 again this week, and I look forward to a packed house next weekend at the Knights of Columbus for our Celebration Sunday. Please keep next Sunday's preparation in prayer.
A note on this - we invite you to bring your family and friends along who either 1) do not attend church of like-faith, and/or 2) who have never asked Jesus Christ into their lives. We will have so many things going on during this service, including our regular components (music, message which will have a clear gospel invitation at the end); along with a dance team, and a human video, and several other things. To top it off, we will be having a meal that can feed about 175 people. We are asking each family to bring a Thanksgiving-type dish that serves 10-12 people (ready to be served with utensils and your name on the dish) and a dessert. So invite those people you know who fit the above descriptions. Don't forget that it all starts at 10:30AM at the Knights of Columbus hall in Rochester.
One last thing - if you are not part of a small group and would like to volunteer to help in some way, you can email my wife, Krista, at kristawillis72@hotmail.com or call us at the church. We can still use your help.
And speaking of people in heaven, the best part of the service was when we had two people raise their hands for salvation, a teen in the first service and a man named John in the 2nd! I was so glad to see that response, as I really didn't speak clearly on inviting the Lord into our lives. Pray that these new babies grow on to maturity.
On of the special events of this day was our children doing a human video to the Kathy Tricoli song, "Carry Your Candle." As I sat there and watched, I was so pleased in how God is using our kids, and how our children's leaders are influencing our kids. I tried not to get too many tears in my eyes as I prayed that these kids wouldn't lose their desire to praise the Lord. And it was an excellent song and human video for the message which was that we are "Made for a Mission." We are made to tell others about Jesus Christ.
The music team, in my opinion, has never sounded better than it is sounding lately. The music overall this week (minus a few glitches) was great - I look forward to the day when we keep going in the worship and just really have a meeting with God. So far as the praise team, with the amount of flexibility that we have (and continue to expand upon), I am excited to see the direction the Lord takes us. What an instrument of God this team is, guiding people into true and spiritual worship every week - thank you praise team for all the work you do each and every week!
We were missing many of our regulars this week - illness, family, trips, sleepiness ;) kept many away, but the Lord continues to add to our numbers. We had 127 again this week, and I look forward to a packed house next weekend at the Knights of Columbus for our Celebration Sunday. Please keep next Sunday's preparation in prayer.
A note on this - we invite you to bring your family and friends along who either 1) do not attend church of like-faith, and/or 2) who have never asked Jesus Christ into their lives. We will have so many things going on during this service, including our regular components (music, message which will have a clear gospel invitation at the end); along with a dance team, and a human video, and several other things. To top it off, we will be having a meal that can feed about 175 people. We are asking each family to bring a Thanksgiving-type dish that serves 10-12 people (ready to be served with utensils and your name on the dish) and a dessert. So invite those people you know who fit the above descriptions. Don't forget that it all starts at 10:30AM at the Knights of Columbus hall in Rochester.
One last thing - if you are not part of a small group and would like to volunteer to help in some way, you can email my wife, Krista, at kristawillis72@hotmail.com or call us at the church. We can still use your help.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Why did Hurricane Katrina happen?
Stephanie Glidden wanted to post this as a discussion on our blog, so I am posting this email for her. Feel free to comment! :) - Pastor
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The other night I was listening to Pastor John Hagee speak on something to do with Gods covenant with Jerusalem. I dont typically listen to TV Evangelists, but he posed a question that got my attention . He asked "Why did Hurricane Katrina happen?". Then he proceeded to say that every person in America is dodging that question, but he intended to answer it.
*******************************
The other night I was listening to Pastor John Hagee speak on something to do with Gods covenant with Jerusalem. I dont typically listen to TV Evangelists, but he posed a question that got my attention . He asked "Why did Hurricane Katrina happen?". Then he proceeded to say that every person in America is dodging that question, but he intended to answer it.
He then likened the events and areas affected by Hurricane Katrina to the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis Ch. 19). He said that the areas affected by the hurricane were so sinful and repulsive in Gods sight, so hated by God that He simply had to destroy them. He also said that another reason America is experiencing "Gods wrath" is due to the involvement we had in evacuating the Jewish people from the Gaza strip. After a standing ovation by his congregation, he moved on to his message and I changed the channel. But I have to say the comment has stuck with me. I would like to hear someone else what thinks about this!
-Stephanie
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Sunday, November 6, 2005 - Week 5
I appreciated the comments from last week's post about the service. I need to remember that even when things don't go well, there is still victory. And apparently there was - thanks for the good words.
But fast forward to this week's services, and I have to say that I was so excited by the time I walked out (around 1:30Pm). Two people came to the Lord (Ellen and Raymond), and even though we were missing many people (including some to sickness), we had 127 in our services, which is a wonderful amount. The music/worship was fantastic. I believe it is the best that the praise team has sounded - period. A little loud in the first service, but we are still working with our sound system.
The message was well-received as we talked about being "Shaped for God's Service" in week 5 of the 40 Days. Only two weeks until our Celebration Sunday at the Knights of Columbus, and we are hoping for 175. To reach this goal, we are inviting family and friends who live in the area but either 1) do not have a church home or 2) are not Christians. Please don't invite friends and family from other local churches of like-faith. That's not our goal. We want to share with others what the Lord is doing, and what the Lord will do for them. Also, if you are wondering what you can do, if you have not already been assigned a job, you can email Krista at willis4nh@hotmail.com.
