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Praise Team Schedule
February: David Grimes, Amber King, Ralph Schulz March: George & Kristi Armstrong, Michelle Williams April: Melita Dubach, Avery Reimann, Amanda Armstrong |
Special Music Schedule
Feb. 22 -- Regina, Kristi, Melita, & Michelle Mar. 1 -- French-speakers Mar. 8 -- David Grimes Mar. 15 -- Reimann family Mar. 22 -- Choir Mar. 29 -- Choir Apr. 5 -- Choir Apr. 12 -- David & Cindy Crofford Apr. 19 -- Amber King & David Grimes Apr. 26 -- Regina Oettinger |
Announcements and Upcoming Events
Praise Team Practice: every Sunday morning at 9:00
Feb. 22: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Feb. 25: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 1: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 4: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 8: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 11: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 15: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 18: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 22: Choir Performance, 10:40 a.m.
Mar. 22: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 25: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 29: Choir Performance, 10:40 a.m.
Mar. 29: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Apr. 2: Choir Performance, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 3: Choir Performance at the Bell Home, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 5: Choir Performance, 10:40 a.m.
Praise Team Practice: every Sunday morning at 9:00
Feb. 22: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Feb. 25: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 1: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 4: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 8: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 11: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 15: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 18: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 22: Choir Performance, 10:40 a.m.
Mar. 22: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 25: Choir Practice, 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 29: Choir Performance, 10:40 a.m.
Mar. 29: Choir Practice, 5:00 p.m.
Apr. 2: Choir Performance, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 3: Choir Performance at the Bell Home, 7:00 p.m.
Apr. 5: Choir Performance, 10:40 a.m.
Weekly Word on Worship
Matthew 21:12-13 is a familiar little story sandwiched between the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of Jesus’ final week on earth. We often joke about it. WWJD? Well, probably flip tables. Heh, heh. But how often do we miss His comment, “My house shall be called a house of prayer?” Not a house of preaching or even worship. Prayer.
Now before I go any further, I need to tell you that I am definitely talking to myself as well as you. Often when God gives me something to write about, it’s because I am feeling challenged and convicted in that very area as well. I have definitely fallen into the prayer life of “let’s just chat with God throughout the day.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but I feel like I am lacking in concentrated prayer time.
Let’s look at our typical activities at our church. On a typical Sunday, we have approximately an hour of Bible study (Sunday School), around 15-20 minutes of worship time, maybe 30-40 minutes of preaching, sometimes even announcements go over into the 5-10 minute mark! And prayer gets maybe 5 minutes of our time. (We do have a brief time of prayer in the sanctuary before Sunday School at 9:15, which used to be well attended years ago, but now usually consists of the praise team and band.) Wednesday nights: again about an hour of Bible study versus about 5 minutes of prayer. We spend more time eating and fellowshipping at various times throughout the month as well. None of these things are wrong. As a matter of fact, they are all important and biblical!
But, my house shall be called a house of prayer.
When we select music for each Sunday, we are very intentional about the order in which those songs are sung. We want to start with praise and even testimony songs about what God has done, but by the final song our hearts should be turning toward prayer. It might be a cry for help, like “Lord, I Need You.” Or it might be a prayer of worship and adoration like “Wonderful Merciful Savior.” Either way, I very intentionally put prayer immediately following our time of worship. Worship prepares our hearts to go before the Father.
Now I grew up in a very different church tradition. Everyone prayed out loud. You weren’t listening to the one who was leading prayer. You were actually praying. Often you couldn’t even tell when the one leading prayer was finished. Prayer stopped when the last person got done praying. I’m not saying we need to do that. (To be honest, the first time my kids experienced that it scared them to death!) But, do we spend prayer time listening to Pastor Meredith pray, or are we talking to God? Or even worse, are we using that time to sit down and check our phones, go to the bathroom, etc.?
To be honest, I’m not even sure where I am going with all this. I just know that I feel like prayer is lacking in our lives and it becomes evident in our ministry. You don’t have to read much of the book of Acts to see that the Spirit of God moves powerfully in response to the prayers of His people. If Jesus says that His house should be a House of Prayer, then maybe we need to rearrange our priorities. I want to see God move in our church, our community, and in our own lives. But I know that it is only going to happen if we get on our face before Him.
Matthew 21:12-13 is a familiar little story sandwiched between the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of Jesus’ final week on earth. We often joke about it. WWJD? Well, probably flip tables. Heh, heh. But how often do we miss His comment, “My house shall be called a house of prayer?” Not a house of preaching or even worship. Prayer.
Now before I go any further, I need to tell you that I am definitely talking to myself as well as you. Often when God gives me something to write about, it’s because I am feeling challenged and convicted in that very area as well. I have definitely fallen into the prayer life of “let’s just chat with God throughout the day.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but I feel like I am lacking in concentrated prayer time.
Let’s look at our typical activities at our church. On a typical Sunday, we have approximately an hour of Bible study (Sunday School), around 15-20 minutes of worship time, maybe 30-40 minutes of preaching, sometimes even announcements go over into the 5-10 minute mark! And prayer gets maybe 5 minutes of our time. (We do have a brief time of prayer in the sanctuary before Sunday School at 9:15, which used to be well attended years ago, but now usually consists of the praise team and band.) Wednesday nights: again about an hour of Bible study versus about 5 minutes of prayer. We spend more time eating and fellowshipping at various times throughout the month as well. None of these things are wrong. As a matter of fact, they are all important and biblical!
But, my house shall be called a house of prayer.
When we select music for each Sunday, we are very intentional about the order in which those songs are sung. We want to start with praise and even testimony songs about what God has done, but by the final song our hearts should be turning toward prayer. It might be a cry for help, like “Lord, I Need You.” Or it might be a prayer of worship and adoration like “Wonderful Merciful Savior.” Either way, I very intentionally put prayer immediately following our time of worship. Worship prepares our hearts to go before the Father.
Now I grew up in a very different church tradition. Everyone prayed out loud. You weren’t listening to the one who was leading prayer. You were actually praying. Often you couldn’t even tell when the one leading prayer was finished. Prayer stopped when the last person got done praying. I’m not saying we need to do that. (To be honest, the first time my kids experienced that it scared them to death!) But, do we spend prayer time listening to Pastor Meredith pray, or are we talking to God? Or even worse, are we using that time to sit down and check our phones, go to the bathroom, etc.?
To be honest, I’m not even sure where I am going with all this. I just know that I feel like prayer is lacking in our lives and it becomes evident in our ministry. You don’t have to read much of the book of Acts to see that the Spirit of God moves powerfully in response to the prayers of His people. If Jesus says that His house should be a House of Prayer, then maybe we need to rearrange our priorities. I want to see God move in our church, our community, and in our own lives. But I know that it is only going to happen if we get on our face before Him.