This Sunday at Missio Dei was a little different than usual.  As part of our “Exposed” series, people have been submitting questions regarding roles, relationships, and sexuality.  For the next two weeks, instead of a sermon, Kurt and I are tag-teaming the Q & A.  This week was pretty much all about relationships.  The Q & A was a lot of fun and I think it was really well received; so much so that we are considering doing one week of Q & A at the end of future series.

The set this week felt good too.  We did a lot of hymns (just can’t beat ‘em) and I felt like we got good response, especially since they were familiar.  I even saw a lot of hands raised in worship which is not something our people typically do.  We did have one technical issue which I take full responsibility for.  We were completely missing the slides for one of the songs, something that has never happened before, and hopefully won’t happen again.  Part of the struggle in a church plant is that there is the potential for a lot of technical problems, especially since you are setting up and tearing down every week, or in our case, having to share some equipment with other groups.  Some of these techical issues backed us into a corner on time, and I was not able to look over the slides prior to the start of the gathering.  But we rolled with it and went on with the set.  Lesson learned:  always take time to look over the slides!

Here was the set this week:

Opening Prayer – Fourth Sunday of Lent

At the Foot of the Cross – This is one of my favorite songs that has come out of Mars Hill Church.  Simple, singable, and fun!

Q & A with Kurt and Bryan

Communion – Our Elder candidate Fred Nichols did a great job explaining our need for the Lord’s table and praying for us

How Deep The Father’s Love for Us – Shannon Hannah lead out on this song and it was great.  I need to incorporate her more in leading songs, she has a beautiful voice.

Glorious Day – I love the way Glorious Day (originally ‘One Day’ cir. 1909) incorporates the whole gospel; Jesus coming from heaven to be born, going to the cross, dying, rising again, ascending to the Father, and coming back again.  Though we had our slide error, the folks who knew it sung it loud and several people who didn’t know it mentioned that it was really nice just listening to God’s people singing and thinking about the words.

Grace Greater Than All Our Sin – What can be better than singing about God’s grace to his people?  Plus my 2-year old knows the whole chorus, so he could sing along too!  “Daddy sing Grace Grace song church?” - Elijah

It Is Well With My Soul – I really tried to let the voices of the people be heard over the instruments here and it was very powerful to me.  I hope it was for others.  That line gets me every time, “my sin, not in part but the whole…was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!”

So overall, I’d say it was a great Sunday.  We finished about 15 min. over, but no one seemed to care.  Makes me look forward to next Sunday all the more!

Today’s Sunday Review is posted in collaboration with other church music ministries at Sunday Setlists.

Well here goes…

This week was an odd one at Missio Dei. We are wrapping up our series “Exposed: The Naked Truth About Roles, Relationships, & Sexuality”, and this week’s sermon was on Divorce and Remarriage.  Not an easy item to discuss but I think Kurt did a great job of bringing it all back to Jesus.  For some reason, I just felt we were a little ‘off’ musically, even though people seemed to be responding well to the songs.  Part of it may have been that the normal Sunday morning routine got thrown out of whack, which really seemed to throw me out of whack this week.  Our setup leader called in sick, and so I ended up doing a lot of the things I normally don’t have to look after.  Then we got a very late start with rehearsal, and finally we had projector issues right before 10am, which really threw me for a loop since we were doing a new song Sunday.  Here was the setlist for this week:

Welcome/Prayer:  Congregational prayer for the third Sunday of Lent

Song:  Come Ye Sinners – A great tie in to our prayer about admitting our sin and trusting in God’s forgiveness

Song:  Nothing But the Blood of Jesus – We love this hymn, but tried a new arrangement thanks to Brian Eichelberger of Mars Hill Church.  It was great!  Gotta love the tambourine!!

Sermon:  Divorce & Remarriage – As I said, Kurt did a great job explaining that we were never intended for divorce, but at the same time, showing how people who are in or have been through these types of difficult situations can bring their issues to Jesus and seek reconciliation.

Response/Communion

Song:  Mighty to Save – I historically hate Hillsong, just seems to be a lot of fluff without much depth, but I liked this song enough give it a go.  Great response from our people.

