CHURCH 101

Tonight I will begin to lead a series for the youth at Harvest Granger entitled, "Church 101: the purpose and principles of the local church."  If your like me, and many of the youth,  you were raised in a Christian home where going to church was the normal thing at least once a week, along with other church events and Bible studies.  So when church is the norm, it can be easy to take for granted the purpose for church and the principles a church stands on.  Often the parents get the teaching on the Doctrine and missions of a church, and the kids are just along for the ride.

I have been blessed to minister to and hang out with some great students at Harvest, and I believe many of them have a genuine relationship with the Lord.  I pray that this series will help them understand the doctrine our church stands on, the importance of having a testimony for their salvation, and how they can worship, walk, and work for Christ in the context of a local body of believers!  Pray for us!

ABOUT A MILE

Three of my brothers just got off the Extreme Tour, a music tour consisting of about 6 bands and skaters who travel all over America.  On the tour they play anywhere from big block parties to churches to skateparks and wherever people volunteer to host.  Levi, Adam, and Luke were on the tour for 3 full months, starting at Creation Festival in Pennsylvania and ending in California.

On their way back to PA they stopped to hang with me here in Indiana a few days.  It was really great to hang with them and hear all the stories of the tour.  It sounds like the Lord really worked in their lives, humbled them, and used them over the past 3 months.

About A Mile is incredibly talented...both musically and in songwriting.  Check them out on iTunes...Buy it and support them.  Also, check out their Myspace for videos, shows, and updates.

SERVICE REVIEW: 9/19/2010

GOD IS ALIVE IN GRANGER AND HIS PEOPLE ARE EXCITED!!!

I am just pumped about what the Lord is doing in the congregation at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger!  Today was another incredible time worshiping the Lord and hearing from His Word.  There is an excitement in the building that you can feel when you walk in..."Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty," and people are excited about their freedom in Christ!

The service today was as follows:

Call to Worship: Upbeat....band vamped on 'G.' Congregation stood and I opened with Psalm 36:5-6 "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep..."

Forever- G/A

Everlasting God- A

Our God- A

God You Are My God- B

*With prompting people declared names of our God aloud...acoustic and synth...

God of the Ages- B- began with the bridge, "Who can compare, who can compare, to You..." started with just acoustic and built it into a big chorus and then one quiet chorus.

*Pastor Trent came and continued to focus the congregations hearts on our great God through prayer...

Announcements 

Song: The Highest And The Greatest- A- Song by Tim Hughes...congregation quickly stood and joined to lift up the Lord of All. (can't keep 'em in their seats!)

Message- Colossians 1:1-2 

Close- Your Grace Is Enough- G

It was a good day!  Nothing better than lifting high the name of Jesus with fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus!  PRAISE GOD!

WEEK OF PRAYER

Every night this past week at Harvest, from 7-8pm, people met to pray.  Every group, every night used Isaiah 64 as an outline as they prayed to the Lord.  There was time of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and specific prayer for our church!  Prayer is an incredible thing!  The fact that God hears His people is amazing to me...It humbles me, and leads me to worship Him!

On Wednesday night I had the privilege of leading one of these prayer meetings with the youth at Harvest.  The students did incredible!  For a full hour they poured their hearts out to the Lord...They worshiped and adored the Lord with their words, they were transparent in their confessions, and honest in their concerns. They offered up thanks to the Lord for the church, and for how He had impacted their lives. It was so uplifting for me to hear their generation pray to our God! It is exciting for me to see the hearts of these students for the Lord!

God is Good!

HARVEST ST. VINCENT

I received an email this morning with this video attached from the Harvest Bible Fellowship international department. It is always so encouraging to see what God is doing around the world through Harvest church plants.

Harvest St. Vincent launched just a week ago and the Lord has provided them with a building, a passionate Pastor, and the Word of God to preach to those in need of His grace! Check out the video from their first Sunday.  Few things I noticed:

1. Their Pastor's awesome accent! He seems like he would fire me up!
2. Worship music had a nice reggae feel to it...Jammin' Mun!
3. They are standing firm on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and lifting high His name!  Praise God!


HBC St.Vincent Launch from HBF Church Plants on Vimeo.

