Tell Us About Your Church Service

[LauraA]

So, how was church? Tell us what you got out of your last service. What did your pastor speak about? What kind of songs were sung? Did you participate in the worship? How did God touch your heart?

[krazyyouth]

well i cant rememeber really what he preached about i know it was something about the truth and whats the diffreance. song couldnt tell you i dont have the bullinatanin and yeah i did particpate in the worship. with me my mom and dad cant really go becaase my mom works and same with my dad and they dont really like the whole baptist thing.. they are "quaker" "friends" and so i go by myslef and they go to the church i emonionaly hurt at even chagned how i worship when i do go. but yes i do try to worship and that. and whats also not so great is that i sit bymay self thw whole youth dont really like me the one person who likes me he sits up in the balconly so he can fall asleep and wont look so rode to the preacher and whats bad is that i do dose off sometime but thats when i have had a long weekened or the preacher is just boring because he preachs in a montone and its like ok i here you but move of get exieted please but i dont tell him that but besdies all that i do enjoy going to church.

[LauraA]

I was in the kid's Sunday School class this past week, but we have church tonight and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. Praying for a mighty move of God!:)

[ktyme06]

well this last weekend I was camping, but I did go to a church(just not my own, actually my brother's girlfriend's church). the pastor spoke about characteristics of strong, good warriors in "faith" I guess. and the songs were pretty patriotic cause of it being memorial day. I liked it. Youth group tonight(I help w/ that....).

[themadclipper]

This past Sunday Scott, our lead pastor, was on vacation, so Mike, who is the Youth director, spoke. It was really ("basically"- that is Mike's word!) all about burdens. I think he used Matthew ch 9-10 as the underlying scripture, but it was amazing to listen to! I want that level of fire- or better! And, while I'm thinking about it, he's going to Mexico in June with a team of about 27 youth and leaders to work with a local church- prayer is needed!:cool:

[krazyyouth]

ahh cool yeah last night was the acteens thing for the act-teens. they talked about the whole middionaries and that then after that the youth went to play kick ball :-)

[LauraA]

This past Sunday Scott, our lead pastor, was on vacation, so Mike, who is the Youth director, spoke. It was really ("basically"- that is Mike's word!) all about burdens. I think he used Matthew ch 9-10 as the underlying scripture, but it was amazing to listen to! I want that level of fire- or better! And, while I'm thinking about it, he's going to Mexico in June with a team of about 27 youth and leaders to work with a local church- prayer is needed!:cool:




I'll pray for them.

Last night's service was fantastic! First of all we sang several songs, "Bind Us Together", "How Great Is Our God", "Great and Mighty Is He", and 2 or 3 others. We just had a gal on guitar and one praise singer in front. (We go to a small home missions church.)

Pastor spoke about how great our God is. If any of you read my testimony, you know that God's creation is what first drew me to Him. The stars and the grandness of the night sky...anyway, pastor spoke using these Scriptures:
Psalm 139:7-10
7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

He talked about how big the earth is, and then put on a video showing the earth, the larger planets, then the sun, then the huge stars. The guy on the video was using a golf ball as earth, and kept saying, “And you are somewhere on the golf ball.” He was saying how many golf balls (earths) it would take to fill up the different stars. It was amazing! Our God created it all with just His word. So how much more can he take care of us and meet our needs. He said that the next time you are lying in bed and fear comes upon you, (and if often comes upon people at night), just walk outside, and look up at the night sky. How big is our God?

[themadclipper]

I think we're getting ready to rock! We just started a capital campaign, and it is absolutely amazing how hearts are changing IN THE CHURCH! It's so incredible to be where I am right now- Jennifer and I don't have a lot to contribute to the capital campaign, but ... I need to post pix of the doghouse! I'll explain more later, but our pre-K Sunday School has become absolutely amazing!

[LauraA]

I think we're getting ready to rock! We just started a capital campaign, and it is absolutely amazing how hearts are changing IN THE CHURCH! It's so incredible to be where I am right now- Jennifer and I don't have a lot to contribute to the capital campaign, but ... I need to post pix of the doghouse! I'll explain more later, but our pre-K Sunday School has become absolutely amazing!

That is so cool! And every little bit helps.

Dan used to build and sell doghouses for some extra money. This was about 18 years ago and he got $115 for them.

[krazyyouth]

Ok today was a great thing for me i needed to hrear it it was Isiah 55: 8-9 and he used a orange as an example and whens is squezzed you can make orange juice out of it and he was saying we needed to be like that orange when someone squeezes the orange we shouldent be saying things that a christian wouldnt say...... and i really thought that was very intresting

[Kelly]

I went to church with my bro's family this morning and it was awesome!

The title of today's service was "The Heart of Worship" and it was all about figuring out what church is really all about. To illustrate this, we broke from the usual routine and got in groups. The pastor brought out a Jack-in-the-Box and equated our relationship with God to it. He said that we live like we keep God in a box and we have things we do to bring him out every now and then when we need Him. In our groups we answered three questions:

1. What do we do to get God to show up?
2. What are the handles we crank?
3. What do we need in service to experience God?

