Join us tomorrow night as Phil Herndon discusses how to Love with Your Words, a challenge to many of us.  I would LOVE to see you all there!

Kerri

For those of you who made Wednesday night, he posed two questions to the group. 

1. In what ways have you seen people loving each other at Creekside?

2. In what way can you be shown love right now?

I think it is important for us all to realize that we are not only blessing others when we give love but it blesses others to give to us.  I know I sometimes have trouble receiving gifts or help and I have to remember that the person wanting to bless me should be entitled to bless me.  Keep in mind that the feeling you get when you bless others must also be allowed to happen to others as they bless you.

So, how can you be loved by the body right now or what praises can you sing of how people are loving others at Creekside? 

Since I'm sure this is a hot topic...I'll put my request in first.  I would feel loved if you answered my blog :) ha ha

Thanks gang and see you next Wednesday!

Kerri

Thank you to those of you who have committed yourself to being at the 40 Days of Love Small Group event nights for the next 6 weeks!  I am looking forward to learning more about how I can "practice" loving others and I hope you are too!

I'd like us to use this website to be able to share things that we are learning, different ways we are growing, or any ideas you have during these next "bunch a days of love" that will be beneficial for all.  We know your time is valuable and want this to be a time of equipping and fellowship for all of you as you draw closer to God and each other.

I especially encourage all of you who are not in a small group to attend as you will get a small taste of what it is like to share your thoughts and heart in a small group environment. 

So, start sending me your thoughts, comments, etc. and I will post those that I think should be shared with everyone.

ACTION ITEM THIS WEEK: Do your love assessment of the different relationships you have and pray about a person you want to show love to over the next 40 days.  Also, have you seen someone you don't know expressing love towards someone else this week?  Share your "love stories" with the group!!

See you next Wednesday night at 6pm for dinner and 7pm for the study!

Remember, we would love any volunteers for childcare any of the 6 weeks.

Thank you,

Kerri

• We need to realize that God has something to say about what he wants in a worship service before we do “whatever we want.”  Some examples are:
  • We’re to pray together (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
  • Pastors are to preach and explain God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:2).
  • We’re to sing praises to God (Col. 3:16).
  • There’s a proper way to participate in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 14:29; 11:17-34).
• There are three principles that are a good “rule of thumb” in putting together a service:
  • Do what God clearly commands.
  • Don’t do what God clearly forbids.
  • Use Scriptural wisdom for everything else.
    .

Now, let’s take a look at the many “tensions” involved in a worship service:
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God is so much beyond us we cannot fully understand Him and His ways.  He is huge!  He is “God of god’s, Lord of lord’s, the great, the mighty, the awesome God” (Duet. 10:17).  Because of this, reverence is essential for worship (Heb. 12:28-29).  He is holy and we are sinful.  But God has made Himself reachable and near to us because of His deep love for us shown in the incarnation of Jesus.  God became human to laugh, eat, sleep, and interact with those He created.  The radical fact for Christians is that He is not only with us but He dwells in us.  Can you get any closer than that?  He is both majestic God and our friend (John 15:14-15).
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Churches can have a hard time connecting the knowledge of the mind with the passions of the heart.   God desires us to set our minds on the things above (Col. 3:2).  In Colossians 3:16, Paul tells us an important reason to use Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is to let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you.  Truth must be prevalent in all we do.   Yet in many churches, it’s passionate worship from the heart that needs attention.  Godly affections are deep and the result of focusing on what God has done and who He is.  God’s transcendence causes us to feel awe.  His holiness evokes sorrow for our sin.  A view of his mercy leads to gratefulness.  The knowledge of his sovereignty brings great peace.  Many times we can feel wonder and joy in response to God.  God intends for us to remember that neither biblical truth nor deep emotion is out of place when we worship God; they’re meant to be together.
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God looks upon the heart (1 Samuel 16:7) and the state of our heart is of primary importance because “from it flows the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).  In Scripture, the heart encompasses everything from what we think to what we feel to what we choose.  It’s not enough that people just attend meetings, something must be stirring in their desires, thoughts, and feelings.  While heart worship is most important, what we do with our bodies isn’t irrelevant or unimportant.  Physical responsiveness to God in worship is encouraged and modeled throughout Scripture.  Various physical actions can bring God glory, including clapping, singing, bowing, kneeling, lifting hands, shouting, playing instruments, dancing, and standing in awe.  We must help our congregations understand that God is worthy of our deepest, strongest, and purest affections…and that our bodies should show it.
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Worship, from beginning to end, is about God.  He is complete in every way.  When we worship God, we join an activity that began in eternity and will continue forever - the triune God valuing His beauty and worth above everything else.  God’s nature is to give and He created the world so we could share in the joy of knowing Him, ultimately for his glory.  God’s glory is the end of our worship, and not simply a means to something else.  Biblical worship is God-focused (God is clearly seen), God-centered (God is clearly the priority), and God-exalting (God is clearly honored).  The horizontal aspect of worship is about the importance of our interaction together as we worship God.  We are not to neglect our meeting together so we can build one another up and “stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24-25).  We are “teaching and admonishing one another” (Col. 3:16).  Worship is not about us, but includes us.  Ephesians 5:19 reveals the perfect balance as we sing to the Lord we are speaking to each other, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.”  Worshiping together is a time for us to be built up, all for His glory.
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I’ve been in situations where worship leaders don’t plan the service until 5 minutes before it.  Others will have such a detailed plan that even the prayers are written out in advance.  We need both planning and spontaneity.  Planning can’t replace dependence on the Holy Spirit.  Planning also can’t ensure we’ve made the right plans.  Our goal should be to plan wisely, humbly, and prayerfully, fully expecting that God may provide fresh and unexpected guidance during the meeting.  Plans are meant to serve us, not rule us.  It can make us aware of our need for God before the meeting.  It can cause us to clarify our goals and how to meet them.  It can help us use variety and contrast as well as use God’s Word more consistently.  It can help prepare all the team members for their contributions.  But spontaneity is important as well when it brings freshness to the meeting.  Gifted leadership is seen on the spot and in the moment.  We can plan for spontaneity by playing through a simple progression at the end of a song, singing a line of Scripture, sing a prayer using a familiar tune, etc.  Playing spontaneously gives us one more musical tool to help people see the glories of our great God and Savior.
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Click Here for more information on the Christian Guitarist Fellowship Ministry!

