Preparing for Worship: May 30, 2010

Pastor Todd and I posted our fourth "This Sunday @ Crossroads" video blog this week, and I don't think we really expected it to be so hard to come up with ideas for our videos, so we just decided to be honest about it and ask for help. If you haven't watched it yet, please CLICK HERE.  It's a good thing we don't have to come up with new ideas each and every week for our worship services! We'd be in trouble really quick.

This Sunday is still notable however, because we are going to finish our expositional study through the book of Ephesians. Pastor Todd has been so faithful to study and prepare sermons each week that help us understand the heart of this letter from a loving pastor to a faithful church. Through this time each week, the Spirit has helped us understand the nature of the new life we've been given when we surrender to the Lordship of Christ. He's helped us to pursue love and unity within the body of Christ; the church for which Jesus laid down his life. He's taught us that day in and day out we're in a spiritual battle, and the importance of dressing ourselves spiritually.

So we're sad to end this valuable study, but we're excited to move ahead to our next study in the book of Nehemiah called "Arise and Build." So come hear the apostle Paul's final thoughts to his beloved church at Ephesus!

As for the rest of the morning, it's gonna be familiar to ya, so prepare yourself to come and contribute. Ask the Spirit to guide you as you engage in conversation, as you sing, pray, study, and give, that through your participation others might be built up in love, and God might be honored!

We're going to start with the song "Here I am to Worship" which might seem like we're stating the obvious to God: "Hey God, we've come to church this morning to worship." I've found that sometimes you need to remind yourself of the purpose of whatever you're doing in order to really do it well and with the right motivation. Why do we worship God?? Because he's "altogether lovely" and "altogether worthy" are good reasons to start. It's an older tune these days, but the truth is still just as real. AND you should know it by heart by now! ;-)

We'll roll right into the hymn "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" which is one of my all-time favorite hymns because it is just chock-full-to-the-brim-and-even-overflowing-a-little with rich doctrine and truth about God. Truth that, when it cuts to your heart and soul, is enough to weather any storm and persevere any trial. "SURELY his goodness and mercy here DAILY attend thee!!!"

Todd comes up to do his usual prayer and welcome shtick and I thought it'd be fun to have all you blog readers mess with him a little during this time (I'll do it too). Wouldn't it be funny if we were all like a little too excited for his "routine" welcome and instructions to visitors? Like if we all got up on the edges of our seats and opened our eyes real big like we had no idea what he was going to say, and that any moment he might choose one of us to receive $10,000? It has to be subtle, but if enough of us do it, I think it could freak him out a little. Leave me a comment at the end of the blog if you're IN. And if you don't want to, then FINE!

After a quick greeting, we'll sing some more as we learn the new song I posted yesterday "Exalted (Yahweh)" from Chris Tomlin. This is a cool tune that is right outta Scripture, and the way it builds up in intensity as it goes into the bridge is truly a superb musical moment; thank God for the marriage of words of truth and music! Then we'll take a scene out of Revelation where all the ruling elders of the world throw their crowns down at the feet of Jesus and cry holy, holy, holy with "We Fall Down."

Then Pastor Todd will come and share the "series finale" of Ephesians. As I expressed in the video blog, I closed the door on a significant chapter of my life this week as I watched the final episode of LOST. I think the writers of that show were tremendous storytellers, and though there were mysteries left unsolved, the finale was very satisfying to me. I hope Todd's sermon measures up! CLICK HERE to read Paul's final words to his friends in Ephesus.

We'll respond with one closing song, which is actually just going to be the same song we learned and sung earlier: "Exalted (Yahweh)" so you'll really have a chance to learn this one and belt it out with everyone!

That's what's happening this weekend at Crossroads so I hope you're not going away for the holiday weekend; we need ya! Happy prep!

New Song: Exalted (Yahweh)

Hey guys, we're going to learn a really great song from Chris Tomlin this Sunday, so I wanted to post a video of the song with the words so that you know how it goes and can come prepared to sing it loud and strong on Sunday!

