INCREDIBLE EVENING

WOW! Last night at Harvest Bible Chapel in Granger IN, was an incredible night of corporate worship and celebration of Jesus Christ! Seriously the Lord moved, and it may have been the most Joyful, Christ-centered Christmas services I've ever been too. My hopes and prayers for the evening was that we could create an environment where people could come and really lift their voices LOUDLY in the name of Jesus...both remembering that He came, and anticipating His coming again! Well, the Lord moved and the gym where we hold our services was filled with the praises of God's people, and I choked back tears of Joy the whole time!!! GOOD NIGHT!

It was a first for us shutting off all of the gym halogen lights and trying to create a little more of a warm atmosphere...Things turned out really well and it was cool to worship in that setting for a change.  Also, it was a first putting a small 12 person choir up there with the band and that blew me away.  My thought was just to have some worshipers facing the congregation so that their voices could be heard, prompting others to join...Not only did it accomplish that, the choir sang some great harmonies, and added a lot of energy to the room! This will begin to become more of a regular at Harvest! 

The order of Service went as follows:

Opening Song: He Has Come For Us (What Child Is This)

VIDEO: 

Right out of the video we jumped into a soft "caroling" feel of:

O Come All Ye Faithful- 

band builded through the song, until the big ending where we proclaimed,"We'll praise Your name forever!"

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

My Soul Magnifies the Lord (Band in; Big and Energetic)

O Holy Night

Emmanuel-

Ended focusing the congregation on the thought of God himself coming dwell among sinners, finishing by singing the chorus with no instruments...

TESTIMONY TIME: We wanted to hear from people about why their soul magnifies the Lord! Trent led a time with soft piano music playing, and people stood to proclaim God's greatness in their lives this Christmas season.

CONVERSATION/GOSPEL: Our Sr. Pastor and his Wife Andrea sat on stools and took some time to talk about Christmas in their growing up years, as well as their current family days...It was relational setting up for the congregation that no matter where anyone found themselves this Christmas season, without Jesus Christ, the meaning to Christmas, and ultimately life is missed.  The Gospel was presented, and people were challenged to take hold of the light of the World...

RESPONSE TIME:

You Are the Light-

Powerful song in our church! Left the people in their seats to think, but they were up in no time declaring  with Us...

Born that We May Have Life-

Great, fun song! Off the Chris Tomlin Christmas album, its just a song of rejoicing, and we rejoiced at the close of last night! Great way to end the service!  

Well, I have been blessed to be a part of Harvest in Granger, and there is incredible life happening there that can only produce worship in my life! God is so faithful and good! I think my heart grew 10 sizes worshiping with the body of Christ last night, and that is the best thing that will happen this Christmas! 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

THE GRACE OF GOD IN JESUS

GALATIANS 4:4-5
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.


We've been singing a song the the past few weeks at Harvest from Chris Tomlin's Christmas album, "Glory In the Highest."  The song is called Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground), and its whole focus is God coming to earth to dwell with us, bringing us hope, appointed to die that we might have life, and the song declares "Praise His Name, Emmanuel!" The second verse has had me thinking and pondering the miracle of Jesus' birth in the manger many years ago.  The verse says:

What fear we felt, in the silent age
Four-Hundred years can He be found
But broken by a Baby's cry
Rejoice in the hallowed manger ground

So the Old Testament ends with the book of Malachi, and the world entered a period of 400 years where God was silent! There was no inspired Word from the Lord! Sure, today we are really in a "silent age," where we haven't heard inspired Words from God in over 400 years, but between the Old and New Testament was PRE-JESUS! God's presence and direction for the people of Israel throughout the Old Testament is what got them through life...Then for that to all of a sudden disappear! You could imagine a sense of fear and hopelessness among the people in that time!

BUT, God had it all under control.  Just as the verse above says, "when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son..." God had the appointed time, place, and way to send the antidote to the sins of all the world, and He did so that night in Bethlehem, in a manger, as a small baby broke the silence!

What I have been thinking and wondering about, letting it lead me to worship Christ, is the fact that God could have left us in the silence. He could have chose to never speak again, leaving us hopeless, lost, and  on the way to destruction...And that would have been giving us what we deserve. But He didn't and as Galatians 4:5 continues to say, "God sent forth His son...That we might receive adoption as Sons!" God didn't leave His creation in silence, but He gave His creation a permanent and perfect way to Him...WHAT GRACE!?!

So just as in those silent years, God was still at work, preparing the perfect appointment to send His Son to the earth, as we live in the legacy of Christ today, relying on His Word, God is at work, preparing a place for all His children, and when the time is right, He's coming again!!!

Why would God not leave a people who's rejected Him time and time again in silence? And why would He come to earth as a man, to give us hope, and life eternal? I DON'T KNOW! But I'm letting the wonder of those questions, and the unknown lead me to worship Him this Christmas! ALL GLORY AND FAME GO TO JESUS OUR KING!

I pray these thoughts and questions moved you as much as it did me as I wrote it! Think about the grace you've received verses what could have been if God chose not to speak ever again!

REMEMBER, ANTICIPATE, RESPOND...

Much of Christmas is about remembering...right? More than any other time of the year, the church focuses on the baby that changed everything. The coming of emmanuel, God incarnate who left His perfect throne on high to come and dwell on earth. Jesus, born of a virgin, born in a humble manger, who shepherds came to worship...etc.  It is really an incredible story and worth our remembering! For that very baby grew, walked the earth as fully God and fully man, leaving a lifestyle for us to follow, and eventually took the sins of the world upon His shoulders as He was nailed to a cross, dying in our rightful place, then rose from the dead making a way for us to have eternal life!  Certainly a story worth remembering this Christmas season!

Well, just as that story is worth remembering, and just as Christmas has a lot to do with remembering, this time of year is also about anticipation! The great story of our God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, is by no means over.  The story of Jesus lives on as He is ruling and reigning and daily glorifying himself through creation and through His Church! Just as Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and others were told by the angel that a Savior was coming who is Christ the Lord, we know through God's Holy Word that the same Savior is coming again to call those in the faith home to eternity! The story is by no means over! John 14:1-3 tells us, that He is preparing a place for Us and that He will come again! That is worth anticipating, and that should bring JOY to any follower of Christ in the Christmas season!

Finally, we must respond! Worship is a response to truth! Remembering the humble love of Jesus' coming as a baby should evoke a response of worship, and the anticipation of His second coming should stir up a response of worship!  COME LET US ADORE HIM!!! When Christ is the focus of the Christmas season, and we have a balance of remembering and anticipating, this season will be most profitable in the worship of our King Jesus!!! In the culture we live in, this season is fast! Get up the tree, get up the decorations, buy a ton of gifts...etc. May we not miss the incredible ongoing story of Jesus this Christmas, and let us respond by worshiping the real reason for this season...JESUS CHRIST!!!

Go Tell It!!!

This Saturday, December 4th, I'm playing some Christmas tunes at Hope Missions open house in South Bend.  I play from like 6:30pm-7:00pm.

Hope Rescue Mission is an outreach center that is doing great things in the city of South Bend. Our church is beginning to partner with them, and this is an opportunity to see their facility and spend some time supporting them.  If your free and in the area stop on out!

Address:
432 S. Lafayette Blvd. in downtown South Bend
www.hopesb.org

AND...here's a little arrangement I'm working on for Saturday evening of, "Go Tell It On the Mountain." Enjoy:)

Go Tell It On The Mountain from Micah Klutinoty on Vimeo.