A week into a day

So... I'm taking a course called Essentials Red. I'm having a wonderful time learning about the history of worship and being challenged to bring the gems of our tradition into the creativity of our present. I found that this course has brought back a freshness to preparing a service. It is amazing how easy it is to get caught in a liturgical rut of sorts. The languages of worship and thinking about them all as I plan worship is wonderful and refreshing.

This mornings worship service at our church was an excellent example of how a variety of worship languages being used at one time can exponentially increase the impact. We enjoyed listening to old Hymns repackaged into a nice blues-rock tone (Uncloudy Day), drama, testimony, prayer, scripture, preaching, missions update, Remembrance moment and offering. All the elements were weaved together around the core theme, "Joy Filled Living."

The Joy of the LORD was in our service... I always love it when God comes to church!

This morning was also special because I had the privilege of having a dear friend take part in the service. My good friend Bim (Turner) Ingersoll has decided to tour again after 21 years and he kicked it off at our church last night. Bim and I served on a mission project back in 1989.

The Worship Band had a pretty easy morning. We only did an opening song and a closing number. They were:

- In The Secret (Andy Park)
- Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (Elisha Hoffman,  Arr. by K Parks)

I will be posting the words and a rough (very rough) mp3 this week of a song I've been working on... I would love any feedback I can get on it.

Cheers,
Kurt

October 18th Set and comments

I love it when God takes the planning of individuals and molds it together in real time. Our lead pastor has taken a leave of absence until January and this was our first week of special speakers. We weren't able to connect due to busy schedules, yet God did what only God can do. Took the pieces and blended them into a Spirit moving experience.

Dr. Keith Bodner, professor of Biblical Studies at ABU/Crandall University preached about the church in Thessalonica. It perfectly spoke into the place our church is at right now. He's back this week again and I'm filled with expectation as I prepare for the coming weekend.

Here's the set list...

-  All Hail King Jesus (Dave Moody)

-  Be Lifted Up (Cory Edwards)

-  Ancient of Days (Jamie Harvill, Gary Sadler)

-  Jesus, All for Jesus (Robin Mark, Jennifer Atkinson)

-  I Come To You (Kurt Parks, Jeff Somers, Tim Milner)

-  Holy Holy Holy (Reginald Heber, John Dykes)

- Victory in Jesus (Eugene Bartlett)


Cheers!

God is definitely in season!

Romans 12:20

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”

This time of year brings incredibly bright, vivid colour as trees lose their chlorophyll, revealing their true colour. The imagery captivates me every year. The verse above, although taken from a passage on the wrath of God, is one of my favourite verses to use when talking about seeing God in our world. Contrasting this idea of God’s “invisible qualities” vs “been clearly seen.”

The reality of the beauty of our Heavenly Father is a like the myriad of Fall colours. Only when the cover of a temporal reality, or the chlorophyll causing the leaves to appear as though green, are removed do we see God in all His wonder and Truth. Like those green leaves, we think they look beautiful, and sometimes they do appear so, however, when compared to the Fall foliage, the green can tend to look, well, ordinary.

Take time in your busy schedule to find a place where you can take in the beauty of nature and reflect on what things may be hindering your true worship of our Great God.

... and we're off.

This would qualify as the first post to this blog... Intense!