Weekly Reflection
August 25, 2010
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
Psalm 150:1-2
I love how the psalms are the Church’s prayer book. That’s what is so great about the Psalms. Smack dab in the middle of the Bible – the psalms invite us to prayer, give us permission to be angry at God and inspire us to worship God in lots of exciting ways.
This summer we have enjoyed worshiping together at 9:30; but as school begins, we are approaching a change in our worship schedule – we will return to two worship services – the first will be at 8:30am and the second will be at 10:45. The worship committee prayerfully considered the best options for our two worship service times and agreed that to reach the most people, an 8:30 start time would be better. We also took into consideration the Sunday School hour and felt like sliding the 2nd service 15 minutes would allow for a full hour for our various Sunday School classes.
You may notice another change coming this fall. There is going to be a distinct difference in the style of our two worship services – the first - 8:30 service, will fit a smaller gathering of worshippers. We will have the opportunity to grow closer to one another through times of prayer and singing and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. The 2nd service will be very similar to our summer worship services. In each we will be more intentional about inviting members of our church and our community to participate in the music ministries of our church.
Psalm 150 continues with:
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
It is my prayer that as we settle into our autumn routine we will each discover ways that we may participate more actively in the worship life of the church. If you are a musician, I invite you send me an email and let me know if you would be willing to share your musical gifts for special music in the first service or accompanying the VLT at either service (any guitar players, pianists, drummers, flute, clarinet, string players?). If you are a singer, I do hope that you will do likewise and come and join one of our choirs OR, form a group that would like to sing on occasion – and we will find a day and service that works best for you. By bringing our musical gifts to worship we are indeed allowing “Everything that breathes praise the Lord!”
Ok, if like me you don’t sing – well, perhaps you are more technical in nature – we could use more sound techs and video techs – and even if you have never run an audio board or powerpoint before, we can arrange for training and someone to walk alongside you as you learn a new skill. (High school students and older please).
Likewise we would love to grow our pool of worship assistants/liturgists, ushers, greeters and coffee fellowship services. There truly is a place for everyone to actively participate in the worship life of the church!
So with Psalm 150 in mind, I ask you today – how are you going to share your gifts to Praise God in worship at Trinity this fall? Please feel free to email or call me – I would love to help you find a way to plug into worship. For most of these we are not expecting a weekly commitment – therefore, if each of us gives a portion of our time God will be glorified AND we will have a more fruitful worship life at Trinity United Methodist Church.
To God be the Glory!
In Christ, together,
Pastor Deborah
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
Psalm 150:1-2
I love how the psalms are the Church’s prayer book. That’s what is so great about the Psalms. Smack dab in the middle of the Bible – the psalms invite us to prayer, give us permission to be angry at God and inspire us to worship God in lots of exciting ways.
This summer we have enjoyed worshiping together at 9:30; but as school begins, we are approaching a change in our worship schedule – we will return to two worship services – the first will be at 8:30am and the second will be at 10:45. The worship committee prayerfully considered the best options for our two worship service times and agreed that to reach the most people, an 8:30 start time would be better. We also took into consideration the Sunday School hour and felt like sliding the 2nd service 15 minutes would allow for a full hour for our various Sunday School classes.
You may notice another change coming this fall. There is going to be a distinct difference in the style of our two worship services – the first - 8:30 service, will fit a smaller gathering of worshippers. We will have the opportunity to grow closer to one another through times of prayer and singing and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. The 2nd service will be very similar to our summer worship services. In each we will be more intentional about inviting members of our church and our community to participate in the music ministries of our church.
Psalm 150 continues with:
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
It is my prayer that as we settle into our autumn routine we will each discover ways that we may participate more actively in the worship life of the church. If you are a musician, I invite you send me an email and let me know if you would be willing to share your musical gifts for special music in the first service or accompanying the VLT at either service (any guitar players, pianists, drummers, flute, clarinet, string players?). If you are a singer, I do hope that you will do likewise and come and join one of our choirs OR, form a group that would like to sing on occasion – and we will find a day and service that works best for you. By bringing our musical gifts to worship we are indeed allowing “Everything that breathes praise the Lord!”
Ok, if like me you don’t sing – well, perhaps you are more technical in nature – we could use more sound techs and video techs – and even if you have never run an audio board or powerpoint before, we can arrange for training and someone to walk alongside you as you learn a new skill. (High school students and older please).
Likewise we would love to grow our pool of worship assistants/liturgists, ushers, greeters and coffee fellowship services. There truly is a place for everyone to actively participate in the worship life of the church!
So with Psalm 150 in mind, I ask you today – how are you going to share your gifts to Praise God in worship at Trinity this fall? Please feel free to email or call me – I would love to help you find a way to plug into worship. For most of these we are not expecting a weekly commitment – therefore, if each of us gives a portion of our time God will be glorified AND we will have a more fruitful worship life at Trinity United Methodist Church.
To God be the Glory!
In Christ, together,
Pastor Deborah