Worship Confessional – 02.07.10
It’s been awhile.
I’m not sure why, but I haven’t been in the “mood” to write Worship Confessionals for the last month. Things have been going well… but I’ve just been really focusing in on my family after church on Sundays and Mondays. Then… like most things… I just forget.
Well… I’m refocused now. So, here goes:
Today went well.
Matt spoke on Impacting our Community and really pushed for small group involvement. It’s great that we go to to church and even participate in serving on Sunday mornings… but church (in the New Testament) was about community… and that happens when connection happens on a “smaller” level.
I think Matt was worried about offending people, and maybe he did… I hope not… but my take is that it’s always our job to speak God’s truth and the receivers job on how they let it affect them.
I hope more people get involved with small groups and grow in their relationship with Christ because of it.
Our Sunday Setlist:
- King of Glory – Chris Tomlin
- Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- All Creatures of Our God and King – St. Francis of Assisi
- Take Me To The Cross – Dave Lubben
- From The Inside Out – Joel Houston
- Glory To God Forever – Steve Fee & Vicky Beeching
Highs:
We were set up and ready to go 30 minutes before church started. That’s always a plus to not feel rushed going INTO service. Matt also asked one of the prayer warriors of our church to step it up and lead us in prayer EVERY Sunday morning. This sounds bad, but because we’re a mobile church, sometimes, we skip the team prayer because we are LITERALLY setting up and sound-checking UP TO the minute people start walking in. Prayer becomes an afterthought. This is why Matt put Brian B. in charge of prayer. We’ll be more consistent in something we believe is VITAL to the health and purpose of our services.
During the service, it was obvious many were participating through singing and worshiping. This is my favorite part of being a part of a church. Corporate worship. Listening to everyone lift up their voices in declaration of who God is. THIS… is something I will NEVER grow tired of.
Lows:
I don’t feel as if I chose the best response song (#4 – Take Me To The Cross”) post sermon. Usually the connection between the sermon and the song tie in a lot better. I’m not saying that it didn’t connect at all because it did, but I think a better response song would have been Remedy by David Crowder. Also, I felt distracted this morning. Not by anything in particular… just didn’t feel 100%.
Overall… I felt today went pretty well though.
Here are some questions I have for you:
Ready? GO!
Worship Confessional – 12.20.09
I had the privilege of helping lead worship at Table Rock Fellowship (TRF) yesterday with Brent and Tammy Hodge.
Our SUNDAY SETLIST was:
- Joy To The World – Third Day
- Comfort & Joy – LifeChurch Version
- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – LifeChurch Version
- God With Us – MercyMe
- Carol Medley (Away In A Manger, O Little Town, Silent Night)
- The First Noel – Ali Matthews Version
- Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) – Chris Tomlin
I LOVED this set! It was so fun to play and sing with such a seriously talented band.
Our worship band: Brent was on keys and lead vocals. Tam was on vocals. Jim Durham was on electric 1. Jim’s 13 year-old daughter, Missy, was on bass. Al Dinardi was on electric guitar 2. Sandy Ficca was our rockout drummer… and I was on acoustic guitar and vocals.
Brent ended up recording the fourth/last service, which in all honesty, was our weakest service. I think by then, we were all just pretty tired and our voices had HAD it. Whichever way… I’ll still post a couple of recordings for y’all.
My favorite song this weekend was our second song, Comfort and Joy (click on the link to hear our live recording) which is LifeChurch’s rocked out version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. It made me want to dance.
Then… they let me sing Ali Matthews version of The First Noel (click on the link to hear) for communion.
I really love Christmas carols.
What’s your FAVORITE Christmas carol?
Worship Confessional – 10.11.09
I really love Sundays.
I’m not sure why… But I think it may be because I’m no longer hiding in my secrets and I’m truly experiencing the love and grace from a church body. It’s pretty awesome.
This morning, Matt talked about community… our church. How we’re like fish, living in a fishbowl… safe in our church walls, but GOD has created us to be “fish”. We’re not supposed to live in an aquarium, all pretty, perfect, trapped and bound for death. We should be in the river… LIVING. Yes, it may be more dangerous… we may get hurt out there… but that’s where God intended us to be. The LIGHT in the DARKNESS.
What an amazing opportunity and privilege if we chose to live the way we were purposed!
Our Sunday Setlist this morning was:
- Beautiful One – Tim Hughes
- Evermore – Joel Houston
- Enough – Chris Tomlin
- Cry In My Heart – Starfield
- Healer – Mike Gugliamucci
- Mighty To Save – Reuben Morgan
Highlights: We set up in less than an hour which gave me some time to really chat with people before the service. And it’s pretty amazing how the conversations now are “below surface” conversations. I LOVE THAT!!! We’re talking about REAL things. I didn’t sleep very well last night (nothing new there) so I was VERY pleased that my voice didn’t give out on me.
Lowlights: Our family has been fighting a bug. It came home with Chance from school and we’re all trying not to get sick… but alas… we are ALL sick. Please pray for our family’s health… and that we don’t get the swine flu because that would be lamesauce.
