Monday, March 31, 2008

New Hope @Worship 03.30.08

It was Spring Break weekend and I had been braced for at least a 20% drop in attendance this Sunday in worship. But lo and behold, some people who were supposed to be away wound up coming, and others brought new friends. Then we had other visitors who had never been with us before. All in all a very good turnout.

Worship set -

Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing) - I love the way this gets us moving.
Nothing But the Blood (Redman version) - one of the best examples of older hymns refreshed
Shout To the Lord - we don't sing it often, but when we do we SING it
God of Wonders - on a beautiful Spring day with flowers blooming and the azaleas ablaze...

Come Unto Me - Kira Stoy and Emily Shermer did a great job with this and our son Sean absolutely killed on acoustic guitar. (Proud dad I am :) )

I Surrender All - after my call to go all in, made sense to use this as invitational hymn.



I started by reminding people of all the questions Jesus asked and how when studying that personally, I wondered what would happen if Jesus asked me "What do you want me to do?" Would I think of others, or of God's work at New Hope and elsewhere, or would I go immediately to what was best for me. Obviously from the text, the disciples struggled with that too.

This sermon begins a series on "Big Questions". More about that later as I develop it.

We are doing a service project Saturday, raising money for our partners across the street at Valparaiso Elementary in their "Relay for Life" team effort. Our bit is holding a carnival at New Hope with games, rides, movies and food. It's the Saturday of spring break so hopefully we'll raise a good bit of money for a worthy cause. Great idea from Amy Anderson.

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