This campaign has been a wonderful thing, getting everybody on the same page and bringing people together in many ways. I will be sorry when it ends, but we will look back on the entire campaign as a resounding success. Small groups have been launched, excitment abounds, and 2006 is right around the corner with some great things happening. I'll share a few:
In January, we will be ratifying our own church constitution. We will also begin serious discussions about building, which I believe we can do by the end of next year (and I'm serious). If you would like to see an example of the type of building we are leaning towards, visit www.sprung.com (take a look around at this site and feel free to email me). We will also spend a large portion of the year doing a character study on the life of David in our Sunday services. And we are taking our small groups into some exciting studies and watching relationships develop. All this, and so much more - so stick around and watch the hand of the Lord work at The Journey.
But fast forward to this week's services, and I have to say that I was so excited by the time I walked out (around 1:30Pm). Two people came to the Lord (Ellen and Raymond), and even though we were missing many people (including some to sickness), we had 127 in our services, which is a wonderful amount. The music/worship was fantastic. I believe it is the best that the praise team has sounded - period. A little loud in the first service, but we are still working with our sound system.
The message was well-received as we talked about being "Shaped for God's Service" in week 5 of the 40 Days. Only two weeks until our Celebration Sunday at the Knights of Columbus, and we are hoping for 175. To reach this goal, we are inviting family and friends who live in the area but either 1) do not have a church home or 2) are not Christians. Please don't invite friends and family from other local churches of like-faith. That's not our goal. We want to share with others what the Lord is doing, and what the Lord will do for them. Also, if you are wondering what you can do, if you have not already been assigned a job, you can email Krista at willis4nh@hotmail.com.
This campaign has been a wonderful thing, getting everybody on the same page and bringing people together in many ways. I will be sorry when it ends, but we will look back on the entire campaign as a resounding success. Small groups have been launched, excitment abounds, and 2006 is right around the corner with some great things happening. I'll share a few:
In January, we will be ratifying our own church constitution. We will also begin serious discussions about building, which I believe we can do by the end of next year (and I'm serious). If you would like to see an example of the type of building we are leaning towards, visit www.sprung.com (take a look around at this site and feel free to email me). We will also spend a large portion of the year doing a character study on the life of David in our Sunday services. And we are taking our small groups into some exciting studies and watching relationships develop. All this, and so much more - so stick around and watch the hand of the Lord work at The Journey.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Sunday, October 30th - week 4
There are days where things flow and there are days when they don't, where everything goes smoothly and where everything goes roughly...today was one of those days when things seemed rough. I don't know exactly why, and there were many positive things about the services, but overall, I felt like we were tripping and sputtering in the presentation of it all. So because I record what happens in each service, let me give a little of the good and bad, and then we'll move on to next week.
First, the good news was that we had our highest attendance ever at 132! The Lord continues to add to our numbers, and we are excited to look back and see that in one year's time, we have doubled our growth. Fantastic.
The spirit in the services was good - people are excited and seemed to genuinely participate and absorb what is happening. I am glad that the spirit is where it should be.
But some of the bad things: the sound system continues to give us problems which causes major distractions. It's not the sound tech (lest anyone think that), but sound systems have glitches that come and go, and make it impossible sometimes. Plus mics were crackling, monitors were acting up, and SIGH...oh well.
It also seemed that our music team was distracted, and that there were several other distractions that just managed to interrupt any kind of flow in the music...sigh! I was glad when the music ended as it didn't seem to flow.
The message went across fine, but it was a hard message to preach. Sometimes my sermons are full of joy and laughter, but sometimes they are full of hard truths that people have to digest. This was one of those days when people were digesting.
But some other points of good stuff - Ray carrying the Christian flag around the auditorium...a little out of my comfort zone, but I love his zeal. I am just glad that he didn't break a light. We had a few visitors, which we are always honored to have.
So everything didn't flow. We will have days like that. But I love the fact that in our weakness, He is made strong. These kinds of Sundays remind us that it is the Spirit of the Lord that we must continue to rely on and seek. We cannot do it with our own hands or our own power. May the Lord be magnified in our midst and may The Journey continue to advance the kingdom of God in this area.
First, the good news was that we had our highest attendance ever at 132! The Lord continues to add to our numbers, and we are excited to look back and see that in one year's time, we have doubled our growth. Fantastic.
The spirit in the services was good - people are excited and seemed to genuinely participate and absorb what is happening. I am glad that the spirit is where it should be.
But some of the bad things: the sound system continues to give us problems which causes major distractions. It's not the sound tech (lest anyone think that), but sound systems have glitches that come and go, and make it impossible sometimes. Plus mics were crackling, monitors were acting up, and SIGH...oh well.
It also seemed that our music team was distracted, and that there were several other distractions that just managed to interrupt any kind of flow in the music...sigh! I was glad when the music ended as it didn't seem to flow.
The message went across fine, but it was a hard message to preach. Sometimes my sermons are full of joy and laughter, but sometimes they are full of hard truths that people have to digest. This was one of those days when people were digesting.
But some other points of good stuff - Ray carrying the Christian flag around the auditorium...a little out of my comfort zone, but I love his zeal. I am just glad that he didn't break a light. We had a few visitors, which we are always honored to have.
So everything didn't flow. We will have days like that. But I love the fact that in our weakness, He is made strong. These kinds of Sundays remind us that it is the Spirit of the Lord that we must continue to rely on and seek. We cannot do it with our own hands or our own power. May the Lord be magnified in our midst and may The Journey continue to advance the kingdom of God in this area.
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