God of Vengeance
For Lifegroup Online, we’re reading “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning.
This stuck out:
The God of the legalistic Christian, on the other hand, is often unpredictable, erratic, and capable of all manner of prejudices. When we view God this way, we feel compelled to engage in some sort of magic to appease Him. Sunday worship becomes a superstitious insurance policy against His whims. This God expects people to be perfect and to be in perpetual control of their feelings and thoughts. When broken people with this concept of God fail — as inevitably they must — they usually expect punishment. So, they persevere in religious practices as they struggle to maintain a hollow image of a perfect self. The struggle itself is exhausting. The legalists can never live up to the expectations they project on God.
~~”Magnificent Monotony” (Chapter 2)
Worship Confessional – 09.20.09 – “SIN”
Today was a BIG day for us.
We had been asking for prayer because we, Brian and I, were sharing our story.
The Sunday Setlist today was:
- Not To Us – Chris Tomlin
- O Praise Him – David Crowder
- O Worship The King – Chris Tomlin Version
- Mighty To Save – Reuben Morgan (Response)
As you can see, we only had three songs (the 4th was in video form at the very end of the service)… because the sermon and our story took the majority of the service. I usually write about our sets and how the musical/technical portion of our services went in these Worship Confessionals, but today, it’s just MY CONFESSIONAL.
I want to encourage you guys to listen to the complete podcast of the sermon HERE on the Church at Bethany website , but we thought we would post JUST our portion here. It’s about 20 minutes, so get a drink and get comfortable:
Click here to listen to Our Story.
Though the majority of our support encouraged us and helped propel us forward to share our story, a couple of people tried to talk us out of it. We know that they were mostly worried for us and were trying to protect us, but in hindsight, we can see that it was Satan using them to try to keep us from sharing what he would have rather kept trapped in the dark. We say “in hindsight” because today was INCREDIBLY powerful. In fact, barely any of it was about us.
Yes, we shared OUR story of sin, forgiveness, hope and redemption… but what it really did, was allow people to realize the freedom they had in releasing their demons.
We discovered OUR story was not only OUR story, but so many others. We had a few couples tell us we basically just told THEIR story. I never thought God would use OUR story to help release others into the light… into HIS Truth.
Brian and I are SO glad we obeyed. We put our fear to the side, ignoring Satan’s whispers to hide. This morning was about SO much more than us.
God is in the business of restoration and healing.
Please continue to pray for our healing… and all those who stepped out of the darkness today. This is our “Once upon a time…”
Humbly in the Process of Restoration,
P.S. Yes… I still have my job as the Worship Pastor at Church at Bethany. They have graciously been walking Brian and me through our healing process.
The Day Before
Sunday’s a comin’…
Tomorrow is when we will have no more secrets.
I’m not stepping into this lightly. Brian and I have been praying almost non-stop for a week about this. Tomorrow is going to be one of the scariest days of my life. I also know it’s going to be one of the most freeing as well. We’re hearing God clearly. We’re obeying him.. but it doesn’t make it any less scary for us.
We know we’ve been blanketed with prayer. We’re asking you crank it up a notch for us. I can’t go into details, but we’ve been hit a bit emotionally… so the more prayers, the better.
Thank you SO much!
Worship Confessional – 08.23.09
Today was our “church meeting” day… so we only got to lead 3 songs at the top of the set.
Here was the Sunday Setlist:
- I Want To Know You – SonicFlood
- You’ll Come – Brooke Fraser
- Hosanna – Brooke Fraser
Highlights: I had Crystal with me this Sunday so I had her leading with me. It was fun singing with her up front since we NEVER get to do that. We also had a pretty good turn-out for a summer service. My guess is because it was a church meeting day, we had more show up than usual. Either that or the FREE food we advertised for DURING the church meeting. It’s a toss up, really.
Lowlights: Still can’t figure out how to balance my own personal issues (expectations, preparation, being a mom, connections with other church goers, etc.) BEFORE the service. The set-up wasn’t all that difficult this morning, but I felt pretty attacked spiritually during the whole thing. I was impatient, graceless and quick tempered. I felt like I was fighting that ALL morning… but like normal, by the time the service started, all that disappeared. I wish I could somehow funnel all that into “the pocket” BEFORE the service, DURING set-up. Something to work towards, right?
Worship Confessional – 08.09.09
Confessional is one day late… but better late than never, right?
Worship was a pretty fun experience for me yesterday. We set up pretty quickly and just had two acoustic guitars… Mark & me.
For a summer service, the turn out was pretty impressive. I’d like to think it was because they came to see me, but let’s be honest… they don’t even know who I am. In fact… a cute elderly woman came in, in her Sunday’s best, with her blue Sunday bonnet on. That’s when I knew, I’d offend her… even though it was just us two and our guitars.
In the first half of the service, she stood outside where the music wasn’t as loud. The second half, she sang along… but had her fingers in her ears. It was awesome. She chose to worship, even though the style of music was not what she preferred. What a trooper!
