Yesterday we celebrated communion together as a church. We typically do this once a month, and our "normal" way of doing it is to have one of our pastors or elders transition into and explain the significance of communion, tie it into that day's message, give thanks for the bread, have the ushers distribute the bread, and each person holds onto it until everyone is served, and then we take it together. Then we do the same with the juice. This is how we did it yesterday, and it is always a significant part of our services when we spend time confessing our sins to the Lord and giving thanks for Christ's death on the cross. We also vary up the way we serve communion from time to time, because we believe each method can be instructive in different ways, and it also keeps communion from becoming too routine. The other ways we have celebrated it include: having everyone come forward and serve each other, having all of our pastors and elders at the front serving the congregation, or giving an extended period of time for confession of sin and where people can come up when they are ready and receive the elements. I would be interested to hear how communion is administered at your church, and if you have tried anything different from the "norm" that has worked well. Feel free to leave a comment.
Anyway, here's what the services looked like:
Instrumental Prelude: Here I Am To Worship (E)
Announcements
-Jesus Saves (B)
-Revelation Song (F)
Message: "Preparing For the Inevitable" - Pastor Dave
-Soon (D) - great song from Brooke Fraser and Hillsong that tied in with our series on end times
Transition to communion - Dave
Instrumental: Give Us Clean Hands (G) - during passing of bread
Beautiful Jesus (A) - during passing of juice
Closing Prayer & Dismissal
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
What I Learned at Passion 2010
I had the opportunity to attend Passion 2010 in Atlanta this past week, and was blown away with how God worked. Here's a list of my takeaways and some things God did in my own life:
-I was reminded by John Piper’s message that God is most passionate for his own glory. Why? Not because he is an egomaniac, but because he knows that as humans, we can get no greater pleasure than to bring Him glory and to make His Son Jesus famous.
-The Do Something Now component of Passion 2010 was breathtaking and beautiful. $1,393,077.42 was given to twelve different global causes. Wait let’s read that again because I think you missed it … ONE MILLION, THREE-HUNDRED NINETY-THREE THOUSAND, SEVENTY-SEVEN DOLLARS AND FORTY-TWO CENTS was given to fund causes such as underground seminary training for church leaders in the middle east, build wells for villages in Guatemala, provide small business loans for women in Haiti, package meals through Feed My Starving Children, build border outposts in Nepal to intercept sex trafficking victims, etc!!! What kind of college students give money like that? Only those who have been ruined by the goodness of God and who believe that all we have and all we are belong to Him. When Louie announced these causes and the amount that had been given, I was literally moved to tears and pictured people who have never had clean water to drink having a well built in their village that will provide clean water for a lifetime.
-When I compare Passion 2010 to previous Passion conferences I have attended, the most obvious difference for me was that I volunteered this time around, instead of attending as a college student. But I noticed another, more internal, difference: there has been a shift in my perspective of all the well-known worship leaders who lead at Passion. While Passion has always been about the fame and renown of Jesus Christ, they have also always partnered with song/worship leaders that are writing the songs that are being sung by the church worldwide. At past Passion events, I really believe that in my heart I was more excited about all the names that were going to be there than I was about the greatest Name of all: Jesus Christ. At Passion 2010, God genuinely changed my attitude on this and caused me to do a 180. My expectation and anticipation was centered on how God was going to work more than on hearing Chris Tomlin’s newest big song. This has truly been an evidence of God’s grace in my life.
God, thank You for allowing me to attend Passion 2010 and be gripped by Your greatness. I pray You would continue to live in me, and that by the power of Your Holy Spirit I would live a life that magnifies Your glory, in everything I do. In Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.
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