An Open Letter to Trevor DeVage and Benji Maurer

Before this morning's worship at Christ's Church at Mason was finished, I determined to write a thank-you note to Trevor DeVage and Benji Maurer for leading an experience that challenged and inspired me. And then I decided I'd just let anyone read what I have to say . . .

Dear Trevor and Benji . . .

Thank you, thank you for the blessing of this morning’s “Easter in August” worship service. It touched

me in ways I didn’t expect and can’t explain, but I can tell you several aspects of the service I thought were very special.

• I loved the way you worshipped with us, Trevor. When you came to the center of the platform to sing

“The Old Rugged Cross” with us, when you closed your eyes and raised your hand in worship, it was almost as if you were leading us. You were with us in a way that can’t happen when you come onto the stage after 30 minutes of singing. Today you were a fellow-worshipper, not just the presenter-preacher.

• I loved the way you used that hymn as the lead-in to the first point of your sermon, without introduction or interruption. We were right there with you, from the first word.

• Speaking of that old hymn, thanks for including it, as well as a couple verses of “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” later in the service. Everyone was singing along, younger people as well as older. I loved the new accompaniments and the way the old hymn was combined with a contemporary worship song.

• I loved the energy in the room. It was a blessing and a challenge to see 30-somethings around me, men as well as women, singing and engaged. What a future our church has when we’re developing Christians like these!

• It was wonderful to hear the congregation singing with me (or listening to them sing when I didn’t know a song). The instruments accompanied the words and the melodies to make a powerful testimony.

• Thanks for surprising us a little with how the songs and other elements of worship all fit together. A gentle dose of the unexpected kept our attention, kept us anticipating. I wasn’t really ready for the worship time to be over.

• Thanks for teaching us a new song, with the promise to use it several times in the next weeks. It has such a powerful message. I’m looking forward to learning it and hearing our voices lift together as it becomes part of our shared experience at CCM.

I’m also looking forward to the combined services we’ll enjoy in September. I know you’re working harder than we can understand to craft worship experiences that honor God and point us to his presence. You achieved that for this morning’s worship. And I just wanted to say thanks.

Worship Vision Night

Last night was Worship Vision night at the church for all those who help in any way lead worship in what we have called our Blended or Contemporary services. It was a nice evening with wonderful cheesecake (provided by Mark Senseman--I had the Dutch apple--yum!).
After about 30 minutes of coffee and cheesecake, we enjoyed a wonderful set of worship songs, led by Micah Steele with nothing more than an acoustic guitar. (I'd like to see us do that for an all-church worship service. We could hear each other sing, and the guitar accompaniment was beautiful and varied, strong when it needed to be, but always gentle.)
Speaking of gentle, that's Benji Maurer; "gentle" is the best way to describe his demeanor and his approach. There's nothing of the "hot dog" about him, and I appreciate that. He led the rest of our evening together.
After sharing some thoughts from his experience and the Bible about worship, he walked us through upcoming changes that will take place with his use of worship teams starting April 7. Most of the information had already been shared in an email he sent inviting us to this meeting. But it was good of him to make sure we all heard it from him at one time, and his offer to speak with any of us individually was sincere and welcome.
He distributed sheets of paper each person could use to indicate whether he or she wants to keep serving or take a break from serving.
I said, "I'm in," but I doubt I can do all the things I have at least sometimes done in the past, especially with the new configuration of the worship services. So I'm going to write a note to Benji, Dave Lautzenheiser, and Brad Wilson and ask them to decide which jobs they want me to keep doing.
We finished by 9:00, and I had nice visits with a couple of folks before heading home.

A Good Day

Trevor DeVage started a new sermon series today, all about Jesus. Today's focus was on Jesus, our Friend, and I had the chance to serve as host at the 9:30 service in the auditorium. I decided to quote J. Wilbur Chapman's words, the text to a familiar hymn, for the Communion meditation.

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners! Jesus! lover of my soul;Friends may fail me, foes assail me,He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Jesus! what a Strength in weakness! Let me hide myself in Him; [I'm] Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,He, my Strength, my vict'ry wins.
Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a Friend!Saving, helping, keeping, loving,He is with me to the end.

It was a blessing to participate in the worship service this morning.

Benji Maurer worked with one of the worship teams early in the morning.

Evelyn and I had a nice breakfast at Mimi's Cafe and then took our walk as soon as we got home. Another 50-plus degree, springlike day (just like yesterday), made a good afternoon to walk in the park. When we got back, we chopped down the dead ornamental grass outside. And then, after a shower, I did some writing (got a draft of my column that goes live Tuesday), and then went to the grocery store.
Enjoyed a little time to read the paper and watch the news before dinner, "60 Minutes," and "The Bible," the miniseries on the History Channel

 

 

 

 

One Good Thing About the Church

Here's the good thing about the church, or one of them, that is:
The church is always there, week after week, regardless of what else is happening in our lives. Our job may be giving me fits (ask me if I can relate to this), our health may be going south, our aging bodies may be failing us, we may be frustrated by any number of people around us as we cope with difficult situations.
But whatever is changing--or ought to change--in our lives, the church is always there. Every Sunday it plans worship that points us to God. Every week we see faithful followers of Christ who gather with us to encourage and be encouraged.
It's easy to get disgruntled when church or worship is too much the same week after week. Today, I'm grateful for the dependability of the church week after week after week.
This thought comes to me tonight because of that change factor in my life--some things are changing too much, and some things not enough--and after attending worship team practice this evening. "We'll do our usual five songs," the worship leader said. Would more variety than that be better? Maybe. But routine isn't all bad. Meanwhile,  I'm grateful for the faithful Christians who were there for rehearsal tonight. It encourages me to see their year-by-year Christian life. I'll think about that as we sing some familiar songs at worship time this Sunday.

Benji Maurer and Greg Henderson at worship team practice tonight--two faithful
Christians at Christ's Church at Mason.