Here was our Sunday Setlist:
- Holy Is The Lord – Chris Tomlin
- Point of Difference – Joel Houston
- Glory – Reuben Morgan
- Cry In My Heart – Starfield
- Take Me To The Cross – Dave Lubben
- Hungry (Falling On My Knees) – Kathryn Scott
- From The Inside Out – Joel Houston
First, can I say it’s pretty much a miracle that Brooke Fraser didn’t make it on the list this week. I think I overuse her. I can’t help it though. She’s so awesome!
Highlights: Quick set up, fun worshipful set, great attendance. I enjoyed the lady with the blue bonnet, though she didn’t enjoy my style of music. I also got to talk to a new visitor who was, get this, CHINESE! She introduced herself when I noticed she sounded a lot like my Mom. I asked her if she was Chinese. She said, “yes” and then I asked if she spoke Cantonese. RIGHT AGAIN. She said she thought I was Korean. *shrugs* I actually got to chat with her in Chinese for a few minutes. My Mom would have been proud.
Lowlights: I feel like I’m SO unapproachable prior to service… and even after. Brian and I got to go on a date last night and we talked about why Sundays were so hard for us. We figured it out. Satan attacks HARD on Sundays. At least he does me. Every little thing is more difficult on Sundays: getting the kids out of the house, prepping my heart to lead (this is when every uncertainty and reminder of how I shouldn’t be on the platform comes up), getting food (I can’t really eat before I lead, which means no breakfast, which means I’m STARVING by lunch and usually grumpy), then wrestling kids down for naps. The rest of the day feels like we’re just trying to catch up from THAT morning. I’m not sure how to overcome this battle… but I would so covet your prayers on Saturday evenings and Sundays if you ever think of us. Satan attacks those are doing a good work in His Kingdom… so I guess I should feel purpose with that logic. But I really wouldn’t mind him BACKING HIS JUNK UP every once in awhile.
Next weekend, I’ll be in La Grande with my family celebrating Grandma Peggy’s 85th birthday. I’ve married into the most amazing family and it’s never been more clear how important these people are to me. Dan & Georgene Rice were kind enough to offer to cover for me at Church! at Bethany this coming Sunday. What a treat for our little church plant!
So tell me… how was your Sunday? Link away!
Worship Confessional – 07.19.09
Matt started our new series “The Real OT” today. We’re going back and giving the Old Testament some love.
I LOVE the Old Testament, because I get to see how God used some messed up people… I mean, REALLY messed up people to do His amazing work. He used sinners: murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, outcasts… pretty much everything I am (no… I haven’t physically murdered anyone, but I have many times in my mind… so that counts). Seeing God use all the people we as “CHRISTIANS” avoid helps me see, contrary to my own built-in beliefs, that I am worthy to do His work.
This really gives me hope.
Instead of wallowing in the past and kicking myself over and over for what I’ve done (and can’t UN-do), I need to get up, wash my face and say: “To hell with Satan and his deceiving lies! Today, is a new day. TODAY, I have the opportunity to make it RIGHT!” Because, the greatest tragedy is not the sins we commit, but the life we fail to fulfill.
Today’s Sunday Setlist was:
- You’ll Come – Brooke Fraser
- Blessed Be Your Name – Matt Redman
- How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin
- Cry In My Heart – Starfield
- Revelation Song – Jennie Riddle
- We Fall Down – Chris Tomlin
- From The Inside Out – Joel Houston
Highlights of the Day: I felt like the set went really well today. Lots of voices raised in worship together… that’s always positive for me. One of my favorite songs ever is “Cry of My Heart” from the first Starfield album. I used it as our “response song”, but had everyone join in the second time around. Great words (I’ve provided the mp3 of the song below in case you’ve never heard it). This morning was also a phenomenon because we got all set up with 30 minutes extra on the clock. WOW! However, the best part of the morning was getting to snuggle with Brian in the “tech booth” during the sermon.
Lowlights of the Day: I was overseeing the graphics part of the sermon and for some reason, I just couldn’t get it together today. I kept hitting the wrong slide or was late. Probably because I was Twittering at the same time. :/ oh well.
How was your Sunday? Link away…
Worship Confessional – 06.28.09
Today was our second week of our Renegade Joy Series, focusing in on Philippians 2:12-30.
Matt talked about our tendencies to complain as humans. We all have something to complain about… but God calls us to live in JOY. I am SO guilty of this. Not the “living in joy” part… the complaining part… in case you were confused. I really spend WAY more time talking about the negatives in my life than the all the amazing blessings that surround me. I guess that just come easier for me as a pessimist. Obviously, this is something I really need to work on.
The whole set this morning was just me and my beautiful Larrivee. It would have been fine if I didn’t feel like poopy. Our whole family is sick right now. Not just a common cold, but the whole “my-throat-is-on-FIRE!” kind. Before I got to church for set up, I think I coughed up about 5 pounds of phlegm. My voice was super crackalicious… BUT I also had that weird, kinda awesome sick “sexy-Phoebe-voice” (sorry if you never watched Friends)… so it worked.