Song:  Jesus Paid it All – We did this way too much in ‘08, so it was nice to bring it back and again, great loud singing from the congregation.

Song:  O To Be Loved By Jesus – Thad Cockrell is a great dude, and an amazing songwriter.  I love singing his songs, and so do our people, especially this one.  And a great encouragement to those struggling through relational issues.

At the end of the day, people responded well and I got a ton of positive feedback, which just proves that now matter how much we put into it in our flesh, the Spirit is still doing His work in His people in His church.  I need to stop in moments like that and realize that I am not trusting in the gospel, but trying to do it all myself.  Thankfully, God is merciful and still chooses to do His think despite my efforts.

Today’s Sunday Review is posted in collaboration with other church music ministries at Sunday Setlists.

I’ve recently come across a blog-carnival entitled ‘Sunday Setlists’ where worship leaders from all over the place blog about each Sunday’s…well…setlist.  They discuss the songs they sung, how they went, if people were engaged, etc.  I thought since I haven’t posted in forever, that I might try participating this week, after our worship gathering at Missio Dei on March 15th.  It will be good for me, to sort of debrief and think back on how Sunday was overall.  It will be good for MDC folks who didn’t make it out that week to hear about what happened during our gathering, and it may be good for other folks as well, just to get a feel for how another congregation does Sunday.  I”m actually a little excited about doing this, so we’ll see how it goes.

Last Friday night, I said goodbye to some very good friends as they packed up and headed for Indiana.  I was one of the first people to meet Josh & Sarah when they moved to Asheville over three years ago, and they had become very close to our family, walking with us through Christina’s dad’s death, and the birth of our two children.  But now they are gone.  Sure, we’ll still be friends, but it won’t be the same…not at all.

Since joining with Kurt at Missio Dei, we’ve said goodbye to many friends.  Most have moved away from Asheville due to jobs and family, some have simply decided that church planting is not for them, and so they have left.  Every time it hurts.  I keep thinking it will get easier, but it never does.  They say that a church planter will eventually lose up to 90% of his core group (mostly close friends) over time, and for Kurt and I, we’re getting close to that number already, and it sucks.  But it got me to thinking…change IS.

In Exodus 15, Moses is leading the Israelites out of captivity toward the promised land.  They have just come across the parted Red Sea, they’re three days into the journey and they begin to grumble and complain. v. 24 “And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” Just a few verses later in Exodus 16:3, “and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died in Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’” Exodus 17:7 is the most telling though, “…they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’”

This is a people who have been rescued from slavery, from certain death at the hands of the Egyptians, and all they can do on their journey is complain that it isn’t how it was.  Even though they were enslaved, they were comfortable.  This is hard.  They had food and water there, but now they are hungry and thirsty.  This isn’t what they expected.  They want it to be like it was.  But change IS.  This is a change for the better by far, but they cannot see it because they are so focused on how “good” it was then.  They can’t tell if God is even in this mess because it is difficult for them.

How often do we miss what God is doing because we are focused on ourselves and we’re resistant to the changes He requires us to make?  How often do we grumble and complain that things aren’t how they used to be, clinging to some sense of nostalgia, when the things that lie ahead are far better in the end then the way they ever were before.  Can we take the focus off of ourselves and our comfort?  Change is hard.  We often resist it at every turn.  But change IS, and if we truly believe that God is good and that He can be trusted, how will it change the way we see change?

I miss you Josh & Sarah, but I know God has called you away for a purpose, and I can’t wait to see what He’s up to!

Once again this year, I’d like to share a very special song with you.  It’s become a tradition.  You may only think of October 31st as Halloween, but on this day in the year 1517, a monk named Martin Luther took a hammer and nailed his 95 theses to the wall of the Castle Church doors in Wittenberg, Germany, calling for a reform of the Catholic church.  Enjoy this breif synopsis…

I’m usually not into shameless plugs, but I have to tell you about Good.  That’s the name of one of the best magazines on the shelf today in my humble but accurate opinion.  Good Magazine bills itself this way: “Good is for people who give a damn.  Its’ an entertaining magazine about the things that matter.”

