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Worship February 2019

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Church Family,
 I pray this month finds you well! This month, I’d like to leave you with an article from Gavin Ortlund, a worship leader and writer from Deerfield, Illinois. I pray we read his article and apply these truths to our hearts and lives!

                                      “Three Ways to Guard Joy on Sundays”
Sometimes we are so exhausted from our week that we simply “let go” when the weekend comes. I can understand that, but I also have found that a little intentionality on the weekends can go a long way. During this season, we’ve discovered a few simple changes that have helped our church attendance, and the whole Sunday experience, be more fruitful.

1. Sanctify your Saturday nights.
If you treat Saturday night as a time to start preparing, Sunday mornings go much better. Are there ways you can make Saturday evenings special? Can you go to bed a little earlier? Even something as simple as talking with your kids about church the next day over dinner, and then praying about corporate worship before going to bed, can make a huge difference. A joyful Sunday morning often begins the night before.

2. Prepare for the inevitable fight or spilled milk.
I am amazed at how often something goes wrong on the car ride to church! I believe this is often Satan’s strategy. He needles us in the car on the way there, or on our way out the door — whatever he can do to get us grumpy and  discombobulated by the time we walk into the sanctuary. If we prepare for this in advance, we can catch him in the act, “for we are not ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

So, when you climb into your minivan, tell yourself in advance, Someone is probably going to spill their milk in the van, or pull their sister’s hair, or chuck their Bible out the window on the interstate. When that happens, I will pray rather than yell.

3. Find creative ways to make Sundays a delight.
There is no reason why Sundays should be austere rather than a delight. We might associate “holy” with “somber,” but that is not how the Bible talks. Notice, for example, the language Nehemiah and Ezra use when they lead the    people in covenant renewal:
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep. . . . Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send    portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. . . . This day is holy; do not be grieved.” (Nehemiah 8:9–11).  In this context, holiness is celebratory. The logic goes like this: “today is holy, so stop  crying and drink some wine.”

We also should pursue cultivating an atmosphere of joy and celebration on Sundays. Is there a favorite restaurant you can make your Sunday tradition, or a favorite breakfast food you can make on Sundays? What other Sunday traditions might help the day be enjoyable? When your kids think back twenty years from now, what memories and  associations do you want them to have with Sundays and church?

God is our greatest joy and we want him to be our children’s greatest joy, and Sundays are a unique weekly opportunity to worship and enjoy God together. Let’s strive to make Sundays a delight for our children, not a burden.

In Christ,
Jared

 

Posted by Jared Mitchell with

Worship Ministry January 2019

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Church Family,
I pray this new year finds you well. God did so many great things through our church in 2018, and we cannot wait to see what’s in store for 2019. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in our Christmas Worship Program. We could not have done it without our praise band, praise team, choir, and production team. I am so thankful for every single person who helped make our Christmas Program a special event. I also want to thank everyone who came out to participate and worship with us. I know there were so many things you could have done with your evening, so thank you if you came to be a part! It was a great night and I am so grateful for everyone was a part.

Moving on into 2019, I want to share three prayers that I have for our Church Family this new year, and I hope you would pray these things with me as well. I know there are so many things we could pray for, and so many things that we do pray for. But the sake of space, and I’ll share just a few:

1) I pray that worshipping God would be our main priority. I pray that worship would be the goal of my heart, all day, every day. I don't mean only on Sunday mornings. Should we make worship a priority on Sunday mornings? Absolutely. Should worship slide down our priority list during the rest of the week? Absolutely not. Whether we are alone, whether we are together, whether we are at work, or whether we are with our families, I pray we would worship the one who gives us all of these things. God is good, all the time, and he deserves our worship all of the time.

2) I pray that we would pray more. I pray that I would pray more. I pray that you would pray more. I pray that we would see every meal, every goodnight story with our children, every morning coffee, as a chance to come to God in prayer. I pray that we would pray more than once a day. I’m really excited that our Church focus for 2019 is prayer, if even that I would pray more myself, with my family. How much should we pray? I can’t give an exact amount of time we should spend in    prayer. But I know that I should pray more than I am, and we should all pray more than we are. Join me, and let’s just pray more!

3) I pray that we would worship God in a fresh way on Sunday mornings. Does this mean that we will worship God in a new way? No. Does it mean that we will worship God in a different way? No. But I also believe that God is the ultimate creator of all things. So, my prayer is that God would create something new in us as we come to worship together on Sunday morning. Let’s set our expectations high. Let’s set our standard high. I believe that God will do more than we ask or imagine. Let’s expect Him to do just that.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this year.
I love you all and I will see you on Sunday!

In Christ,
Jared

 

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