Changin' it up.
That's what we did at PLC this weekend. We changed it up... at least we did artistically:
- We had a stripped down band and instrumentation: 2 people on stage at Cedar Falls, and 3 at Waterloo, with an acoustic, a keyboard, and a cajone.
- At Cedar Falls, Spencer and myself wrote and performed an instrumental prelude on a couple of acoustic guitars.
- We created some more quiet and reverent worship moments.
- We had some extended spiritual direction moments... including one at Cedar Falls that was inspired by this post.
- We introduced a new song, "Cannons" by Phil Wickham. I think we're really going to enjoy this one.
It's nice to have a change, to stretch ourselves creatively, and to invite those members of our congregation who prefer the quiet into worship. Just a great feel.
Pastor Carl filled in for Pastor John this weekend, and did a wonderful job. His message? Be bold... like the Little Caesars pizza guy. (You'll have to take a look at the video of his message to find out what I mean!)
The Spirit was definitely present at the 9:00 service yesterday. Powerful worship.
ReplyDeleteFrom the mouth of a child:
ReplyDelete“That was the BEST service ever! I really liked it.”
Why?
"because, I liked EVERY song, and I really like that preacher guy, and they served snacks!”
Very powerful weekend. I think its worth noting that we took our shoes off for worship. Maybe not a big deal...but worth noting. I'm reading David Platt's RADICAL book and finding more and more that we should not shy away from "different" and "awkward", and...well, I'd be interested what you all think of this quote from David Platt's book: "So how was I to reconcile the fact that I was now pastoring thousands of people with the fact that my greatest example in ministry was known for turning away thousands of people? Whenever the crowd got big, he'd say something such as, 'Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.' Not exactly the sharpest church-growth tactic. I can almost picture the looks on the disciples' faces. 'NO, not the drink-my-blood speech! We'll never get on the list of the fastest-growing movements if you keep asking them to eat you.' by the end of that speech, all the crowds had left, and only twelve men remained. Jesus apparently wasn't interested in marketing himself to the masses".
ReplyDeleteOK...so that was a little long, but this book is really stretching me! I liked the awkwardness of taking off our shoes because we serve a HOLY GOD!!!
Love the comment about snacks. :)
ReplyDeleteRonnie Mo - yeah man. I had a seminary professor who, after walking us through the first part of Acts and observing how few followers were gathered to witness and listen to the risen Jesus, commented: "By the time Jesus had finished his ministry on earth, more people had left than had joined."
That has always challenged me. Now, I think we have to be careful not to use that truth as permission to do violence to the gospel by being so inaccessible or combative that we re-make the gospel in our own image. Nevertheless, the truth remains: Jesus says the way is narrow for a reason.