The Sunday Setlist this morning:
- Not To Us – Chris Tomlin
- Holy Is The Lord – Chris Tomlin
- Hosanna – Brooke Fraser
- Stars – Switchfoot
- Sweetly Broken – Jeremy Riddle
- Till I See You – Joel Houston
- Revelation Song – Jennie Riddle
We used “Stars” as the special response piece. Had to play around a bit to change an upbeat, full-band song into a slower, one person, acoustic, “think-about-your-daily-lives” version. Here’s the live, house-mix recording from this morning (besides a couple of times where I obviously had some breath support issues and *maybe* forgot how to play the guitar… it’s not all that bad for being live).
Highlights from this morning: It was really good to have Brian back at church with me… even though he WAS sick. It also seemed like my voice and guitar were EQ’d really well. Felt like “butta”! The set-up was RIDICULOUSLY fast. We were done, like, 45 minutes before service started… which means we were done 45 minutes quicker than usual. Felt like all the music totally connected with the sermon. I LOVE when that happens. Well… I guess that’s what happens when the speaker picks the “Special” piece. HA!
Lowlights from this morning: Leading while I’m sick is definitely not fun. I want to give my best, and I felt like I didn’t have much to give physically… but God’s Spirit works through me anyway. Thank God, for that!!! Our speaker mic is also giving us some trouble. You could probably hear the “fuzzy” in Matt’s voice at the beginning of the recording. It’s not consistent. It’s happened one other time than today. I need to figure out a way to fix that. Hmmm…
I can’t really say too much negative about today. Church went really, REALLY well.
The best part? Chance’s Sunday School lesson. Check it out:
What did YOU do today? (link to your post, if you’d like)
Resnick Family Needs: Update #1
I am amazed by the outpour of emails and comments I’ve received from everyone. This is EXACTLY how the church is supposed to be. We’ve had people from ALL over respond to help in this. Even complete strangers (at least strangers to the Resnick Family) from Australia have contributed in the most generous ways.
Thank you… Thank you… a million times… Thank YOU!
As time continues to move forward, we’ve begun to notice more needs for Holly and the kids. I will continue to post them here for anyone who may be able to help in those specific areas.
Today, we have two somewhat immediate needs:
- SMALL UPRIGHT FREEZER - CHECK! Taken care of. We need more space. There is SO much food coming in, we’re having to give it away. I had to cancel today’s scheduled meal person due to the amount of food already in their house. If you are not already on the meal schedule and would like to contribute in this way, please contact me and I will assign you to a specific date so we don’t overwhelm the Resnick’s with a food tsunami. Your meals are ABSOLUTELY appreciated.
- MOTORHOME TO BORROW - CHECK!!! Taken care of. We need one that sleeps 5/6 that could be parked at Scott’s parents house and be “home” to his brothers when they are here. We would need it next Thursday to Sunday-ish next week (June 4th to June 7th).
If you’re new to these updates, you can CLICK HERE for all the past Resnick Family Updates.
For specific ways to help, CLICK HERE!
Again… thank you. I feel so privileged to be a part of this community.
*******************
KDRV News Story on Daylon Harrington
The Resnick Family: How You Can Help
People are incredible in crisis.
Scott & Holly’s friends have AMAZINGLY helped me fill the Resnick’s FIRST MONTHS worth of lunches and dinners AS WELL AS scheduled weekly “Household Needs” runs at Target within the first 24 hours. Saying “Thank you” doesn’t seem even close to being enough right now.
I realized in the chaos of this crisis, many of you are left wondering what really happened, how’s Holly, how’s the kids, etc. So, here’s the info/update.
*Scott Resnick was piloting the Lancair IV late Friday night on his way to his uncle’s funeral in the state of Arizona when something went terribly wrong and the plane went down. Scott had another pilot friend, **Daylon Harrington (age 25) on board. Both did not survive. Of course, Holly and the children are devastated. Holly’s best friend, Erin, is staying at her house and taking care of her EVERY need. Holly has barely left her room since she heard the news and time is standing still for her. She’s completely heart-broken but she is SO strong. She doesn’t even know how strong she is. Though she is not really responding to any messages, she IS reading everyone’s encouraging and loving emails and Facebook messages.
I know many of you want to help. Below, I am listing out different opportunities we can all get involved and who to contact for those opportunities.
1. HOUSEKEEPING - Many have offered to help clean and do laundry, but at this time, the less people coming in and out of Holly’s home, the better. Marni Renison has arranged for a house cleaner to come to her house on a weekly basis and will be taking a collection for her to have this done. Feel free to contribute what you feel most comfortable with, but we’re suggesting at least $25. You can also email Marni (mkrenison[at]yahoo[dot]com) for how to get your contribution to her.
