Sunday Recap

 Our "let's just go for it" philosophy in our music every week is really beginning to take root at our almost 2 year old church campus. From the first song, we are making no apologies that we are here to worship God and that for the next hour, it is not about us...it is about Him and making Him known and making HIS NAME great. I am choosing songs that celebrate joy in every aspect during this sermon series on Philippians. I am focusing our worship on the fact that HE alone is where joy is found. My drummer, Randy, got tearful on me between services just talking about how meaningful Todd Fields' song "Let Me Sing" is to him. He was sharing how he can't play that song and not get a little something in his throat. I always end that song with just keys only and me singing a little off the mic and asking them to sing it out. I pull one ear out to hear them sing and man, it is awesome. Here is the chorus...

"Let me sing
Louder than creation to You
For the pain you bore in Your body
To bring my soul to You
Let me shine
Brighter than the stars in the sky
An offering of praise all my life
TO YOU my holy King
Let me sing."

 - Todd Fields

Here was our entire setlist:

"The Lord Reigns" - Klaus Keuhn
Welcome/Announcements
"Counting on God" - Desperation Band
"Let Me Sing" - Todd Fields
Video Bumper
Message
"Healer"
"Counting on God" - Chorus Only

 I've been asking myself the question lately, "If I had one hour to see, hear, feel, and experience God, what would that look like to me?"  It is a HUGE question that I cannot really get my arms around, but it is prompting me to REALLY plan the service in a much more God-focused way...not so much about "How do I get all the "OTHER" stuff in there (i.e. - announcements, videos, etc..) It's a struggle we all face and we have so many voices to listen to because of our role as Worship Arts Leaders in overseeing that hour. I've just been walking away from Sundays lately so full of joy, hope, and excitement from being a part of our services.  I see visibly and hear from others about God's work in their lives and I am stoked about the future!

Meet me at Fred's from more great Sunday Recaps!

Sunday Recap

I took 3 Sundays off this summer and I cannot tell you how great I feel! I could not wait to lead worship this past Sunday! I loved the songs I chose, even made a late switch on Thursday before rehearsal because I just was all over this song "Reign in Us" by Starfield. Not a new song, I know, but it was really where I was this past week. I lost my cellist and flautist this summer, but I gained a bass player and an electric player. So, we are rocking it out! We have also added a new guy to our leadership team, Luke van der Hoeven. He just moved here from Ohio and has been a HUGE addition to our team. He is leading our Student Worship Band and leads with me a couple of times a month and plays acoustic. This was our 1st Sunday leading together and it was SO much fun! We kicked off a new series on the book of Philippians entitled "The Pursuit of Happiness."  Here was our setlist..

"Come Now is the time to Worship" - Vineyard
Welcome/Announcements
"Blessed Be Your Name" - Redman
"Reign in Us" - Starfield
Message
Time of Response - communion, prayer, giving
"Inside Out"  - Hillsongs

Our new electric player, Michael, is a Senior in HS. He had 7 tackles on Friday night (he is a linebacker at Syd's schoo!) Let's just say that Todd is very geeked up about attending HS football games this fall at HHCA! Michael is doing a great job, but he has help - he comes from a very musical family! New blood is good. It's a different season in our Worship Arts Ministry as we have launched a Student Band (our drummer Randy is the musical director for the new Student Band!) We are one big family serving each other in whatever way we can between Sundays and Wednesdays.  We are having a blast with our new team members and our worship Sunday was reflective of how much new people can take it to another place. It was just a good day all around.

How was your Sunday? Meet me at Fred's!

My Review of Between Wyomings by Ken Mansfield

What better way to tell the story of your life than on a road trip? That is what Ken does with such beautiful language - weaving personal stories into the physical landscape that is our beautiful nation. As he and his wife Connie leave their home in Bodega Bay in a they call "MOSES", they take a physical as well as mental journey to some of the most memorable places in their lives and recount for us the struggles, victories, and just plain interesting stories of their lives.  Having produced a few records myself on a MUCH smaller scale than Mr. Mansfield, I was drawn in with great interest to his recounts of working with major artists at Capital Records and the "intimate" stories of their interaction that could only be trusted to be true because HE was there to witness them.  At times, Ken rambles with his thoughts and I appreciate that he was allowed to do that in this book because as an artist, I SO connected with the way he eloquently expressed the feelings, emotions, confusion, and struggle of understanding the spiritual realm and how it interacts with the physical day-to-day life. I highly recommend this book to artists and creatives. It was an easy read and will encourage your faith journey as an artist.

