Monday, May 18, 2015

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Yesterday’s Tent Worship Service


1. That's not our worship team! - Every one of the people who played yesterday, plays on one of our worship teams, but they don't usually play together. Beth Russnogle, our Worship Director, brought them together and they had about three or four hours of practice before Sunday. Our singing sounded great yesterday, largely because they did a great job of leading the way for us!


2. Some guests really did find us! - I know I joked about it, but we did have some guests with us yesterday. They were in town visiting family and friends who brought them to worship. What I heard from each one I talked to was, “Thank you for embracing my son/daughter/family. Your church was just what they needed.” The feeling’s mutual. We really need each other. We were made for “together.”


3, Baptisms are contagious! - We baptized two youth yesterday in preparation for confirmation Sunday on June 7th. After the service we were cleaning up, and one of our other youth approached me and said, “I want to be baptized.” Something clicked for her as she watched Shelby and Tyler get baptized and she knew it was a step she wanted to take as well. Awesome stuff.


4. A lot happened that wasn't in the bulletin! – Every Sunday I pray, “God do something that’s not in the bulletin.” It’s the way I ask God to do something I don’t expect that day. A lot of that happened yesterday. A lot of important conversations. A lot of re-connecting. Just because of yesterday: there’s a wedding on my calendar, a powerful time of prayer for a new job, new people ready to serve and share their gifts.


5. People saw Jesus. - A lot of people were genuinely excited about being together and being the church yesterday – about Go, Gather, and Grow. Later in the day, I had two conversations with people following up from worship that morning. Both were along the lines of, “Tell me more about Jesus. I think he’s talking to me and I want to know more.” Something powerful is happening when people are encountering God in worship and want to get connected to Jesus.

Yesterday was a great day. A lot happened - some of it you might have missed - and I just didn't want you to!

Go. Grow. Until we Gather,



Pastor John