2. HOUSEHOLD NEEDS - We have people running to pick up household needs and specific groceries for Holly once a week. However, that can get expensive. The solution??? Gift cards! You can contribute by getting gift cards from TARGET and ALBERTSONS. If you’re having a difficult time choosing which one to go to, there is a bigger need for Target since that’s where we’ll be getting most of our weekly household items. If this is your choice of contribution, please email me at jenni[at]jenniclayville[dot]com for my mailing address.
3. ”MAN LIST” JOBS - This is where we need some men. Landscaping, Electrical Work, Appliance Work, etc. William Efird is heading this up. You can contact William (william.efird[at]lennoxind[dot]com) to get on this calendar list.
4. THE KIDS (Kiel, Reilly, Ireland & Kelton) - Leslie Burton is making a book for each of Scott & Holly’s kids and needs your help. If you could all just write even one paragraph of a great memory that you have of Scott, this will be something they can cherish in the future. Please email this to Leslie (burtons11[at]juno[dot]com)and type the word “MEMORY” in the subject line.
5. WE NEED PICTURES & VIDEO - Janet Fraser is heading up this project for the Memorial Service. If you have pictures or video of Scott, please load them HERE. The login and password are: scottresnick
Holly is one of my very closest friends and watching her go through this is just about the most devastating thing I’ve ever experienced. Holly will NEVER be the same. I know you all want to see her, but she REALLY needs time and space right now. It’s gonna be a long road ahead, so I thank you in advance for your patience, support and giving her the flexibility that she will need. Our amazing God and the community He’s provided is carrying her through this. Holly will emerge stronger than ever through your love and prayers… I have NO doubt of this. In all of this: God is STILL good and God is STILL God.
Memorial service arrangements are currently being planned. It looks like it will be at least 2 weeks out. I will let you know when the time and date is set.
On a personal note… thank you also for the loving and encouraging notes you’ve sent to me. I’m sorry if I haven’t responded, but I have close to 150 emails pouring in about Holly per day, so I’m bound to miss a few. Please be patient with me as well.
Feel free to forward this post to anyone who may want to know. If anyone wants to be added to the email update/help list, please have them email me and I will gladly include them.
Thank you again for all of your love and prayers! Holly knows… and she’s grateful.
—————————
* Scott’s parent’s, Rudi and Shelley, just returned home from Shelley’s brother’s funeral. Shelley not only lost a son, but her brother too all in one month. (Thanks, Chris, for reminding me to put this up)
** Daylon was single. Daylon’s parents, Gary and Val, live in the Medford area and attend Trail Church. His Memorial Service is set for next Saturday at 4pm. Gary and Val do NOT have email, but they are monitoring Daylon’s Facebook page.
Worship Confessional – 05.17.09
I’m gonna have to make this short and sweet.
We came back from Seattle late last night and so now I’m trying to catch up on some chores before the next week begins.
Today’s Sunday Setlist:
- Not To Us – Chris Tomlin
- Open The Eyes of My Heart – Paul Baloche
- Indescribable – Laura Story
- To The Ends of the Earth – Joel Houston
- Holy Is The Lord – Chris Tomlin
- I Worship You – Generation Unleashed
- You Are My World – Darlene Zschech
Highlights: I had Rebecca leading alongside me today. I haven’t had the chance to sing with her for months, so that was a nice treat. Two guitars and two vocals today. Simple simple. Today was also just a really good day. Everything felt right… that’s a blessing. We started 5 minutes late and ended RIGHT ON TIME. Awesome!!!
Lowlights: I’m not really sure why the left side of the screen is cut off. It just about drives me nuts that the visuals aren’t perfectly centered because the margins are off. We’ve tried everything with the settings and nothing seems to be helping. Boo hiss!!! All this means is I have to plan carefully in our lyrics and talk graphics so that the words don’t go all the way to the edges.
We’re in the Suburban Legends Series right now.
Today’s talk was on a how to raise kids… not just happy kids… but HOW to raise them with Biblical principles. I really enjoyed it.
As a parent, it encouraged me that I was doing some things right… on the other hand, it also reinforced that I need to tighten up in some areas of discipline for my kids. Mostly in my intentionality of breathing God’s Word into their lives.
So… you’re turn:
What was the best thing your parents did for you when you were a kid?
Worship Confessional – 04.26.09
I feel a bit out of it.
As most of you know, we were in Florida all week for the Exponential Conference. It was good to get away… why does it always feel like you need a vacation from your vacation.
Anyway… we were gone from Monday through late Saturday, so we headed into Sunday morning like dizzy spider-monkeys… but all of us were SUPER renewed in our focus and purpose… so I guess we were dizzy spider-monkeys with focus and purpose.
Here are some pictures of what it looks like BEFORE set up:
And here it is DURING service:
Not the greatest photos since it was with my iPhone, but you get the point.
Here was our Sunday Setlist:
- Glory – Reuben Morgan
- Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- Meet With Me – Lamont Hiebert
- Befriended – Matt Redman
- Healer – Mike Gugliamucci
- Mighty To Save – Morgan & Fielding
Highlights: well… obviously, Matt & I were coming off of a high from our week at Exponential so we were pretty “on” with the speaking and music. Brian even said that it felt like one of our strongest weeks there. That’s a plus. But my favorite part of the morning was stepping back off the mic during “Mighty To Save” and hearing the church sing out to God. That never gets old.