While I must admit that I do not always agree with their take on todays events, I must applaud their forward thinking efforts and critical analysis of the pressing issues in our culture today including education, the economy, politics, the environment, business, technology, and articles on art, music, literature and design.  In fact, I wish I could find a magazine half this good that approached these issues from a biblical standpoint, but alas, I’ve found nothing yet.  By the way, a subscription for 6 issues (every other month) is only $20, and 100% of that goes to a non-profit of your choice.  How good is that?  The next issue should be dropping soon, so go out and buy one!  Find out more about Good Magazine by visiting their website.

A couple of years ago, I was introduced to the poetry of Taylor Mali. This one, “Totally Like Whatever, You Know?”, is probably my favorite of all. In fact, after I read it for the first time, I immediately printed out a copy and taped it to my office door. It stayed there for over a year.

What I enjoy about Mali’s work, and this piece in particular, is that he is able to provoke thought, challenge culture, and make you laugh all at the same time. Brilliant! Though his words should challenge anyone who claims any sort of conviction, they are especially challenging for those who follow Christ….enjoy!

In light of Kurt’s message to us Sunday on commitment and church membership, I thought I would pass along this great article from 9Marks Ministries. This is not necessarily an attempt to get you to join Missio Dei, but rather an extra resource to help explain why we take membership at MDC seriously. I hope you enjoy it!

Church Membership—The Context for Unity
“Living as a Church”—Class 2

Church Membership—Why Bother?

I wonder if you’ve thought much about why it’s so widely expected that Christians should join local churches. After all, we don’t see any explicit exhortation in the Bible to “join a church.” We also know that membership in a church does not in any way contribute to our salvation. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Moreover, one might argue that this issue of church membership is just a matter of semantics. Why do I need to put my name on a list? Can’t I be a part of the church just by showing up, listening to the sermons, and talking to people? Those are the sort of issues we’ll consider today as we talk about church membership.

Last week we talked about how God has chosen to display his manifold wisdom and glory through the church. We thought about the significance of unity, and of God’s people relating to one another in ways that display God’s glory. Over the next hour, we’ll see that it is church membership that provides the context for that unity. FULL ARTICLE

It has been quite some time since I posted regularly on the blog.  The last 3 months have probably been the busiest I’ve ever experienced.  In addition to pastoral duties at Missio Dei, I’ve been building my freelance graphic design business, working with a former employer at his sign business, and finishing up my staff responsibilities at New Life church.  4 jobs…every week.  But, things are starting to mellow out a bit and I really want to get back to blogging, so look for new posts over the next week.

A few days ago I mentioned that the latest issue of Good Magazine features an article on the pastor of the largest church in America, Joel Osteen.  I have read the article several times now, and I what grieves me the most is that even this secular magazine picks up on the fact that Osteeen does not preach the Christian gospel, yet millions of people (through TV plus the 35,000+ attending services) sit under his teaching every single week.  Consider these words from an agnostic Osteen fan:

“So why does she [an agnostic] identify with a Christian pastor?  ‘I look at him like a motivational speaker,’ Lee says.  ‘I don’t think people get that until they see [him on television].  Yes he’s a pastor and does it in a church, but the underlying [message] is just to live a good life, love yourself, and be happy.  He pretty much doesn’t preach religion.’“

Say what?!  Live a good life, love yourself, and be happy?  That’s it?!  That’s your gospel?  How is that any different than what the rest of the world is preaching?       

For me, there could be no more devastating description of my ministry than to hear it described as just motivational speaking.  If that’s all it is, then who cares?  I’m not interested in telling people to just be better people, that the answer to all their problems is just to love themselves more.  Why?  Because it’s NOT TRUE!

Surely the world and our own lives have taught us by now that we can’t help ourselves.  The truth is we are all broken, sinful people who desperately need a Savior.  We need to be saved from sin, from death, from hell, from ourselves.  The truth is that Jesus is God and he is good.  Jesus is our way of salvation, reconcilliation, restoration, healing, and freedom.  Only him.  We don’t need to love ourselves more, we need Jesus.  Let our message be that, not motivational self-help.

More to come…maybe…