"Where Your love ran red and my sin washed white...I'm in awe of You, and I owe all to You." Chris Tomlin couldn't have said it any more perfectly.
The "At the Cross" themed Night of Worship took place on September 10th and 11th, 2016. I can't think of more appropriate dates (the 15th anniversary of 9/11) to unite with many people to bring Him glory.
To try and recap in pictures and words how God moved in these nights would be like reading an essay about going to Disney World. You may get a glimpse, but I emphasize that you had to be there to get the full experience.
"...and then the fireworks went pop, pop, pop with the castle in the background."
I believe that God created all of us for His glory, and whether or not our role in the body of Christ is to clean the toilet or sing on stage with a microphone (and everything in between) each task is just as important. When God laid this theme on my heart I knew it would be extra special. After all, the world around us is falling apart, we're in the midst of a presidential election, and as a nation I feel that we're as divided as ever. What could possibly be a better way to unite a community than through worship?
And thus, many phone calls and arrangements were made, dates were set, practices took place, hours upon hours of technical work ensued, video preparation, prayer, and everything came together to make this year's Night of Worship happen.
This TEAM! I can't tell you enough how the Lord has used each of these individuals to strengthen my walk with the Lord. These people mean so much to me for a million reasons. God had a special plan for this event, and it amazes me to think back on what must have took place in His mind as He said, "I'm going to put Michael on guitar, Mike on drums..." and the list continues. HE brought this together and made it what it was. All glory goes to Him!
I will always be grateful to those behind the scenes. They don't get enough recognition!
This year we opened up the Night of Worship to a Saturday and Sunday evening, because we wanted people to have the option of choosing which date worked best for them. And by the grace of God, if we were to have combined the attendance from both nights, not everyone would have fit in the sanctuary. That's a work from above.
Benton Henry did a fantastic job capturing photos from both evenings. I particularly love this picture of the steeple and sky. The sun sure shined on us all weekend, and I'm grateful to have this in a picture to treasure forever. If you think about it, those clouds will never be in the same place again.
Promotion is extremely important for an evening of worship. We created a promo video, put out flyers, created an event on Facebook, an article in the newspaper, bulletins, newsletters, told everyone we knew...you name it. We shouted it from the rooftops, because we were bringing a message that all needed to hear.
For the guys I found these awesome Bible covers. I was so pleased to find such an appropriate gift after lots of searching! Each one had a different scripture verse on it.
The ladies got these keepsake pictures that said, "The cross made the difference for me," "By faith you will never walk alone," etc.
Along with each gift was a handwritten thank you note (because I am ALL about handwritten thank you notes and think they are a timeless tradition that is the least we can do to show our appreciation). Inside of each letter was a keepsake magnet and two custom Night of Worship pens.
I used my Cricut machine to cut out different colored crosses for the gift bags. I was so pleased with the end result!
People always arrive early to a concert setting, and I wanted to make sure that each person had an experience from the moment they walked in the door. I made a 45 minute pre service video of today's top Christian hits, along with many sayings and Bible verses. Here's a brief look at some of the slides.
A tremendous thank you goes to Jon Whisnand for putting this cross in the sanctuary and decorating it. It added such an incredible element to the evening.
I love this photograph Benton captured of us practicing just before heading out.
Just a few minutes before the start time of 7:00 pm, we played a three minute video entitled "Hope is Here." It emphasized that "you could be anywhere at this exact moment, but hope is here. Hope is a person, and His name is Jesus." Again, you had to see it to appreciate it!
In the weeks leading up to the Night of Worship, I would work on the lyrics on the church computer whenever I had a chance. I had a small window of time to get it done and do it correctly, and hours were spent researching backgrounds that would provide something extra to each song. The movement in the backgrounds had such an incredible effect!
After the opening song, I welcomed everyone and opened in prayer before we sang "Lead Me to the Cross" with the congregation. Becky led.
Next up was "This I Believe (The Creed)," which is a song that I love because of its message.
"I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
our God is three in one..."
I challenged everyone to remember these words, because they articulate what we believe so beautifully and simply. Then I spoke for a few minutes and posed the question, "What do you live for?" Do your actions in life match your answer? Those in the video we showed struggled to give a concise answer to this question.
"I live for good food, rock and roll...I don't know. That's a good question." As Christians, hearing answers like this should break our hearts and motivate us.
I also talked about how our perception of life is that of a spectator at a parade. We only see things as they happen and can be easily tempted with frustration when something doesn't go our way...when, in fact, Jesus has a 10,000 foot view of the parade, and he may be allowing something to happen now that will protect us, because he sees the beginning to the end.
Afterwards, Michael and I sang Shane and Shane's version of "Scandal of Grace."
"Scandal of Grace, You died in my place so my soul will live
oh, to be like You, to give all I have just to know You
Jesus, there's no one beside You
forever the hope in my heart."
