My Responsibility: Part Two
on Jul 21 in Church, WorshipLast Sunday, I took part in an amazing worship service at my church.¬† People were packed into the school cafeteria.¬† A new song started the service (Salvation is Here).¬† From there, the elements included an inspiring live interview with a church member who’s making a difference, a couple of videos woven perfectly into the overall movement of the service, a great message proclaiming salvation in Christ alone, more singing, and a performance song.¬† An invitation to receive Christ was given, and tons of folks raised their hands.
It was one of those Sundays – the Sundays we dream of having every week.
I took a longer-than-usual drive home that day, pondering what had just happened.  Nothing can suck the life out of a great God-experience like analyzing that experience.  So I analyzed it.  I tried to figure out where the life came from, without removing the mystery I was trying to figure out.  I was able to identify three areas that danced together that morning.
Area One – God.¬† He moved.¬† He worked.¬† I can’t explain it.
Area Two – The Platform.¬† Everything I mentioned in the first paragraph.¬† I’m talking about the staff, the musicians, the big screens… everything and everyone that PRESENTED any of the elements.
Area Three -¬† The third Area (or person) in this Grand Dance of Three is…
Me.
And you.
The “normal” people in the congregation.¬† We have a responsibility in creating great and amazing worship services.¬† And my question for this blog series is a simple one.¬† If we have certain responsibilities in creating inspiring and life-changing worship services, then what are some things we should consider to be “on us”?
In Part One, I discussed the notion that I am responsible to walk into any church service with some measure of soul preparedness.¬† But I think there’s another responsibility that you and I must take seriously.¬† Here it is…
I am responsible to walk into any worship service willing to work at highlighting what’s right, not what’s wrong.
It’s so easy to see what’s wrong with the church, especially if we’ve been attending that church for a few years, and the original luster has worn off.¬†¬† Conversely, it’s so difficult to do the arduous work of finding what’s right about our church, and allowing (forcing?) our minds to become centered on those things.
If the music isn’t chosen according to our liking, we complain.¬† We forget that there was a band, comprised mostly of volunteers, playing to the best of their abilities.¬† We don’t see that there is a sound guy who’s been in the room longer than anyone, and a media person who’s giving it his all.
If the sermon isn’t about a topic that applies to our lives right now, we complain.¬† We don’t really believe that the sermon may be for someone who is NOT us.¬† For some, the sermon isn’t deep enough.¬† For others, the sermon is too deep.
If the pastor, or other staff members don’t notice us and call us by name, we complain.¬† We forget that they have 300, or 1000, or 3000 other people to greet.
And then, there’s the dreaded “church across town”.¬† We visited that church once or twice, and it was amazing.¬† They had pyrotechnics when the band started playing, and the pastor entered on a live camel, and preached from that camel on the book of Exodus.¬† 500 people raised their hands that day, including the camel. We go back to our home church the following week, and don’t see fireworks, or a camel, or 500 people and animals receiving salvation.
So let me ask you… What’s right with your church?¬† Name three things right now.¬† Post them below if you want.¬† And when you walk into your next church service, ask God to remind you of those right things.
Are there things wrong with your church?¬† Of course.¬† You and I attend, so it can’t be perfect.¬† But if we’re walking into our church services with a negative, critical spirit, then we’ll affect the room.¬† And worst of all, we’ll begin the scary process of learning to live our lives divorced from the joy Christ offers.
And we may take others down with us.
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Thanks for this series! I need to hear and listen to this. By the speaker gets up to preach, the worship band has knocked my out of zone and I need to own to part of that responsibilty.
Alright, my 3 positives.
1.) Sincere belief and dedication to a children’s ministry.
2.) Our son loves to go to Sunday School. (Which is an issue.)
3.) Most of the speakers up front are quality.
For the record, this is about the church we attend in Davis.
PS: I hope Willie sees this. Him riding in on a camel to fireworks would be AWESOME. Especially if Bryan and the band are playing “Rock me like Hurricane.”
First a comment. It’s funny how God prompts us, two believers in different places in life, with similar thoughts. In Paul’s quest for a worship pastor position we have visited many churches. They get compared to Clovis E-V free. One particular church is a church plant and as such really lacks the “professional” style of CEVF. We have visited a couple of times, and boy are they rough. But you know what, they love the same God I love. They desire true worship just as much as me. So God had to convict me a bit on that one.
Now 3 good things about my church,
1. worship pastor that desires to worship God fully and to lead us in doing the same
2. abundant tallented musicians and singers
3. very knowledgable and gifted preacher.
First let me write that this issue is global in scope. I find that churches that “have” don’t appreciate the gifted people who serve in any capacity. Consider how many regular attendees or members seve on a regular basis and how many sit, complain and leave, only to return the next Sunday to do the same.
Positves on Sierra Pines Church-
1. Mission: To love others as they are and to inspire them to be all Christ calls them to be.
2. A Pastoral Staff who support this Mission by the way they live and inspire others daily.
3. A small core of Volunteer Ministry Leaders and regular attendees who support this Mission by the way they live between Sundays.
4. Openess by all of the above to the Holy Spirit’s leading and willingness to turn negatives into positives.
I’m glad you found your visit to our church – in your words – “amazing.” However, I feel the need to clear a few things up.
For the record:
1. It wasn’t a camel, it was a horse wearing a hump.
2. It was Hosea, not Exodus.
3. The “camel” was already saved – he was responding to the call to be baptized.
Seriously… great stuff. I think the things that are right w/our church are:
1. People have found a new gear in their response to worship.
2. We have an incredibly committed group of volunteers who serve faithfully.
3. We have a dynamite Celebrate Recovery ministry that is doing a great job of helping people get over their hurts, hang-ups and habits.
LOL Callahan! Hosea and a camel. I don’t even want to know.