We focused mainly on the last one and he took answers from each group. Some of the answers were: music, Bible, Communion, prayer, sermon, etc. Then he said "Now these are good answers but think about this: If there was no music in church, would God still be here? Yes. If there was no Bible, would God still be here? Yes. If there was no sermon, would God still be here? Yes. So there really is only one answer to that last question. What do we need in service to find God? People. All we need is for people to gather and God will be there.

At the end they usually take offering, but he said "We're not going to take offering today. Instead I'm going to leave you with this question: If there were no offering at church, would you still give?"

So powerful!

[AmandaT]

I went to a church that some friends go to this morning. The lesson was out of Matthew 9. I believe it was verses 18 through 38, to be exact. They go straight through books at this church. It was a good lesson on faith. The pastor brought up some things that made me think.

One thing in particular that he mentioned was in relation to the man who came to Jesus asking Him to bring his daughter back to life. Jesus stops when the woman with the bleeding problem touches the fringe of His robe. And the pastor commented that the man was probably like "Come on! We need to get to my daughter!" and commented that we can tend to be like that with God sometimes. It's like we think we need things NOW. As if God can't do something later or whenever He chooses. To us it's like now or never. I could totally relate to that. I can think of multiple times where I prayed about things as if God couldn't take care of something in His own timing, as if it's now or never. I'm learning that I need to work on having more patience.

I'm about to go to another church service in about 3 hours. I'm going to another church in town that I like. If anyone's read the thread about The Glorious Unseen on the old boards, that's the church that I'm talking about. It's been a while since I went to this church for a service. I really liked it the last time I was there because the pastor is very straightforward in his lessons. He doesn't sugarcoat things to make them comfortable. I'm going to have to make sure to bring my journal so I can get some notes. I just hope I don't get lost going there this time. I always get lost going there for shows (it's also a music venue). haha

This is a random question, but has anyone ever heard of someone getting problems with their ears when they're singing? And it's like only when I'm leading worship or singing at church. I'm singing right now with no problem, but when I sing at church, my hearing in my left ear always seems to get muffled as if I'm on a plane going through an altitude change. It's been happening for a few years now. It's weird...

[AmandaT]

So I've officially decided on my home church now. Like I said before, I hadn't been to this church in a while. Mostly because I was too chicken to go to church by myself. But there was always something that drew me to this church, and so going back tonight I realized that it's definitely the place for me. I signed up on some sheets they passed around tonight. I'm hoping to get hooked up with the women's group and also maybe the worship team. We'll see what happens.

The worship was so awesome tonight and Spirit-filled. It was wonderful. And the lesson really hit me as well. I was writing notes like crazy the whole time the pastor was talking. And once again he didn't fail to be in your face with the message. It's seriously so refreshing to have someone to just say things as they are, without over-thinking every detail to make sure someone's feelings don't get hurt. The gospel of Jesus isn't easy, so it bugs me to no end when pastors water it down.

Tonight's lesson was out of John 10, which is where Jesus talks about sheep. He says that the sheep know the shepherd's voice and follow him, but will run from a stranger. The pastor mostly went into detail about John 10:10 where Satan's purpose is described; to steal and kill and destroy. Yet we are so easily deceived by lies. We get to the point where sin is like a craving because we believe the lies we've been told. We then self-medicate to deal with the brokenness we feel. But Jesus says that He is here to give "life in all its fullness", so we have to make the choice of either light or darkness. We have to wake up. In realizing that there is no grey area, we have to learn how to discern God's voice from that of the enemy.

This brought up for me questioning of what lies I've believed. What seeds were sewn that were not of God? I realized that there is some apathy I really need to shake, and also some discernment that needs to be gained.

[LauraA]

Sounds like a great message! I've got so many notes from services that I want to share with you all, but I haven't taken the time to do that yet. I will. Thanks, Amanda.

[Psalms23]

I go to a big (for this area) church. We average around 1600 people. We have to have three services. The first service is more for the elder that just wants to listen to the sermon and not so much of singing. The second and third is set up where there is a lot more worshiping in singing and then the sermon. They wanted to make the first one different so you have the choice.

Yesterday the church service was over Habakkuk 1:12 - 2:1. Every morning our pastor likes to start off the sermon by asking a question. The question that he asked yesterday is.. "What is the distance between when you are sinned against... and when you are asking how God can use the sins of the others for His glory and your good." If you would like a type out of the sermon ..please let me know ( I have a copy )

[themadclipper]

Our youth pastor spoke yesterday. His sermon was his testimony. Amanda (our daughter) commented afterward that he didn't seem like the kind of person that came from a broken family.

That is the radical change Jesus offers us.

[Bubelaiken]

okay my church is awesome and we love each others. the peoples there are soo nice. My church is somehow different because we have peoples that are hispanic and some not hispanic but we have lots of hipanic people there. im one of the hipanic too. They all over from different world and different culture which is awesome because i get to know more about them and know more about their culture. Im orinally from Puerto rico.