Also… we got set-up quickly. Probably because it was just me and guitar this past week (I could schedule a practice since I was gone, so it was easier just to do the “one-woman-show” deal). I didn’t feel rushed into our morning.
Lowlights: My past sins were weighing heavily on my shoulders that morning. It was a struggle to allow God to remind me that I am forgiven and loved. Satan was REALLY trying to take me down by reminding me of how unworthy I am.
I can’t wait for the day I will no longer feel guilt for my past, but for now, I am SO grateful for the glimpse of grace in my life. That’s where my worship to God comes from… desperation and desire for resolve in my life.
Where does your cry of worship come from?
Worship Confessional – 04.05.09
PALM SUNDAY… woot woot!
I don’t know why I started it that way… I just did 
So, I decided to do a VIDEO worship confessional this week since I haven’t done one in SO long. Lucky you… or not.
Here goes (if you’re reading this in a RSS, you’ll have to actually go to MY SITE to see it):
The Sunday Setlist:
- Evermore – Joel Houston
- Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- Lead Me To The Cross -Brooke Fraser
- To The Ends of the Earth – Joel Houston/Marty Sampson
- Healer – Mike Gugliomucci Guglielmucci (thx David)
Worship Confessional – 03.29.09
Spring Break really brings the attendance down. I don’t remember ever missing church when I was little… and since I’ve been in ministry, it’s rare that I miss a weekend. Totally foreign concept to me, I guess.
Anyhoo… all that to say that the numbers were down today. No biggie.
Our Sunday Setlist today:
- Glory – Reuben Morgan
- O Praise Him – David Crowder
- Our Great God – Mac Powell & Fernando Ortega
- Healer – Mike Gugliomucci
- Amazing Grace – Traditional Hymn
- (into) Grace Like Rain – Todd Agnew
High Points: I really liked our transition from Amazing Grace into Grace Like Rain. We just use a synth pad as the only instrument during Amazing Grace, then bring the guitar in once we get to Grace Like Rain.
Also, our set up today was pretty much AMAZING!!! We got done pretty quickly and had time to run almost every song (at least partially). I felt GREAT about it.
Everyone else seemed to feel great this morning too… since no one seemed to want to stop chatting in the first song. I’ve always lovingly called the first song at church the “throw-away” song. You know… the song you plan mostly as a “WELCOME” kind of a song. Upbeat, inviting, friendly. However, it usually helps bring everyone’s attention in and prep them FOR worship.
Not today. This leads to my low point (which is really not that low):
Trying to lead while the majority of the church participants are chatting is difficult. That’s all.
Worship Confessional – 03.22.09
Today was sweet. I had Aaron Soule and Katelyn Bonn playing with me. There’s such a nice feeling that comes with playing in a band with people you’ve played with for years.
Set up was rough. We tried something new in the set-up look today but didn’t necessarily have the man power to pull it all off early enough… so we were SWEATIN’ getting ready in time. We actually ended up starting church LATE because of that.
It was easy enough to remedy. I just cut our first song, “He Lives” by Generation Unleashed… but MAN… today would have been a good day NOT to “Mandy Thompson” it and forget deodorant. Good thing I don’t stink… just sweaty and sticky. Still… ew!
Anyway… here is the Sunday Setlist:
- O Worship The King (E) – Chris Tomlin Version
- Devotion (E) – Marty Sampson
- To The Ends of the Earth (E) – Joel Houston/Marty Sampson
- Hosanna (E) – Brooke Fraser
- Your Love Oh Lord (E) – Third Day
- From the Inside Out (C) – Joel Houston
So, we hit the first two songs, Matt came up and spoke, then we were up again to close it up.
Sweet Moments: having almost every song in the same key made the transitions super smooth, like butta… so it was easy to keep the mood and atmosphere in between songs. Today also felt more energetic… because Aaron’s just that kind of drummer. Super sweet moments looking out and seeing people worshiping. It’s SO worth every drop of sweat when you see you’ve helped create an atmosphere where people can freely approach the foot of His Throne. However… this leads me to…
Low Moments: I forgot to wear deodorant. UGH! Ok… seriously… again… it’s the rush of set up and being READY to lead worship immediately after. I feel really exclusive in that time since I’m so task oriented and I don’t like that. God and I will have to work through that.
… and when was the last time you forgot to apply deodorant?
Worship Confessional – 03.15.09
It’s getting late…
I’m not sure how the day got away from me, but it did so I’ll just do a quick recap of the worship set from this morning.
Sunday Setlist was:
- Beautiful One – Tim Hughes
- All We Need – Charlie Hall
- Indescribable – Laura Story
- Hosanna – Brooke Fraser
- Nothing But The Blood of Jesus – Jenni Clayville Arrangement
OK… so, today was pretty cool. Just me and a guitar for a way more intimate feel. It was a shorter set because we had baby dedications as well.
