Improving Worship

How often do we say to ourselves and those we minister to how can we improve our worship in the corporate setting. Each Sunday, when we come together, should be a time of celebration and reflection. It should be the highlight of the week.

Here are some considerations on how we can improve our worship:

1. Always pray before coming to worship. This puts one in the right frame of mind. I appreciate a team of men and women at Central that pray each Sunday for those of us that lead worship. This ministry is a very valuable part of our church. Each of us should reflect before we participate in our weekly worship.

2. Come expecting to be uplifted spiritually as a result of your service to God.

3. Come to worship God. Remember worship is not about ME it's to honor our God.

4. Enter enthusiastically into every part of our worship. Sing from the heart, pray, study, listen, give. Be a worshipper not a spectator.

5. When worshipping forget the faults of others there and think on your own imperfections. Confess your sins and seek forgiveness from God.

6. Listen to the lesson. Don't let your mind think about other items outside of what is being discussed by the minister.

7. Sit close to the front. Less distractions. Easier to participate.

8. Be positive, warm and friendly to all that are in attendance.

9. Seek out those who need a helping hand.

I am so blessed to worship with a church that truly loves to worship. If you are looking at ways to enhance your worship as a congregation, look at improving your personal focus on worship first!

Easter Sunday

What a great day of worship! Easter service was very encouraging as we added a new brother in Christ as he was baptized by one of our elders this morning and a woman coming that needed encouraged. Hearts were changed with the theme "Jesus is my Lamb". The video of "Watch the Lamb" highlighted the message Jim gave. Thanks to Carl for another spectacular technology worship presentation. We love you bother! You have a heart for worship and for encouraging our younger worship leaders. You are a continual blessing to me as well as the Central Family. Steve and Ed did a great job also on the music and video. Evan thanks for running the controls today.

This evening capped off a great day with our young men who participated at LTC leading our services. My son Craig, led singing. It brought tears to my eyes as he led, "In the Cross" and had my feet a stomping as he led "Nobody Feels My Heart Like Jesus". I watched his eyes as he led. His love of music and for God was evident. Kyle thank you for reading scripture tonight. It touched our hearts. The church is in good hands! Our future leaders are better prepared and trained than we ever have been. They have a heart for worship and for God!

May we all tell the EASTER story each day!

KC

We have arrived in Kansas City for the 2005 LTC Conference. The kids should be here anytime.

As I sit in the lobby of the Crown Hyatt Hotel I enjoy watching the people. So many stories, so many thoughts, so many hurting folks. I hope LTC can encourage many from small congregations this weekend.

Be praying for the Central Church, we are in the process of selecting a new youth minister. We believe God has provided the right young man and woman to minister here at Central. We are in constant prayer seeking God's direction and guidance.

LTC Bound

Easter weekend. Its LTC time again. Leadership Training for Christ is a weekend that our young people look forward to for many months. It's great to see our kids participate in bible bowl, song leading, Christian drama, puppets, bible reading, Christian art and a number of other activities.

Central will be bringing about 50 to Kansas City for the two day event.

I'm thinking about the future men and women that will be preachers, worship leaders, elders, deacons, bible teachers that will have their beginnings in KC this weekend. May God be glorified by the 1000 young people this weekend! And may God give us adults PATIENCE as we sponsor these great kids!

Easter-Order of Worship

Many times I hear worship leaders asking for special orders of worship. In the blog today, is the Easter service for Sunday at the Central Church of Christ in Topeka. We hope the service glorifies our Father as well as encourages the church.

Easter Sunday
March 27, 2005
Order of Worship

Theme: "Jesus Is My Lamb"

Worship Leader: David Carriger
Speaker: Jim DuBose

Welcome (Jerry Myers)
Reading: Psalms 24:7-10

100 Holy Ground
101 Holy Ground

Prayer

Reading: Matthew 27:45-54

361 Nailed to the Cross (Verse 1 Only)

"THE WORTHY LAMB" (Jim DuBose)

176 Lamb of God

218 Blessed Jesus

"THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB" (Jim DuBose)

Communion
Contribution

195 Behold the Lamb

"WATCH THE LAMB" (Jim DuBose)

Video "Watch the Lamb"
Invitation

904 Have You Been to Jesus?

Announcements

344 Low In the Grave He Lay (Verses then Chorus)

Closing Prayer

A Typical Sunday Morning

What do people really think about during a Sunday morning worship........