SERVICE REVIEW: 9/12/2010

Today was INCREDIBLE!!! The Joy of the Lord was in the auditorium, the congregation, the servants, our Sr. Pastor, and myself!  We had an incredible celebration through music and the word of God today...people were shouting and singing and clapping and rejoicing in the name of Jesus Christ! It was so exciting as we kicked off a new ministry season at Harvest Bible Chapel!  God was gracious to meet with us and came to us in worship and His Word this morning!

The theme for the new year, as well as our series title is "Christ at the Core." Everything revolves around what is at the core of one's life.  With this series, we will spend the next 15 to 20 weeks walking through verse by verse of Colossians; keeping the focus chapter 1:16, "...that in all things he may have the preeminence!"  Jesus is the first, the last, the center, the head, the supreme, the highest, the greatest, and no one or thing can compare to Him!  As sinners saved by grace, we need Christ at the Core of our lives.  He holds everything together.

And we aren't simply suggesting that we need Christ at the core in this series...If you notice the tagline, "NOW BRING IT," it is not enough to say we are Christians.  Paul states in Colossians 2:6, "As you have received Christ Jesus, SO WALK IN HIM." The truth is, if we say we have the hope of the gospel, we must keep Christ the center of all that we do! We exist simply for the glory of God...To make much of Christ!

The order of worship today looked like this:

Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)
You Are Good (Israel Houghton)
Mighty to Save
The Greatness of Our God
    *Scripture: Revelation 5:8-10
Revelation Song

Announcements 


*Scripture Reading- 5 different readers alternated, reading the entire first chapter of Colossians (band played lightly behind, and the people cheered at the end of the chapter!)
*Special- "God Of the Ages" by Travis Doucette.  (Song written right out of Colossians, congregations stood right away to sing aloud the Christ centered lyrics!)


Message


Closing song: Center

It was such a powerful morning in worship!  God is doing awesome things at Harvest and He is giving the people a great joy in their salvation!  It was so uplifting to see people getting on their knees, and hearing people shouting names of Christ aloud! The name of Jesus is being lifted high and it is humbling and exciting to be a part of!

God Is Good!

SO GRATEFUL FOR MY TEAM

We had a pig roast tonight with the servants from Harvest Granger's worship team and their families!  It was a good night of fellowship with some of my favorite people!  Above shows our group (some absent from the picture) who serve every week in leading people in worshiping Jesus Christ...whether it's technically, musically, vocally, or through preaching, we all have an equal role in lifting high the name of Jesus!  The worship ministry at my church would not be the same without these incredible servants who dedicate so much time to learning songs, making videos and graphics, showing up early on Sunday mornings, running word projection, and so much more!  I am so grateful for their families as well who give them up on Thursday evenings for rehearsal and show up early on Sunday mornings. God has blessed us at Harvest not only with talented musicians and tech team members, but with worshipers who are passionately seeking Him with their lives!  God is faithful and God is good!

Existing to help our people experience the sufficiency and express the supremacy of Christ in all things...

PSALM 40: DAVID THE WORSHIP LEADER

Psalm 40:3- He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:5- You have multiplied, O LORD my God, Your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Psalm 40:8-10- I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.  I have told the good news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

The truth is, a true worshiper can't contain the joy, life, and love for the LORD!  I have read through Psalm chapter 40 a few times the last two days and what stands out to me is that David's heart of worship leads him to the proclamation of God.  The verses above show David's relationship with the Lord, which leads Him to proclaim the wonders of God to all those He can.  David was a worship leader!  He helped people see the greatness of God...He publicly proclaimed the wonders of our God!  

The salvation we've obtained is far too great to hide!  Not only should our life in Christ lead us to worship, it should cause us to lead worship! If you have the joy of salvation, do not hide the good news from those around you.  Declare the salvation that you've obtained in order to make worshipers of Christ! Recall God's steadfast love and faithfulness to other believers that they might lift high the name of Jesus!  As David, let's understand the price paid for our salvation, rejoice in the Lord always, and infectiously spread the worship of Jesus Christ!  

Psalm 40:16- But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love your salvation say continually, "Great Is the Lord!" 

NEW CHURCH WEBSITE!!!

We have a new website up and running at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger!!! Check it out by clicking HERE!  I'm excited for this resource and pray it will give site visitors a reason to visit Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger, IN! There will be finishing touches being added to the site, but it's in good enough shape for you to look around!

