Monday, November 24, 2008

Heart-Wrenching

I'm so proud of my church right now. Our new pastor has stretched the comfort zone of this congregation and I'm so pleased with the direction he is going. Yesterday I saw him lifting his hands in worship and thought, yep, this is good... =)

Yesterday we had a special service dedicated to the tweens, middle-schoolers, and high schoolers. The pastors in charge of each of those groups talked about what our youth are facing, what their needs are, and what each of us can do to make a difference. It was very educational. However, what really hit home was the drama at the very end. I'm linking the same drama performed during the summer at Camp Harlow, but let me just say, to see it live was even more profoundly powerful. If you have five minutes today, take the time to check this out...

6 comments:

Family O'Foxes said...

I agree it was a great service. Since the kids sang....I got the privilage of sitting through it a couple of times. :)

We started the first Sunday Ben Cross started there in June. We were impressed by him.

Love, Save, Grow!

~Amy

Family O'Foxes said...

Oh yea, the silent play was great. I actually saw it preformed this summer at the Hult Center when Wayne Cordeiro came and spoke. It is POWERFUL.

There was lots of tears and sniffling going on in our section.

Anonymous said...

Wow - that video has me with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. It is so powerful and so meaningful. Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think I'd cry, then they started beating up on Jesus...Great representation of a life without Christ and the nature of evil.

I used to be very self conscious about raising my hands when I worshipped. I notice that the closer I get to God, though, the more I want to just reach up and submit to him, and we're pretty much a hands-up church anyway so nobody cares. I think, if people can raise their hands at a rock concert, why can't they raise their hands when they're worshipping Jesus? It seems to me like we've got that going backwards as far as what seems silly.

You guys sound like a large congregation...may God use you to go out and make a huge impact in Eugene/Spfd. and Berkeley North! There are so many in the Willamette Valley who need to stop relying on education, political activism, and nature to fill the spiritual void. They're all great but they're not IT.

StephieAnne said...

Yeah, I thought the same thing about crying Heather, but then when Jesus got on his knees to separate her from Satan - I couldn't help myself from getting misty both times I watched it.

Yes, big congregation, some major leadership changes, but it's been amicable, just different. I'm very pleased with the new direction.

Growin' With It said...

kari warned me to bring tissue. when i found out it was this skit, i thought..hey, i've seen it before. i love it, but i won't cry....it was the ugly cry i tell ya!