Pray and Tell the Stories

Now that my brain is REALLY thinking on a school year calendar, I was giving some thought to what this year holds for me. I was praying for our church and for my hubby as we approach our 2nd Year Anniversary as a church campus. I just simply asked God,"What do you want me to focus on this year? What is my role in this amazing thing that is LCC - Hilton Head Island?" I have to ask these questions because I can get REALLY busy doing a lot of good things, but not even crack the service of what is the BEST thing - or rather - the God-designed thing I should be doing. Over the last couple of days, God has brought clarity to that for me. PRAY and TELL THE STORIES. Now, the prayer thing...we all need to pray. That is not what He was saying to me. I really feel like God is leading me to pray in a way that requires so much more intentionality on my part as well as for me as a church leader to GIVE opportunity for our people to pray. He also spoke to me about being much more intentional in telling the stories of our people. In every church that I have served, this was a HUGE part of our DNA. We shared them in staff meeting, we shared them on Sundays, we shared them all the time. We have shared some stories, but I want to make this THE THING that I focus on with our church campus this year.  Our tagline here at LCC is "Lives are Changing." Well, let's talk about that and let people hear about it ALL THE TIME! So, that is my plan this year.  Has God given you some specifics this year for your personal life or ministry? I would love to hear them...

It ends today

I have squeezed every moment out of this summer. When it began, I gave Sydney my doll house that I grew up with for her to play with her princesses, ponies, and the little people I still had left. Sean has even added a few cars outside the porch:) We have had a wonderful time and even as I sit here at the play area at the mall, I know it ends today and I hate it. I painted Syd's toes this morning and here was an excerpt of our conversation...

Me: Don't you want to stay home with Sean and me instead of going to Kindergarten?
Sydney: I want to do both.
Me: What are you most looking forward to at Kindergarten?
Sydney: lunch and painting
Me: What was your favorite thing you did this summer?
Sydney:Playing princesses with you.
Me: What are you going to miss when you go to Kindergarten?
Sydney: you, mommy

Timing is everything

We are a week away from launching our Student Ministry (middle and high school) on the Island Campus. I've neglected my own personal blog this last week as I have been setting up twitter, facebook, and texting services for it (in the words of Doug Fields, "Email is for old people"). At this point, my job on launch night is to run audio. I am really looking forward to being behind the scenes with this ministry. Since I have been sharing church planting thoughts lately, my activities this past week have made me realize a great lesson in church planting...timing is everything. I would love to tell you that everything with lauching this ministry was perfectly planned and thought through and precise...yeah, right. It has been a 100 percent, God- infused, here's-the-people-right-in-your-lap-to do-it launch. God decided it was time to do this...seriously. We tried to do this in the first six month...didn't work. The key there? WE TRIED to do it. It wasn't the right time...it wasn't God's time. We have been praying for this to happen and God has brought the right people with the right gifts with servant hearts to do it. We do not have a staff member over this area...all volunteers. What did we do? Pray... we prayed and asked other to pray with us. Over the last 6 months, parents began stepping up and talking about getting involved. Students musicians began to come out of the shadows. Randy and Maria said they would handle the elements in the student service. The final "Oh my gosh" moment? 3 weeks ago, a young guy right out of college named Luke showed up at our church with gifts in leading worship...yeah, our student worship leader. I almost had a real fit when I met Luke and he auditioned! Could it be that when we actually pray for something specific (I prayed for a young guy to lead worship...honestly!) that God answers our prayers? Why am I so shocked? But I am...every time. As a church planter, we want to do everything the day we open the doors. I have been a part of church plants where we were able to do that for the most part. But this time, we have not had the staff, resources, or personnel to do that. Above all that? It wasn't God's plan for this church campus plant. This was exactly when he wanted us to do this...not a minute before. I know that now. So I encourage you to pray for His timing, not yours. Just sit back and watch...you are in for the time of your life.

Roadtrip

There is just something to be said for spending a lot of hours in a vehicle with other people. You learn things about them that you would have never known. Being confined to a small space just brings it out of you. You also get to dream a little...to talk about the "What if we could..." I had a road trip this week with 2 other musicians from the Island. The trip was worth far more than what was waiting for us at our destination. I spent 3 years on the road in college traveling the country playing keys in a band. I was not a fan of the road, but I do miss the hours of conversation. This week reminded me of those great days of laughing, sharing stories, and being really honest about who you are.  So turn the radio off...have some conversation. If 3 musicians can talk and NOT listen to music for 10 hours, you can do it!