A Highlight of My Week

One of the highlights that I get to experience each week is the privilege of spending about three hours after Bible class on Wednesday evenings with a great group of brothers. Our weekly elders meeting begins around 8:00 and sometimes last until 11:00 p.m. It is a time of laughter and a time for tears as we discuss the most important thing in our lives the Central Church.

It is really “mind-boggling” sometimes as you look in the New Testament at God’s plan for the church. How God established shepherds to watch over the spiritual life of the flock and deacons to take care of the daily needs of the church. At times I know each of us feel inadequacies and doubt. How do we lead a church with so many varied backgrounds and needs? How do we encourage each member to know that if you place your entire trust and faith in God he will bless you beyond all comprehension?

Each Wednesday night I get my cup filled. Each brother is such an encouragement. We depend and rely on each other and our Heavenly Father to get from one major concern to another. Each person has special needs and each individual needs to know that God cares for them greatly.

Please keep the Central Elders in your daily prayers. Our main goal is to glorify our Heavenly Father in everything that we do. We want each individual to believe with all their heart that Jesus loves them and He is the only way to have a life of fulfillment and peace.

The BEMA

Thank you Ruthann for giving me something very special to watch last night. What a blessing. I watched a video called The Bema. The Bema is a story based on a book by Tim Stevenson. Imagine what it will be like to see your life from Jesus’ point of view. The Bema invites you to accompany businessman Daniel Mattewson as he gains eternity’s perspective on the decisions that have defined his life. It will make you laugh and it will bring tears to your eyes as you feel the guilt in your own life from the times you had the opportunity to be the “Light” to someone and you chose not to. The Bema was performed and recorded at the Richland Hills Church of Christ in Richland Hills, Texas. I encourage you to purchase the video for your church or small group.

A Call to Worship

This morning as I face a difficult day of some work related decisions, I thought about the following verses. In the entire "big picture of life", what is really important? God. He deserves our constant praise and adoration. He can give us the feeling of peace and comfort even in those difficult times. May you truly come into His presence and bow before our Maker today!

Psalm 95:1-7

"O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
In whose hands are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand."

Prayer Answered

Prayers were answered this past weekend as Owen Burdan arrived into the world on Saturday. Mom is doing well and little Owen is still on oxygen but is healthy and alert. Congratulations to Evan, Tanya and the family!

What a great family at Central! Any need that “pops up” people are always willing to help and serve. We have several families and individuals that are hurting and need assistance; members go out of their way to help. You are a special people at the corner of Huntoon and College.

The Worship Committee met yesterday afternoon to discuss our next Saturday 4 the Savior. It was decided to have it on June 25 out at the new Burlingame Road property. We plan on having a large tent, a cookout and a time of worship outside in God’s beautiful creation! The theme will be “The Old Tent Revival”. We hope to center our thoughts and praises on the God who has blessed our past and will take care of the future. Jim will be speaking and our small chorus hopes to perform. Much time will be spent in prayer asking God to bless this new land for his future kingdom in Topeka. Please mark your calendars to attend.

Prayer Request

Please be in prayer today for Evan and Tanya Burdan. Evan is our Youth Minister at the Central Church of Christ. Tanya is 8 months pregnant and will be induced this morning. Please lift up this young couple in your prayers.

A Child's Heart for Worship!

I had the opportunity to help with the 3 and 4 year old class at church last night. What a great blessing! These little kids are great. Talk about two teachers (Debbie and Mike) who love children and wish to share with them the message of Jesus. They love to sing and they love to hear Debbie and Mike talk to them, about the love God has for each of them.

When I was sitting there next to the little ones the excitement they had in their worship was so encouraging to me. They wanted to sing. They wanted to pray. They look forward to each chance they have to be in bible class.

How about us? Do we long for worship? Do we really possess that “childlike” spirit that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 19?

What will our attitude (as adults) be like this Sunday as we have the opportunity to worship our Heavenly Father?

Encouragement

If you have not had the opportunity to look at Carl Wheeler’s new blog site, I encourage you to make this a regular site to view. Carl has encouraged me so much as a brother in Christ! He has a love for worship, which always encourages and excites me to think of the possibilities that are endless in enhancing our corporate and personal worship experience.

My mother has been a wonderful Christian example. She has taught children’s bible class for over 35 years and still speaks at ladies bible classes from time to time. Last week she gave a talk on Changes in the Church. My mom and I have discussed and disagreed from time to time about the good and the bad that change has brought. I have appreciated her biblical stand for truth but also her flexibility in her thinking from time to time on a variety of subjects. I hope to post her talk on my site in the coming days.