• What have you learned in this study? 
• Any new concepts or ways of viewing things that were discussed? 
• Has your definition of Grace changed and how?

Share your thoughts with others who have or have not been through the study!  I'd love to hear them!

For those of you who are in small groups, leading small groups, or want to be in a small group, I'd love to get feedback on what new curriculum you would like to study in the New Year!  I think we'll always offer up the sermon series as an option and will start providing questions again that you'll be able to download from the website.  However, I would like to offer up an alternate study as well.  Any preferences, thoughts, ideas??  Let me know as it will help me in my New Year planning!

Thank you!

Kerri

Here is a link to Steve McVey's Grace Walk Leaders Blog if you would like to discuss the study with leaders outside of Creekside: http://gracewalkgroups.blogspot.com/.

You can find additional resources at: http://www.gracewalkresources.com.

The Worship & Arts Ministry at Creekside Community Church is reading it through over the next few months. This blog post is a forum where they can comment and interact on the book. Anyone can join in and add to the insights. The book is divided into four sections which we'll take four months to explore.

Part I - The Leader (August)
Part II - The Task (September)
Part III - Healthy Tensions (October)
Part IV - Right Relationships (November)

In this post, let's dive into Part I on The Leader. A leader is anyone in front of others who is influencing them (singers, readers, drummers, etc.). I like how Bob describes many of the little things that consume us as leaders: what people think, attitudes, musicians not showing up, and even technical things going wrong. However, the most important thing is giving worth to God. Worship matters to God because He is the one ultimately worthy of all worship. It matters to us because we are created to worship God. It also matters to leaders because it is one of the greatest privileges to lead others to encounter the greatness of God.

The next four chapters identifies four important aspects of leaders

My Heart: What Do I Love?
My Mind: What Do I Believe?
My Hands: What Do I Practice?
My Life: What Do I Model?

What are you doing with your heart? We live in a culture obsessed with idols. Bob explains how he was seeking his own glory and went through a major depression because of it. He discovered he could lead others in worshiping God while he was worshiping something else in his heart. God has made it clear "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). Bob states that "what we love most will determine what we genuinely worship (p. 25)." As we value and love God more than anything else, we will respond in appropriate worship from our hearts.

