Sunday Update

A little different post today on Sunday Update.  I was not at LFA on Sunday but, I was eating some great food and spending time with my wonderful wife's family in Dallas.  I got a early start on Thanksgiving!  

Ricky Luis lead worship at LFA and I was told by many that he did a great job.  

Here's the worship list:

- Your Grace is Enough

- How Great is Our God

- You Saw Me

- Your Name

- Came To My Rescue

Here's some thoughts about taking a day off:

- I could not stop thinking about LFA

- I could not stop texting people during the service

- I found out I don't delegate very well

- I found out how much I enjoy LFA and don't like to miss

I force myself to take some Sunday's off during the year.  I tend to work to much and not put my family first.  I am glad to have a Pastor who encourages me to put my family before ministry.  He has been a great example for me to follow.

How did your Sunday go?

Sunday Update

It is always refreshing to try new things.  New places to eat, new things to watch, new things to do.  I really think that "church" could try some new things, and I think worship guys should try some new things.

I am surrounded by some talented, anointed people at LFA.  I am so thankful for the team that I get to lead with each week.  Today I tried something new.  Ricky lead a great new song this morning and he killed!  I have other people sing a verse on other songs, but not lead the song.  Ricky leads from the acoustic guitar, and can really sing well.  He lead "You Saw Me" from Hillsong, and did great.

Here's the worship list:

- You, You are God

- Everlasting God

- You Saw Me

- Here I Am To Worship

- He's All I Need

Pastor delivered a great message this morning, and after the message we did "It Is Well With My Soul".  It was awesome to see hands lifted all over the church.  God did some amazing things this morning.

I felt that this morning was an empowering morning.  My heart is to give opportunities to people to use their abilities for the Lord.  

Who are you empowering?

Sunday Update

Today we focused on missions.  I am proud to say that we support every missionary in the North Texas District.  We are the 15th most giving church out of 535 in North Texas District.  Something we focus on and our people are so giving!

It was great to have Pastor Carter back.  He has missed the last two weeks.  Andrew did a great job speaking the last two weeks, but there is no one like Pastor.

We missed Eddie (electric guitar) but worship was great.

Here's the worship list:

- Because of Your Love

- Cover the Earth

- Jesus Messiah

- Tis So Sweet

- Because He Lives

We slowed down Jesus Messiah from 86 bpm down to 82 bpm.  That change made it easier to sing and worship to, at least that's what a few people said to me after service.

Tonight is our All Church Leaders Meeting.  We talk about vision and leadership principles.  I am doing my final prep on my talk tonight.  I'll post my notes later.

How was your service?

Sunday Update

After a long weekend of Light House Adventure and the day after, we had a great Sunday service!  Pastor Andrew killed the message once again, and has just really communicated well the message series Church Killers.  

Worship was crazy good.  I kept hearing so many people say that they just needed worship today.  I am so thankful for the team coming ready to see what God is going to do!  Amazing!

Here's the worship list:

- Unchanging

- Your Grace Is Enough

- You Are My Strength

- Revelation Song

- I Exalt Thee

Today was communion Sunday, and we did it right in the middle of Revelation Song.  It was so different and fresh.  Communion should be a part of our worship, it is worship.

Just wanted to update you on our Light House Adventure Friday night.  Instead of having a fall fest at our church we had 3 fall fest in neighborhoods.  All homes were stead with traffic, but one had a traffic jam right in front of the home, and the other got crazy busy at 9 pm.  I had some thoughts that it was a bad idea at first, but then families started showing up.  We stayed at the homes much later than expected because of all the people.  It was an amazing outreach and thanks again to all the great volunteers who made it happen!  I will get the video on the blog soon.

Sunday Update

Since I have neglected my blog for so long, let me give you some updates.

Last Thursday I have the opportunity to play in a golf tournament at Cowboys Golf Club.  It was my first time to play the course and what a course it is!  Amazing, tough, beautiful...

I won some great prizes and I gave a putter to Andrew, shirts to Pastor and I kept everything else.

Saturday I worked on the music room.  New furniture from Ikea, next is painting and new lights.  I will post the pictures when I am done.

Sunday Andrew had the opportunity to speak because of Pastor Carter being out of town.  He spoke about "The Killer of the Church."  It was a creative message, and he delivered it well.  By the way, today is his birthday so wish him a good one!

We had a great rehearsal with the team in the morning.  Then all we hear is this loud static sound.  I mean shake the room loud...not in a good way.  We powered down the amps hoping we did not lose any equipment.  I am glad to say we didn't, but I still don't know what happened.