Debbie and I have been blessed the past three months in being invited to teach the Young Professional Class at Central. What a powerful group these individuals are. They have a true love for God and a true love for each other. Two weeks ago we had small group worship and fellowship at Central South (our house) and Brian Bells message and Josh Yoho leading us in worship encouraged me. This group of young adults has taught Debbie and me a great deal about relationships and being a servant. Next week we will begin a series on Creating the Heart of A Servant. A study of David’s life, from being a sheepherder to a powerful King. How he had a heart like God in his victories, failures and disappointments. I am looking forward to the study.

May God Richly Bless You in your moments of Worship today!

Worship Made Flesh

A favorite worship leader of mine wrote this article a couple of years ago.

Worship Made Flesh

By: Murray Sanderson
Date: October 18, 2002

We've been blessed by a wonderful era of worship renewal! God is doing great things in our corporate worship. The song service is the most obvious recipient of this Holy Spirit renaissance, but the Spirit is also moving to renew our focus on scripture reading, Lord's Supper observance, and proclamation of Christ as well. I thank God for what He has done and is still doing to help us stay fresh as we take delight in Him corporately.

God is restoring to us the joy of our salvation, not solely for refreshment and inspiration, although He certainly has brought those two in abundance. By example, Jesus showed us how necessary it would be for us to withdraw from the world to a lonely place (which we do individually and corporately) to reset our compasses. As He did with Christ, so now He does with us, the body of Christ: He is restoring our souls inside the church walls so that we may more mightily and courageously worship outside the church walls!

If you thought adding a worship team was a big deal, brace yourself for the next exciting phase of worship renewal. The title of this chapter of worship reformation could be, "The Worship Made Flesh," meaning that we are ready now to be incarnated? Christ in us, the hope of glory for the world. Jesus was the Word made flesh, and now we are Jesus made flesh. He calls us to focus on others around us, to dive into the deep and sometimes murky waters of social justice, to humble ourselves by lifting up the poor, to spend time encouraging the brokenhearted.
It's this Isaiah 58/Romans 12 worship renewal that can be a real challenge. The first era of worship renewal was a big step, but God has even greater challenges in store.

When God set His heart on reaching humankind, He sent judges, priests, kings, and prophets but then determined it was best for Him to come in human form. His message of love, peace, and hope to a dying world was best and most fully expressed in Christ.

In the last ten to fifteen years, we've set our hearts on reaching God through worship renewal. We've incorporated worship teams, congregational readings, vocal solos, fancy projectors and yes, the big kahuna, the use of the dramatic arts. But now He sends us out like He sent His Son, to leave the delights and pleasantries of the auditorium and go outside into the streets. Without allowing our worship services to suffer in any way, we now turn our focus outwardly, allowing God to reach the world with our beautiful voices and outstretched hands. To be sure, we are following in the steps of Christ (God's Word made flesh), the quintessential worship reformer.

Sunday Worship

The Central Church in Topeka is having a series of lessons by our minister Jim DuBose (baseball theme) this month on the family-"Making Your Home A Field of Dreams"-This week: Every Team Needs A Coach. The order of worship for Sunday is listed below:

Sunday, April 17, 2005
Order of Worship

Welcome

I Stand in Awe
As the Deer

Prayer

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-7

Thank You, Lord (Sing Chorus Twice)
Wonderful Merciful Savior

Communion
Contribution

God Give Us Christian Homes

Message

Invitation: God Will Make a Way (Sing Twice)

Announcements

Light the Fire

Closing Prayer

A Look Back

I often think back to my early years and the influence that song leaders (today...worship leaders) had on my philosophy of worship and music in the church. I had some great Christian examples growing up that made a huge impact on me and mentored me as a worship leader.

I remember, Emerson Stewart in Augusta, Hal Stowe in Chula Vista, Curtis Manor in Oxnard, Clark Rausch and Harvey Rhodes at York College. And how could I ever forget two recent men that have been my friends and mentors Carl Wheeler and Dennis Hogue. I will never have their level of music expertise or their extreme passion that shows on their face each Sunday when they lead worship.

The church today is going through a dramatic change. Worship teams and the aspect of using women in worship has been a major battle in the church. I often think back when times were simple. Getting out of the rack our song book and singing the good old songs. As much as I love that period in my life, I believe worship has improved. We spend considerable more time planning worship. Songs are selected to center around a theme or topic for that assembly. The minister usually plans with the worship leader as well as with the individual speaking at the Lord's Table. But have we really improved the heart of worship?

Only you can be the judge of that. Worship doesn't just take place on Sunday. It's a 24-7 lifestyle. We need to remember that our entire life should be a worship to God.

So on Sunday, if you have a praise team or you have old Brother Johnny picking out songs five minutes before worship, remember that we are praising the God of the Universe. He deserves our very best!

Reflection

"Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God"

Simple words to a song I learned as I was growing up. But the words never really meant much until the last few years.

In our worship, we need to some times just stop and be silent in our times of reflection and praise to God. We need to contemplate the extreme sacrifice that was given for us. We need to reflect on who this God is that we are worshipping. He is the Creator and the sustainer of life!