What are you doing with your mind? If you truly know God, you will want to know more about Him. What do we believe about God? Have you taken time and energy to know Him and know about Him? It's important that we get our minds engaged by developing our theology and docrine through Scripture. As a young Christian, I was encouraged to memorize Scripture which has helped me in my understanding and in my leading. I can share the "thoughts of God," which have eternal significance rather than my random thoughts. Some think that studying about God shouldn't be hard...they would rather spend more time on a cool "lick" than dig deeper into a topic like "glory." Some think they can know God better through music than through His Word...though music truly moves us, truth transforms us and gives music its meaning. Some think theology and doctrine cause problems...instead, theology and doctrine rightly applied will solve problems. Mind and heart belong together. May we be as familiar with the Word of Truth as we are with our instruments (or more so). "If we do so, there's a strong possibility people are going to walk away from our meetings more amazed by our God than by our music" (p.32).

What are you doing with your hands? What you practice will develop who you are. Skill is important as God has commanded in Psalm 33:3, "...play skillfully with a shout of joy." There's a difference between trying and training. If you are one who trys hard, you may get better, but it will be almost by accident. If you are one who trains hard, you will get better faster as you intentionally work with disipline and initiative. Skill is a gift of God for His glory. It must be developed. It is not an end in itself, but helps us focus on God and serve in many ways. We not only need to be skilled in our craft (singing, media, sound engineering, etc.), but we should develop other important areas like leadership, communication, and technology. Let us give ourselves to the diligent practice and careful attention necessary for biblical leadership.

What are you doing with your life? God wants us to be a good example to others, not only "up front," but in our daily lives. Paul told Timothy to "set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12). In speech, we must be very careful with what comes out of our mouths. Last year, a young drummer on a worship team had to step down for a season because of some bitter and inappropriate words on his My Space blog. In our conduct, we must be above reproach. What we do makes a difference as people are closely watching us. We must build our reputation so people can trust us. This trust is what gives us the connection to people to genuinely lead them. In love, we demonstrate the greatest commandment of God: loving God first and then others as ourselves. In faith, we truly believe Jesus is alive, God is present, the Spirit is at work right now! Lack of faith can hinder your ministry. God promises to "reward those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). In purity, means our character makes a big difference. Christ demonstrated on the cross how serious God is for us to be pure. How are you handling your sexuality? Your anger? May we model the Christ changed life in how we live daily.

What do you think? Your comments are welcomed and encouraged no matter how big or small. Thanks.

A faithful worship leader
magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit
by skillfully combining God's Word with music,
thereby motivating the gathered church
to proclaim the gospel,
to cherish God's presence,
and to live for God's glory.

There is a wealth of practical and helpful insights in this section. Yet, it is a little intimidating to try and summarize it in a few paragraphs here. I'll give you ten points that I think are significant. After reading them, add comments, questions, or other points you think are significant.

Leading people to praise God involves energy, intentionality, and thoughtfulness (page 59).
We want people to leave in awe that God would speak to us - encouraged by His promises, challenged by His commands, fearful of His warnings, and grateful for His blessings (page 63).
We need to remember that our access to God is not based on last week's performance, today's practices, or tomorrow's potential. Rather, we're accepted "in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6) and need have no fear of rejection as we come before God's throne (page 74).
We need the Holy Spirit's power when we worship God... Three attitudes are indispensable in this area - desperate dependence, eager expectation, and humble responsiveness (page 82).
A faithful worship leader combines the Word of God with music to magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ (page 96).
Throughout history, God has inspired music to be a primary expression of our hearts to His, yet it is so easy to argue about. Music wars have been fueled by publishing houses, revivalism, charismatic outpourings, cultural shifts, sound amplification, electronic instruments, and of course, our own sinful hearts (page 98).
The selecting of music is of utmost importance. If someone was born in our church and grew up singing our songs over the course of twenty years, how well would they know God, based on the song's content (page 119)?
A worshiping community is made up of individuals whose lives are centered around the Savior they worship together each week. A worshiping community expects to encounter God's presence not only on Sunday morning but every day. A worshiping community recognizes that passionate times of singing God's praise flow from and lead to passionate lives lived for the glory of Jesus Christ (page 127).
As we help people understand the relationship between God's love for us in Christ and our daily struggles and challenges, their love and appreciation for the gospel will grow. The result will be a joyful, gospel-centered community that demonstrates and proclaims the good news of God's grace to a lost and hopeless world: God's grace forgives! God's grace redeems! God's grace restores! (page 134).
Genuine worship changes lives and inspires us to live for God's glory: making us humble, secure, grateful, holy, loving, and mission-minded (page 144-149).

Nick