Check it out:

Preparing for Worship: May 23, 2010

How to prepare for this Sunday:

1) Wake up early Sunday morning and stretch

2) Eat a small warm-up food like a banana or an apple

3) Wear your pants with the elastic waistband

4) Bring your coffee travel mug to reduce trash and refill trips

5) Bring a bib

This Sunday is one of our favorites of the year. We call it "P3: Preaching, Praise, and Pancakes," and we're excited to share it with you! We'll be serving hot, fresh, fluffy pancakes all morning long (starting around 8:30) so come ready to partake.

I can't think of a better way to either start or finish a morning of corporate worship, so don't forget to prepare for the rest of the morning:

Starting with a two-song, refocus-our-worship-gone-astray-throughout-the-week set with the tunes "Nothing but the Blood" and "That's Why We Praise Him." An old hymn focused on the sacrificial death of Christ symbolized by his blood, followed by a contemporary response to Christ's life, death, and resurrection!

Then Pastor Todd will come lead us in prayer for the morning, and he'll give the usual welcome to visitors and give us a few seconds to run around a greet people with a hug and a handshake.

We'll pick the music back up as we sing from the Psalms about the love of God enduring "Forever," then focusing in on that love displayed through the death of Christ to make us his sons and daughters with "The Father's Love," and right into the infinite power of that love to break the powers of sin and death with "Stronger."

Pastor Todd's gonna bring us God's Word from Ephesians 6:13-18 which you can read by CLICKING HERE. It's the passage about the armor of God, and if you've already watched our "This Sunday @ Crossroads" video blog, you heard Pastor Todd and I talk about the importance of taking the time to dress ourselves spiritually for the battle that rages all around us! You also heard me say that the worship songs we lift to God in praise are actually helping to fortify that armor as it reinforces the truth of scripture in bite-size melodies and choruses that can come back to us quickly in times of need. If you haven't watched the video blog yet, just CLICK HERE.

We'll bookend the sermon with the song "Friend of God" as we realize that God has provided this armor to us because we are no longer at enmity with him! We put on the armor to combat the spiritual enemies that surround us (pride, lust, the world, Satan, etc.), but what a glorious truth that we no longer are enemies of the all-powerful and victorious God! We are not his enemies, but his friends! He has brought us into his household as adopted sons and daughters even!

So that's what's happening this Sunday. It's a BIG week, so don't miss it! Prepare to come eat, praise, and study God's Word with us together, and you'll be blessed! Happy prep!

Preparing for Worship: May 16th, 2010

Another Sunday gathering is almost upon us! Sometimes the week feels long enough between Sunday services that I wish we had another service in the middle of the week, and other weeks it seems like I barely put my guitar away and then I have to take it back out for rehearsal the next week!

This has been one of those whirlwind weeks filled with meetings, video projects, recording, and "Etc." It was especially busy for our Ministry Assistant, Rachel, whose grandmother passed away the previous week; and she was taking care of a number of things for the memorial service this past Thursday, which she said went very well.

It's been a week of trial and triumphs, of pain and of praise, and I love the way that the body of Christ comes together to share in all of the above with each other. I often remember a cutesy saying from a magnet my mom had on our fridge that said: "friendship doubles our happiness and divides our sorrow." What an important biblical concept! The body of Christ is called to rejoice in each other's joys and cry with those who are hurting; may Crossroads be a place of that kind of community!!

We'll lead off with two really great tunes that loudly proclaim our new life in Christ because of his atoning death on the cross: "Alive in Christ" and "Jesus Paid it All." The new life we have in Christ is the whole reason we are able to gather and offer a pleasing sacrifice of worship to God at all. Without Christ's blood we are DEAD in our sins, and to quote Pirates of the Caribbean: "Dead men tell no tales." Nor do they offer due praise to almighty God! So take this chance to live out that new life you've been given and come sing and worship with us!

We'll take a few moments to do our usual housekeeping stuff: welcoming everyone, especially visitors (we LOVE visitors!); committing our time to God for his glory and our edification; and saying a quick greeting to one another.

