Preparing for Worship: August 1st, 2010

Hey guys! Welcome back to the Worship Blog! I didn't post a "Preparing for Worship" the week I was in Kansas City and I bet you felt so under prepared, for which I apologize.

As I mentioned during the service last week, the time I spent at the National Worship Leader Conference was refreshing, encouraging, educating, and challenging. It was a great time for me to take off my leader "hat" for a few days, and to be led for a change. I'm thankful for the tireless ministry of worship leaders like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Phil Wickham, Israel Houghton, and others that ministered to me while I was there. I have to battle the temptation to give in to my "music-snob" side that craves musical innovation and creativity above a sincere and humble heart, and sometimes I need to have a personal experience with some of those guys' songs in order for me to really understand the heart behind the tune, and how it could be a great expression of worship to God, even if it's not the most stimulating chord progression or instrumentation to my ear.

This Sunday we're excited to have our India team back safely home with us! We're anxious to hear about their trip and what they have to share with us about what God is doing in India through the ministry of our missionaries: Peter and Heather Malakar. We will have a short update on their trip, but we'll look forward to a full recap from the team at an upcoming Missions Night on August 22nd. Mark your calendars now, but more details will come your way soon.

Sunday's worship songs include "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" at the beginning of the service. I've noticed myself creating a little tradition of starting our services with an upbeat, rousing tune to help us wake up and create some energy in the service, and so I want to change things up just to help keep things fresh, so I thought this hymn would be a good starter because it's still totally God focused and helps us shift our minds from all the things that fill it during the week.

Then we'll have a quick update from our India team, and then we're going to officially commission our new youth pastor, Ed Boness! Ed and his wife, Valerie are all moved in to their house, and ready to campaign a new vision for our youth ministry throughout the month of August. If you have student age kids, from grades 7-12, expect a call from Ed in the next month as he connects with the kids and families of Crossroads. He'll explain a bit about that after we pray for him.

Then we're going to learn this new song called "Our God" and it's one of those songs I mentioned earlier, that wasn't as musically stimulating to me at first, but as I heard the heart of Chris Tomlin in writing it, and understanding it a little better, it really affected my heart and I have grown to really like this tune!
Here's a video of how it goes:


Then we'll sing another song we know really well that also talks about God's might, but how he is "Mighty to Save" us from our sin even more incredibly than being mighty in physical strength!

Then Pastor Todd will preach from Nehemiah 6. It'll be good to have him back at the pulpit teaching us God's word, and helping us know how to apply it to our lives for God's glory. May we be Hearers AND Doers of the Word!

Then we'll celebrate communion together and sing "There is a Fountain" which we learned a few weeks ago; an old hymn that celebrates the symbol of Christ's blood that signifies his atoning death on the cross for our sins.

We'll close with "Eternal Praise" which looks forward to the day we'll worship God together, before his very throne!

That's what's going on, I gotta head out to a baseball game with the men of Crossroads! See you Sunday!