The one tough thing about just being me and a guitar is that songs feel a lot slower even when I’m playing them to the right tempo because drums add SO much. It felt super “coffee-shop” like though. It’s nice to mix it up a bit. Plus… obviously easier on the practice schedule.
Speaking of baby dedications… we dedicated Paxton today along with three other families. Everyone dressed their babies up so beautifully. Paxton was in his dark blue fireman pajamas.
Mother of the Year award goes to… ME!!!
Worship Confessional – 03.08.09
Today’s service was kinda fun.
My sweet husband got to give the sermon today because Matt was at his 20 year high school reunion. I KNOW… he looks WAY too young to be going to a 20 year (Matt, you can give me that raise later). It was really cool to share a platform with Brian. I haven’t done that since, gosh, maybe 6 or 7 years ago when we were at a Junior class retreat for Sunset’s High School Ministries.
Our Sunday Setlist:
- All Creatures of our God and King – Jenni Clayville Arrangement (HEY!!!)
- Majestic – Lincoln Brewster
- God of Wonders – Marc Byrd & Steve Hindalong
- To The Ends of the Earth – Joel Houston & Marty Sampson
- Grace Like Rain – Todd Agnew
- Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- From the Inside Out – Joel Houston
We did the first 3 songs, then Brian came up and started our new DISCIPLE series. He was so cute up there. He didn’t really have the sermon typed out in a format he felt 100% comfortable with so I could tell he was really nervous. But, when he was telling his stories and talking through the parts he really felt comfortable with, he ROCKED!!! He was totally in his element
After his sermon, we used “To The Ends of the Earth” as the quiet response… just me and my guitar (we recorded it, so once I get it, I’ll post it to share… if it’s good. HA!). The team came back up before “Grace Like Rain”.
Because I purposely made “To The Ends of the Earth” a bit slower acoustically, Mark came in for “Grace Like Rain” a tad bit slow. Ok… a LOT slow. It almost felt like death… ALMOST. I kept pushing the tempo. It felt like train starting from the train station and slowly speeding up. But the song was over before we got to my DESIRED tempo. It’s alright… I’ll just blame it on Daylight savings. We caught back up by the “Desert Song” so all was well.
Today’s attendance was low. Was that true for churches everywhere??? I’m wondering if people ditched because they were tired. I know I was tired.
Worship Confessional – 03.01.09
Setting up church the same morning AS church STILL confuses me. It’s not that I’m not able to adapt… it’s just that I struggle finding that PLACE my heart NEEDS to be before the service begins.
It’s difficult to prepare my heart not only to worship, but to lead others into worship when we’re literally building our “sanctuary” during the time I’ve come accustomed to prepping my heart. I may be the only worship leader out here that struggles with this, but I’ll admit it: It’s EXTREMELY difficult for me to chit-chat & “shoot-the-breeze” right before a service.
I don’t ever want to walk up the the platform and just lead in song-singing. I just don’t feel right about that. Today… I definitely felt that tension. Well… still being sick probably didn’t help the situation either.
However, I think the set still went pretty well overall. Good thing God is still overseeing this whole she-bang.
Here’s the Sunday Setlist:
- Majestic – Lincoln Brewster
- The Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- Meet With Me – Lamont Hiebert
- Devotion – Marty Sampson
- You’ll Come – Brooke Fraser
- Here I Am To Worship – Tim Hughes
- (into) Call – Darlene Zschech (back into bridge & chorus of “Here I Am…”)
Today, it was weird trying to find my “pocket”. It didn’t help that our speakers & monitors seem to be going out on us. Our monitor mixes just didn’t seem to want to stay put. At first, I thought it was just me, but then Liz said her monitor was inconsistent too. Bad news = that will cost money. Good news = I’m not losing it.
I also struggled to find my voice. Every song seemed “just about” out of my range because of this stupid cold. However… I sorta had that Sexy-Sick-Phoebe-Smelly-Cat voice, so it’s AIIIIIIIGHT!
Next week, I’ll be back to normal… whatever that means.
Worship Confessional – 02.22.09
I WISELY scheduled myself OFF the platform this Sunday.
Ok, ok… I can’t really say I “wisely” did anything because I’m sure it was mostly God’s doing since I don’t remember PURPOSELY thinking through this specific weekend’s affairs. All I remember thinking was, “EVERY SIX WEEKS… GET OFF THE PLATFORM!”
Seriously people… if you’re in leadership, I FULLY believe you need time away from the pulpit, music stand, tech booth, whatever you stand behind, so you can be a PART of the church in the congregation ON A REGULAR BASIS (every couple months).
Anyway… Mark and Liz led while I sat happily in the tech booth running graphics.
This week was our first week back at Stoller Middle School. Good and bad:
- GOOD: It’s familiar, we know what we’re doing, we FIT in there comfortably, and I like it.
- BAD: morning set-up and NOT having a permanent location.