The new website is updated and will continue to be updated with ministries and events that are going on at Harvest!  We are also connected socially to facebook and twitter, so follow us, befriend us, and be the first to hear the latest news.  We are also on Vimeo, where you can access any and all the videos we've used at Harvest Bible Chapel Granger! Check them out!  All three social networks can be accessed on the new website in the top right hand corner. Just click these icons:

We are doing our best to get the word out that Jesus Christ is the only way to life, and all of life is created by Him and for Him!  Again, check things out at www.harvestgranger.org! 

CAN'T SLEEP

My wife and Reese are sound asleep, and I'm wide awake.  Thought I'd hash out some of my thoughts through blog-land tonight...

I'm excited the past few days about things at my church starting to roll again. Honestly, the summer was great, and a different kind of busy, between camps and vacation, but I've missed my church family.  We kicked off youth this past week and I am pumped to get the kids back in the Word this year!  Also, this Sunday is our big ministry year kickoff, and lots of thought, time, and preparation has gone into this years ministry season!  God is sending some new talent to our worship team, which is an answer to prayer...It is exciting to see God at work!

What has God been doing in my own life? I am just thankful right now! Coming out of the summer I noticed my attitude wasn't really where it needed to be.  I was just getting frustrated about stuff, that rooted from my own bad attitude.  I'm reading James MacDonald's "Lord, Change My Attitude," right now, and just in the first two chapters I got a swift kick that I needed!  There is way too much to be thankful for in this life! God has blessed me with an incredible family, a job that I love, a church family, and so much more! Even on my worst days, God is faithful and has blessed me far beyond my inconveniences.  Anyways, God is faithful, and if you want a good read that will challenge you, pick up "Lord Change My Attitude."


This morning as I read through Psalm 37, verses 23 and 24 jumped out at me and have been on my mind today. "The steps of a man are established by the Lord; when he delights in his way; though he fall he shall not be cast headlong for the LORD upholds his hand." These verses are reassuring to me, as well as a challenge.  I'm reassured to know that the Lord of the universe has got me...I'm challenged to be a joyful person no matter what life may bring.  For me to have JOY is for me to have SECURITY! Sure times can be tough, but if I delight in the tough times, the Lord carries out His plan for me(which is far better than my own plan!)

We serve an awesome God!  I strive to see God's faithfulness everyday and be led to worship Him.  I pray you can delight in the Lord wherever you are right now, and experience His faithfulness in your life!  Let us worship the Lord for He is worthy, anticipating His faithfulness in our lives!!!

SERVICE REVIEW: 9/5/2010

It was a good morning at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger this Labor Day weekend.  Though we were missing some regular attenders due to end of summer plans, we had a lot of new people in the congregation  filling their spots...

Today from a worship music standpoint, we changed things up a little with an acoustic set.  I always like doing this every now and then.  It is a nice change of pace, and it is awesome to hear the congregation singing over the music!  The set for today was:

O Worship the King
Holy
I Stand Amazed
Amazed
Revelation Song

Special: The Greatness of Our God

On a different "worship" note, my Pastor came across an artist who will be traveling with a Life Action ministry team this year, named Gabel.  She is traveling as a painter.  Honestly, this was a first for Pastor Trent and I, but during the entire service today, Gabel worshiped the Lord as she painted.  Pastor Trent delivered a message from Matthew 6:19-24, about storing up our treasures in heaven.  Gabel portrayed a man in the midst of his possessions trying to decide what his heart belonged too...The truth is that when Christ gets us, He gets all our possessions.  Our heart can only have one master!

Too be honest, I like creativity, but I've never really gotten to excited about dramas, paintings, and things like it during worship services.  But, Gabel did a great job today and it was a cool way to show that we can worship the Lord in so many ways...Our gifts and abilities, when used for the Lord can be incredibly worshipful! The most important thing, when using elements like this in a worship service, is to be sure the creative element enhances the message and doesn't take away from it!  If a creative element distracts it is not good, but if it portrays the text of a message and causes people to see God's Word in a new way, it is a great thing.

I think this was a great trial run for a first time adding something like this to our service.  It gave me some more confidence for future creativity within our services in Granger.  Gabel is a great artist and it is awesome to see her gifts being used to bring God glory!