Then we'll sing a couple of tunes that help prepare us for the topic of the sermon text for the morning. "Let God Arise" is a song that comes from the book of Psalms and focuses on the invincible might of God; that when he arises, his enemies are scattered and he reigns forever! Then we take that thought and apply it to the day and age we live by understanding that God rules over nations, and states, and cities. That Valencia is God's city, and he has a perfect plan for this city that will glorify his great name. "God of This City" sings confidently that greater things are still to be done in our city to lift high the name of our Lord!

Then Pastor Todd will come and teach us from God's Word; from the apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesian church. He's talking about the battle that rages all around us; the nature of that battle and how we can prepare ourselves to stand firm in the strength of the Lord.  CLICK HERE to read the text we'll be studying this week and allowing the Spirit to apply to our lives in ways that honor and please him.

Then we'll land the plane with a song of victory from Psalm 62 entitled appropriately..."Psalm 62" that we can take with us and remind ourselves that God is our everlasting, never-failing fortress in time of spiritual warfare.

So that's what's going on this week; hope to see you there! Happy preparation!

Preparing for Worship: May 9, 2010

I love celebrating holidays on Sundays because I think holidays mean so much more in the context of God's sovereignty. I mean even the word "holiday" is a derivative of the phrase "holy day" which dates back to the 10 commandments telling us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Crazy huh?

So Mother's day is always the second Sunday in May, and celebrating and appreciating moms as a wonderful gift from God is so appropriate. Families and mothers alike get the chance to reflect on God's goodness displayed in the person of "Mom."

For some, Mother's Day is a sad reminder of moms who've passed away, or a would-be mom who's had difficulty conceiving. We certainly don't mean to stir up painful emotions or memories, but again, we understand the gift of mothers and motherhood in the context of the sovereignty of God. We understand and give thanks for God's perfect plan at work in each of us and our families and we grieve with those who grieve at this time of the year!

I thought we'd change up our worship band a little for the special occasion, and so I've put together a "boys only" group for Mother's day to serve all the gals and mothers of Crossroads. We're strapping on a bunch of acoustic guitars and changing up the sound of some of our well-known songs and we hope it's a blessing to you, and most importantly, to the heart of God.

Pastor Todd and I have started something new that we hope you'll find helpful: a "This Sunday @ Crossroads" video blog that you can find on the Crossroads home page. CLICK HERE to watch the video and find out what to expect this Sunday.

Okay, welcome back. So here's a snapshot of the morning:

We'll begin with a couple of songs to jump start our worship time together: "The Father's Love" and "Eternal Praise," which are both great songs to get us focused on the Lord and on the hope of eternity with him that we've been given through Christ.

Then Pastor Todd will come pray and welcome everyone, and then we'll have a quick plug for an upcoming Women's Fellowship event that I believe is called "Tasty Treats and Testimonies." That definitely sounds like a name for a women's event. I would love to listen to an announcement for a Women's activity that's called something like "Cage Fight" or "Armageddon Ball." I suppose we'd have to even it out with a Men's event along the lines of "Candles of Care" or "Flowers and Feelings." Hmmm, those are some pretty good titles; I think I should email them to Beth Moore for her next DVD series... ;)


After a quick greeting, we'll continue our time of worship-through-song with a couple of songs that really teach us about the personal and intimate relationship we're intended to have with Christ. "Perfect Savior" is about how Christ was the perfect fit for every need we had as lost, hopeless sinners, and how he died the death we deserved. "Draw Me Close" reminds us that our relationship with Christ, as any relationship does, involves experiencing and feeling his presence in our lives through the Spirit. It's a song that teaches us to trust that his strong and loving presence surrounds us always.

Then Pastor Todd will preach a special Mother's Day message from Luke 10 (CLICK HERE to read the passage) that will speak to mothers (and anyone!) who feel like they're invisible sometimes to the people they love. We need to remember that our work and efforts are seen and appreciated by the one who sees everything: God. That our work is not for those around us, but for him.

We'll close up our time with the tune "Glorious and Mighty" securing the knowledge of God's omnipresence and his careful eye into our minds with a soaring melody of God's greatness.

That's what's going on; prepare well! See you Sunday!

Video Blog: May 9, 2010 - Mother's Day!