The only minor stress we had was finding the CORRECT new setting for the visual display. In our previous location, we were using flatscreen tv’s as our source of visual communication. Now, we’re back to LARGE screens and projectors, so I had to make the display fit the new screen, resize all our text AND nurse a baby all at the same time.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???
Ummm… don’t answer that.
Anyway… here was the Sunday Setlist:
- Holy Moment – Matt Redman
- Everything Glorious – David Crowder
- Hear Our Prayers – The Glorious Unseen
- All Creatures of our God and King – St. Francis & William H. Draper
- Hosanna – Brooke Fraser
- Hallelujah – Tenth Avenue North
It was really good to be off the platform and help support my team from behind the scenes today. God obviously knew better than me that I needed down time.
My throat doesn’t hurt today, but I DID cough up some awesome green, slimy junk this morning. Mmm… yummy! I also still have this nasty cough and runny nose.
Time to go purchase some kleenex w/ lotion before my nose peels off. I’m pretty sure that’s in my foreseeable future as is.
Confessions of a Good Christian Girl
As you may have seen from my 25 Random Things post, one of the books I’m currently reading is Confessions of a Good Christian Girl by Tammy Maltby.
This book was chosen because the title spoke to me. I have known Jesus for as long as I can remember… and for the longest time, church has taught me that I should always have joy because of that. Church, without meaning to, taught me that if I loved Jesus, and he truly lived in my heart, everything would be fantastic in my life.
Everyone seemed to be living a great life blessed by God. Everyone except me. I hurt. I hurt people. People hurt me… badly. I was isolated. I didn’t belong anywhere. But I pretended. I tried. I really REALLY tried… because Christians HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER.
Seriously… the Church is REALLY bad at allowing Christians to be authentic. I’m not picking on a certain church. Just being general…
It wasn’t until the last 8 years, did I really truly realize and believe that church is for the broken, the imperfect, the lonely… the unstopping sinner. Me.
Confession: I still don’t feel like I belong anywhere sometimes. Often, actually.
I don’t usually cry reading books. I can count the times a book has drawn tears on ONE HAND, but I’m a few chapters into this one… and I think I may be in deep doo-doo.
Check this excerpt from the Book:
Come home, sweet baby. The lights are on.. soup’s on the stove, warm bread in the oven. Just come home and let Me hold you, protect you, cleanse you from the world that ravages your very soul. I know you. I know what you have done and what has be done against you. I know how hard you have tried to be good and how defeated you feel. But you can rest now. My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
You don’t need to be a good Christian girl.
Just be who you are — My beloved child.
So here’s the deal. I’m a Christ follower. I’m a Worship Pastor. I am a broken BROKEN human being in need of insurmountable grace. If you are too, you belong in the Church. If you’re perfect… GET the heck OUT.
Any other “good christian girls/boys” out there?
Worship Confessional – 02.15.09
I am SUPER tired right now.
After the 24 hour trip to Seattle (to clean and organize my Mom’s garage… I’ll write a post about it tomorrow), getting home at 12:30am this morning, THEN leading worship in the morning AND small group tonight… I am officially pooped OUT! So, I’ll make this short and sweet:
Today’s Sunday Setlist:
- All We Need – Charlie Hall
- Enough – Chris Tomlin
- Our Great God – Mac Powell & Fernando Ortega
- You’ll Come – Brooke Fraser
- Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- Lead Me To The Cross – Brooke Fraser
- From the Inside Out – Joel Houston
Apparently, this morning was a Brooke Fraser type of morning. But it was because one of my BFF’s, Holly, came to lead with me. I LOVE singing with Holly. She helps make leading worship effortless!
We recorded it so once I have time to load it, I’ll share it with you here!
How was YOUR Sunday? Favorite song in the setlist?
Worship Confessional – 02.08.09
Today was the first day in our new series about MONEY MANAGEMENT. Practical, right???
It was Mark & myself on guitars today and Liz on keys. It’s always fun to have three part harmony.
Here was our Sunday Setlist:
- Not To Us – Chris Tomlin
- King of Glory – Chris Tomlin
- Mighty To Save – Reuben Morgan
- Heart of Worship – Matt Redman
- Holiness – Scott Underwood
- Desert Song – Brooke Fraser
- You Alone – David Crowder
It was good to call everyone back to the “Heart of Worship” after Matt talked about what we should really do with our finances in this economy. Well… I think I was mostly calling myself back to the heart of worship.
I’m blown away week after week over what kind of man our Pastor is. I know if he had extra money, he would put it all back into the church or into our community.
It’s no secret, that if I had more freedom in my finances, it would go to one of two things:
- Paying off debt
- Fun material items
I don’t want to be THAT kind of person. I want the least of these to benefit from my mere existence. I WANT to find myself in THAT place, where my heart’s desire is to make it ALL about Jesus.
Man… I have a LONG ways to go.
So, tell me…
if you had an extra $10,000 a month, what would you do with the money???
Jenni on Skype: jclayville 