*A business woman, thinking of the house she hoped to sell that afternoon.
*A teenager thinking about the touchdown he scored on Friday night.
*Several adults have already started to think about the NFL football game that will be on this afternoon.
*A married couple sits in the pew upset with each other, contemplating divorce.
*A young teenage girl upset that she had sex with her boyfriend last night.
*A woman's mind returns to the kitchen, and the roast she placed in the oven.
*Many people thinking, will we get out early so we can beat the crowd to the restaurant?

A typical Sunday morning. Worship requires discipline. Make sure your worship is a response to God, to what God has done, and to what God is doing.

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come before Him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" (1 Chronicles 6:29).

Sleeping in Church

A Sunday school teacher asked the children just before she dismissed them to go to church, "and why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" Annie replied, because people are sleeping."

A Prayer

Today, I share with you part of St. Patrick's "Breastplate Prayer":

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Church Growth?

Some rather absurd things have been done in churches to promote church growth:

“An article in The Wall Street Journal described one well-known church’s bid ‘to perk up attendance at Sunday evening services.’ The church ‘staged a wrestling match, featuring church employees. To train for the event, 10 game employees got lessons from Tugboat Taylor, a former professional wrestler, in pulling hair, kicking shins and tossing bodies around without doing real harm”.

“Just how far will the church go in competing with Hollywood? A large church in the southwestern United States has installed a half-million-dollar special-effects system that can produce smoke, fire, sparks, and laser lights in the auditorium. The church sent staff members to study live special effects at Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas. The pastor ended one service by ascending to ‘heaven’ via invisible wires that drew him up out of sight while the choir and orchestra added a musical accompaniment to the smoke, fire, and light show”.

Where are we headed next?

Easter

We have started our preparation for our Easter service on Sunday, March 27 at Central. Easter has always been very meaningful for me. As a kid mom filled our Easter baskets with candy and I was allowed to eat chocolate before church and after church. We all dressed usually in new clothes and went to church and saw people visiting that we hadn't seen in many months.

That's where it becomes a special day. We have many visitors on that Sunday. For that one moment we have the opportunity to tell the story of Jesus. If we are successful we might be able to invite them back for another service or even better an opportunity to attend one of our bible classes.

That's why worship preparation is so important. Not just that we want to Praise our Heavenly Father but we want to stir the hearts of those in worship.

I am excited for Easter. Our message and service will center around the theme, "Jesus Is My Lamb". We hope to show the video, "Watch the Lamb" by Ray Boltz. We will use the Hallal sound track. The video and song are very moving.

I encourage you to look forward to Easter. For a Christian, Easter is each first day of the week. A time to reflect on a Savior that lived, died and arose!

The Word Became Flesh

A friend of mine who is a worship leader sent the following to me:

"Incarnation. The WORD made flesh. He didn't do this just for us. He did it to show us what incarnation looks like. We are his hands and feet. It's not a Sunday morning service, it's a way of life (or should be). I desperately want to know how to make that more true for me. I long to be his hands and feet more than I am now--and I long to CARE about that more than I do".

What have you done today to show Jesus to someone else. Slow down and take the time! Take the time to be the light to a dark world. I need to practice this so much in my life.

Prayer

I always enjoy visiting churches on Sundays throughout the United States. I enjoy the different types of worship services offered and always bring back fresh new ideas on how to enhance our worship.

This past week, I had the opportunity to worship with a church in Oklahoma City. I enjoyed the more “contemporary music” that was offered, but the item that has stuck with me all week is the concern they had for people. Prayer was a very important part of their worship and family time. Hurting people and individuals celebrating good things that God has given them highlighted the end of the service.

We sometimes leave out prayer, and rush to the singing or the preaching. Prayer is vital in our worship time. Not just in the corporate worship but our personal time as we prepare for worship each Sunday.

You Are the Words and the Music

Music has always been a comfort and joy for me as long as I can remember. During the tough times as well as those times of praise the lyrics to songs have encouraged me to overcome, gain strength and praise the Creator of the Universe. They remind me that the Spirit of God works through songs in ways we NEVER could. Sometimes music can be the hands and arms of Jesus holding us. Sometimes it's His face we see. Sometimes it takes us to a quiet garden where we can be ministered to in ways that are immeasurable.

Thank you, Lord, for music. Thank you for putting it in our souls and communicating your love to us through song. May we hear your voice singing over us today! Zephaniah 3:17