Let’s talk about how the message went yesterday. It was Palm Sunday, so the stage was decorated very nicely, with the ‘jungle’ layout (which was used for the Leadership Summit just yesterday) rearranged and also fitted with real palm leaves… very green, very appropriate.
Anyway the worship went along without a hitch, with a solid choice of songs: Turn It Up by the Planetshakers, You Are Good as made famous by Israel Houghton and the New Breed (I still have problems with that term, ‘New Breed’), and then Build My Life originally composed and performed by the group that calls themselves Housefires, and finally, Goodness of God, by the good folks at Bethel Worship. I had nothing to say about that to the congregation, but I did tell some folks after the service that it was good enough to lead until the third song because by then everyone was singing and just enjoying; Goodness of God was, to my observation, a little too excessive. But I guess my team was just excited to do a little overkill.
Communion Exhortation was given by the mother of one of our key members of the team, and she was pretty on-point with what she had to share. First off, she shared how she was nervous but still willing to exhort, as she was driven by what she calls her life verse – That is, John 15:16: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.’
She shared that if only to acknowledge that the act of exhortation was not just a random choice, but a divine assignment. Reading from a piece of paper, she shared that in performing the Communion (in fact, she mentioned ‘Eucharist’, a term I haven’t heard mentioned in the service for a very long time, if not ever), ‘we became united with Him’. Later on I shared how I totally agreed with this, because it points out that not only did Christ die FOR our sins, but because now we know how we were united, we know that when He died, so we died TO or FROM sin.
The union we have in Christ is something we need to always remember.
I was then surprised to see our youthful drummer and son of one of ours in the congregation walk to the pulpit – He was apparently the one assigned, in his age, to exhort for Offering/Giving. My expectations were admittedly low, and he didn’t spend too much time; However, what he did mention was very valuable in the short time he spent. He said he didn’t have time to prepare, because he was busy with school, but he did want to share something that does stay with him even in his business – That is, a verse that Evander Holyfield and he apparently shared as their own.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
When I came up to share, I expressed my thanks to God, because even with all that our good drummer faces, especially from outside influence, there remains a Word in his being that both moves him, and keeps him from being moved.
In our appreciation of the union we spoke of with Christ, it’s no surprise that He, the Living Word, supplies us with the Word.
I went on with giving my own take-aways from the Leadership Summit. I shared friendlier versions from the pulpit, but I think I’ll go a little bit more bloody / raw here:
First session was the first day, in the morning. Slightly frustrated that the guy who was to be speaking throughout the entire summit, or the guy who had the most slots, he chose to revive some material that he already discussed a year or two ago, without any consultation from the rest of leadership, or from the congregation or the attendants, for that matter.
I was frustrated because I was expecting something from him – not material he gathered from something else, but something he had a hand in. I mean, I would have appreciated if he did one or both – (1) made proper attribution to the original author, and/or (2) gave his own spin to the material so it wasn’t just reporting what someone else shared; Well, I’ll admit that he did give examples from his own experience, but let’s just say the delivery could have been more… empathetic, would that be the word? I wish it resonated more, or I wish there was some effort to make a real connection to the people instead of trying to impress them.
And that’s the key word there, see – there was a strain of some trying. And as we always observe, the more you try, the more people will see it (and that’s the best case scenario). I look forward to a more… harmonious approach from this leader next time around.
But enough of that. I thought I’d keep this short, but I guess I had other things in the reserve areas of the brain to let out.
The next speaker shared her thoughts on prayer. Now usually when someone with her experience and her exposure shares anything on the pulpit, I’m usually the first one to balk at how old-fashioned and how, well, obsolete some thoughts and ideas are, but throughout her sharing I was giving her the benefit of the doubt, for personal reasons – Well, one reason above all, anyway; It’s simple, she goes to my worship service and listens to what I have to say, and she keeps coming back – and if her husband is feeling healthy, he tags along too.
Considering how they keep coming back, in spite of their vast, collective experience, and in spite of my having a vast, collective much more to learn – well, that gives me cause to look beneath the surface and to be genuinely understanding to what she had to say.
Long story short, she gave her insights on how the Holy Spirit is needed in prayer, and how, through the years, she has found it helpful to intentionally silence ourselves, pray for the Holy Spirit’s revelation, and thank Him in advance. We even went through the exercise and, to my surprise, we actually got something.
And I got something personal – that is, no matter what your approach is, no matter how old or new your methods may be, what’s beautiful is they all point to the same Jesus that saves us all.
The speakers in the afternoon, and the speakers for the next day, for both the morning and the afternoon – when they were called and contacted to have a part or a portion in the said summit, they all shared the same fear and intimidation in sharing… but when they did have their time, they all pointed to Jesus, only in different ways.
These were folks from the lowlands, and as such, they had different experiences, pointing to the same Christ. And I’ll keep it as short as I could:
The one guy who spoke in the afternoon of the first day shared of his rise and fall; and at the lowest of lows was where a random foreign stranger told him: ‘Let go, and if you die, you die. But if God has a purpose for you, take it.’… and interestingly enough, this was eventually followed by Paul’s words to Timothy: O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”1 Timothy 6:20
First, he was given purpose from the Lord, and then he was reminded to guard his purpose. Here I see and say that appreciation fosters focus, and in focus, we move in appreciation.
The other two ladies who spoke the next day encouraged those within the sound of their voice, that we ought to move.
One said we ought to move without fear, citing how we may have our own plans, and we have the propensity to stick to our plans and call them what’s best, all out of fear… but, as Scripture would tell us:
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21
The other lady said we ought to move with endurance, mentioning how the smallest of things in particular can have the greatest of impact in the long run – whether we see said impact or not is of no consequence, because it’s all up to the Lord.
I know all of that was pretty introductory, but I finally came to this point, but by this time I was pretty tired myself. I read through 1 Samuel chapters 5 and 6 as I wrote in my message for Palm Sunday, and we went through it, eventually coming to the parallels between the triumphal entry of David, and then of Jesus, so many centuries later.
I ended with this, before praying for everyone:
The Man after God’s own heart, ancestor to God’s beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased
One witnessed the failure of man’s works in the death of Uzzah, ancestor to One demonstrated the power of God’s word in the wilderness
One danced with all his might clothed only in a linen ephod, ancestor to One was riding on the back of a donkey
One was celebrating the conquest of Jerusalem, ancestor to One proclaimed to all, ‘I have overcome the world’
I’m sorry, I could share more, but this is all I’d like to recall for now. As we progress through the week, I’m pretty sure something here and there will come up, and I promise I will make mention of it, in the process of devising a wonderful message for this coming Resurrection Sunday.
Until then, God bless us all.
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