Months ago I knew I wanted to incorporate an all-ladies a cappella song, and instantly "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" came to mind. These sweet friends made the song extra meaningful.
One Sunday last year Ashlyn and I sang, "Worthy is the Lamb" as a duet. As an added element Crissie led the youth in sign language, and it made the lyrics come to life! Thank you to these wonderful youth and to Ashlyn and Crissie.
When preparing a set list it's always a good idea to include new and old songs. Hannah and I led the congregation in, "I Need Thee Every Hour," which I excitedly told everyone..."is in your hymn book!"
While the congregation were still standing we sang Kari Jobe's "Forever," and that song is POWER! Crissie began, and we all joined in. We added full lighting on the words, "the power of hell forever broken." You had to be in the room to get the full effect.
Then I spoke on a few topics, such as why I didn't save that song for last. Well, it's because I wanted to give them a glimpse of the hope and eternal worship and glory we will experience in Heaven...how we must study the Word but that on this side of Heaven, we may not fully understand everything in it, and that's okay, as long as we believe it's 100% true. As Believers we will have the ability one day to ask God burning questions: everything from why He created insects (gross!) to why there are life threatening illnesses. I also explained that it's okay to make mistakes and used myself as an example...
When Ryan and I were first married he had a terrible stomach virus, and I (wearing my super hero cape) went downstairs to make him some soup. In case you're wondering; no, I didn't burn it. After serving it to him on a silver platter I returned half an hour later to ask him how the soup was, and he honestly told me that it was terribly salty and he wasn't able to eat it.
Campbell's....why is your slogan "MMM MMM GOOD" if your soup is so salty? What a letdown. It wasn't until two weeks later while retelling the story to my grandmother that she asked if I read the fine print on the back of the can (who uses instructions, anyway)? "Dilute each can with one cup of water." Oops. So, in theory I could have actually killed my dehydrated husband.... BUT he wasn't angry with me, because my heart was in the right place, and my intentions were good.
I also talked about our roles in the body of Christ and how important it is to fellowship consistently with other Believers. A foot can't function on its own without a leg to take it anywhere.
Then I sang Nichole Nordeman's "Why" with a video portraying the crucifixion of Jesus. I first saw this as a teenager, and this video was permanently etched in my memory. If you've never heard this song, here it is: "Why".
Before our invitation time I spoke with the congregation about how to accept and devote their lives to Jesus, and on the second night I remembered that three days prior my Dad had led my uncle Larry (who has cancer) to Jesus. It moved me in such a way that I can't explain, and I also talked about the time I got my car washed a few weeks ago and still couldn't see out of the windshield. It was then that I realized the dirt was coming from the inside, which served as a reminder that we must cleanse ourselves from within.
Our invitation song was "Sweetly Broken," with John Bryant's accompaniment on guitar. Then Michael and the band played MercyMe's "God With Us."
Our closing song was "Jesus Paid it All (O Praise the One)." How awesome that we opened with a song whose lyrics said, "I owe all to You," and ended with "Jesus paid it all." That just dawned on me.
Our pastor and I said a few closing words before we led the congregation in a final a cappella closing chorus:
"Singing how marvelous, how wonderful
and my song shall ever be
how marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me."
Being able to see and visit with so many people (and meeting new faces, as well), was a time I'll never forget. We live in such a broken world and yet we had just utilized our freedom to worship as a whole body.
After that weekend we were overwhelmed with love and support from so many people. And while every single message, text, thought, prayer, and kind word of encouragement meant the world to us...we acknowledged that it was ALL because of Jesus and the cross. It wasn't about us.
I love that God gave us each other. While no one can replace our Heavenly Father, it is awesome to have people on earth to lean on.
The DVDs of last weekend are FINISHED, and labels are being created this week. An announcement will be made soon, but they will be available in the church office.
My beloved Papa was able to travel over 100 miles to come for the weekend. You don't know how that thrilled my heart. I love him so much, and while the trip was not the easiest for him, I will always get to look back and know that this weekend was shared with him.
And Mrs. Alice! She has loved, supported, and encouraged me since I can remember. I still have a voice message from her that I will never delete from the day that we brought Emerson home. She and F.E. were congratulating us and had the sweetest things to say. This past week she moved out of town to live with her daughter, and I went to her house on Friday to give her a gift and heart-felt letter. I wanted her to know just how much she meant to me. Just this week I was going through one of our closets and found a devotional book she gave me, and the first chapter was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. Never underestimate the power of the people with which the Lord surrounds you.
On the last concert night I came home to my precious baby girl. We watched the Miss America pageant together while eating Zaxby's...a perfect end to the evening if you ask me!
She ran right into my arms and said, "Mommy, you've been singing ALL day!" Yes, she was right. I was singing for her, for all of those who came to worship with us, and most importantly, I was singing for the God who created me and has blessed me with SO many things...one of which fits right in my arms.
What's YOUR reason to sing?
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