Sunday Rewind

Trust is a must! Whether you knew it or not, there was a lot of trusting going on throughout the whole service yesterday.
Mark (Nelson) led worship for us with a new vocal team combination that hadn't worshiped together before Sunday. Leading in that type of setting is always a risk, but he stepped out and led for us. And did a good job. At the same time, the vocal team was following someone other than me, so that was a risk for them as well.
The instruments, Jon (guitar) and Kia (drums), had to take some of the leading roles in the absence of Aaron, who is on vacation. They had to trust each other to lead and to follow as Mark led out in ways that were different from Aaron. Again, a good job.
When I say 'good job', I mean it in the sense that we didn't have distractions that took our attention away from God. Our role in worship ministry is to try to point people to Jesus through music, scripture, prayer, the spoken word (sermon), art and other sacraments. If we do something poorly, that causes a distraction and moves the focus, the attention from God to people. Bad move on our part. This is one of the key reasons we spend time rehearsing each Tuesday so that we may bring our best gifts and offerings of worship to Him. We must take our place on Sunday's as His worshipers and His servants. If our hearts are focused on giving Him the best we have and working on honing our skill each week, then our efforts will be seen in what is offered to Him on Sunday. If we do our part, it makes it easier for you to do yours.
When you come on Sunday, let me ask you to trust God as you worship Him. Ask Him to allow you to be free to worship from your heart. Remove the fear of what people will think, remove the anxiety that comes with trying something new and trust God. You don't have to clap or stand, unless you want to. You don't have to raise your hands or kneel, unless you want to. Trust that God will put the desire in your heart to worship expressively in your own way. Trust is a must, why not start with trusting Him?

See ya in church,
Karl

FBC Input Invited!

If you are a member of First Baptist Church in Pocatello, Idaho, I want to hear from you. Every Monday, I will be posting my thoughts on Sunday's services. I want you to hear about what I experienced during worship, from the planning and execution to the moving of the Spirit during the services. But my input doesn't help us, as a worship team, grow. I need your input.

Please feel free to post your comments each week on how the worship service impacted YOU. I would greatly appreciate your feedback - both positive and negative. Here are some questions to help get you started:

• Did you encounter God?
• Was there anything that was a distraction during the music portion of worship - too loud, singers flat, words on the screen hard to read, etc.?
• How was the environment? Too hot, too cold? Seating, lighting okay?

There are a dozen more thoughts, but I'd really like for you to be open and honest about it. I will be reading and praying over all the input, so don't hold back.

By the way, Thank You in advance!