So when service came around, all I could think about was it happening during the service.  I was so distracted, but the service went well and no problems with the system.  I am having some guys come and check things out this week to see what happened.

Worship list:

- All Because of Jesus

- Mighty To Save

- Pour Out

- I Need You More

How was your weekend service?

Sunday Update

I always look forward to Sundays.  I try to lay low on Saturday and make sure I get some rest.  I try to be prepared for what may happen.  This Sunday was a difficult one.  We had a great practice in the morning, but when it came time for the service things went downhill.  

First my keyboard was out of tune (long story), then Jeff our bass player had some trouble with his bass.  No signal during the entire first song along with a out of tune keyboard equals total FAIL.

I got my keys back in order and switched out the DI box for the bass and then we were off.  It ended up being a great service despite the problems.  I think we could be distracted on Sundays like today, but the team remained focused on what God wanted to do!  I am blessed to have such a great team.

Here's the worship list:

- Everlasting God

- Let the Worshippers Arise

- Jesus Messiah

- It Is Well

Today was Pastor Jon's first Sunday.  I am excited about the changes he is bringing to our Children's Ministry.  I will update you more on that later.

What was your service like?

Sunday Update

After having 2 weeks off from leading worship it was great to be back with the team this past Sunday.  Taking time off makes  you really appreciate the team God has blessed you with.  I also know that there is nothing more I would rather do than lead worship.  

Here's the worship list:

- Because of Your Love

- Your Grace is Enough

- Here I Am To Worship

- You, You Are God

That's all we did, and it was a great service.  God moved in such a powerful way on our hearts.  

It was a different service because we it was the last Sunday for our Children Pastor.  He has served LFA for over 16 years.  That is awesome.  He will be greatly missed by many families.  I know God is leading us through this time of transition and I am excited about Jon and Diana being a part of the staff.  They have the heart to be full time in ministry and we are needing that from our Children Pastors.  Ask this guy about how important a quality Children's ministry is.

Pastor shared a great message about seeing yourself the way God sees you.  Here are some of my notes:

- Accept Yourself (Romans 14:22)

Accept the way God has made us; have a true estimation of yourself

- Be Yourself (2 Timothy 2:15)

Find out who God wants you to be; be the best you, not someone else.

- Work on Yourself (2 Timothy 2:15)

Be involved in self-improvement

- Turn from your selfish ways (Matthew 16:24)

We must turn to God; helping others kills selfishness

I am truly blessed to be used by God, and I am blessed to have such a great team!

Sunday Update

Sunday was a crazy day, it was our LFA Church Picnic.  Morris Ivey who pastored for many years at LFA came and spoke.  We had a full house, which was great.

Because of the stuff going on at the park, we did not lead today.  Consumed 217 did a great job.  It was unusual to have a day off and to be at church.  Did not feel right at all.  

The picnic was great, thanks to a ton of great volunteers.  

Here's the menu:

- Brisket

- Smoked Ham

- Smoked Turkey

- Sausage

- Potato Salad 

- Beans

- Cookies

- Coke; Diet Coke; Dr Pepper; Water

Thanks to Jason for all the great food, the best picnic food I have ever had.  Thanks to Greg Slemons and Craig Travis for making today happen!  I love our volunteers!

Late Sunday Update

So it's Tuesday and I am just now blogging about Sunday.  I went out of town after service and stayed away from my MAC on purpose.  

Sunday was a our Fall Small Group Launch day.  We released our new Small Group Study (Which I worked on till 2 am) and released our new Small Group Guide.  Andrew did a great designing it and the layout was sweet.  Pastor's message was all about Small Groups.  We had all the groups at the back of the sanctuary at the tables with sign-up sheets.  It was a great Sunday and a ton of people signed up.

Here's the worship list:

- You, You Are God

- Your Grace Is Enough

- Here I Am To Worship

- How He Loves

- It Is Well

How He Loves killed...I mean it's a sick worship song.  We had a few musicians out, but it was a great Sunday with the team.

We are taking off the next 2 Sundays.  This is for 2 reasons:  I think musicians need a break and a time to be feed, and I need a break and a time to be feed.  I usually only take one Sunday off a year, but I am changing that this year.  Our team will be refreshed when we come back after our break.  A great group will be leading worship the next 2 weeks.  

I don't think leaders take enough time off.  Most leaders can't take off because their team can't run the show without them.  We must keep a healthy balance between carrying the weight of ministry and being refreshed.  It's so easy to be burned out and ready to quit. 

I encourage you to say no to some good things to say yes to the right things.  Say yes to family, and to being refreshed.