They have a band. we have two serivces. The first one was in Spanish and the second one was in english serives. We also have youth groups.

and yes i do get in the worship. I go to youth group, Sunday, and Wenesday meetings at church. We also do bunch of funs things like having International pinic park we invite like LOTS of peoples and just have fun and eat food from different Culture like educaor, Puerto rico, Cuba and etc.... and we also do like conference and do like mission trips and also sorta like doing field trips to have a day to ourself and just have quiet day and love god and all that we do field trip like that.

[Bubelaiken]

ohh sorry i forget about what we learned.

IN our church we last talk about is Adoption, and Adorting babies. How adorting babies is against the bible laws. how the babies look from inside from adorting babies i was like oh my god how anybody want to kill a baby from inside. they have a pic of a baby of adorting and it look sooo sad and everything but they also talk about what babies look like if not adorting and i was like wow it like god was trying to get us outside of the world and get us ready. they talk about adopting how adopting can be awesome because some peoples have promblems with prengancy and how it change their lives.

we also talk about marriage and our partner and what can we do in our marriage and all that.

how i got into god well.... i has been through a lots. Child abuse, teasing and everything eles and somehow god got me into his worship. i guess sometimes peoples who get in bad situation get into god's worship and now believe in him!

[Kissy]

Basically what was said in church this past Sunday was
"Don't limit God" Psalm 78 is the only scripture I remember but he had
several others.

[krazyyouth]

a building is just a building a church is just a building
God is in control
my chruch was hit by IKE hard

[Labby]

We had a special missionary speaker this Sunday (whom I'd seen at the motel before church -- I worked Saturday night), but the general order was the same: songs of praise/worship, during which we invite people forward to be prayed for; announcements; offering; dismissing Sunday School/Children's Church (depends on the service); etc.

First service I was back in the sound booth the entire time. I thought I was going to have to run the powerpoint as well, but Rich (my co-worker/fellow youth leader/friend -- who usually isn't there first service) showed and did that. I asked him why he was here -- Tris (his wife and another youth leader) was on the worship team.

The missionary was good. He and his wife are missionaries to Africa, and lately they've been in Uganda. And there's something about his voice... He used our wireless mic, which almost always gives us a huuuge headache. This time, though, it was perfect: not only could we actually hear him, but the EQ wasn't screwed up. Double score!

Second service I was able to get out of the booth and played guitar during worship. I did NOT like the setlist. These songs were OLD -- so old that most of the congregation didn't know them. Songs we hadn't done in so long that they weren't even in the computer (not just the PPT, but even in a Word document!). And the chords weren't very nice, either.

After the song service I was back in the booth -- the missionary had a DVD, and it was easier for me to be back there than to explain it to the next person. After that, I started going through the desk and cleaning it out (our sound booth is filled with clutter -- it's next on my personal project list, right after cleaning up the Musicians' Pit, which I finally finished).

I threw out so much paper, so many one-time cds (before we had this computer integrated to our network, we had to burn projections, sermons, songs, etc on cds, which then got chucked into a drawer)... It's a lot cleaner now. Next up: the sound-board side.

[Psalms23]

We just finished week two of a five week series over Forgiveness.

[Lindleigh]

My church has recently renewed its. This mission is based on Mark 12:28-31 in which Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment. Jesus responded that we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. Much of the study we've done so far has been reflection and inventory of ourselves. In this inventory, we are able to determine what area of loving God we tend to naturally lean toward and which areas we are more weak and therefore, need to work at in order to be closer to the image of Jesus. Jesus is, of course, right in the center of all of these.

For example:
Heart - People who seek God by building relationships with others and developing friendships. They enjoy singing songs and holding hands during worship and sharing their faith with others.

Soul - People who seek a "oneness" with God and enjoy the mysterious side of Him. They really enjoy worship more than those that lean to the other areas.

Mind - People who seek to know God and about the life of Jesus and find they understand His will by reading his word.

Strength - People who want to get out and do something to minister to others. They cherish actively helping others.

I found in this exercise that, surprisingly, I am a "heart" person with strong tendencies toward the mind. I say "surprisingly" because although I want to form friendships and new relationships, it is what I need from going to church. The friendships I forge, I want to be strong & deep ones. I do have a hard time sitting alone every week and am always happy to have someone sit with me so maybe that's part of it and I do love to sit with others and discuss and share my faith.

None of this is to say that we all fall solely in one category, only that we tend to lean toward one particular area when seeking fulfillment in our relationship with God. I do want to be "one" with God and I do want to help others as well, it is just not where I am strongest.

In addition to knowing where my tendencies lie, I now understand those who have strengths in the other areas a little better and I know what areas I need to improve in my quest to love God with all of my being.

[LauraA]

Wow, these are great. Thank you all for sharing! Please continue. It's a blessing to read and glean. Praise God.

Last week our pastor taught "Lessons From Geese". It was so good! He talked about how geese fly in the V formation and that gives the geese 71% more flying power than if they were flying alone. Less resistance for the geese behind them because of the geese flying in front of them. He related that to us in that when we are all working together and going in the same direction, we will get there quicker and easier than if we were off flying alone.

When the front goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies point. We need to be on the lookout for each other and when someone is getting tired, burnt out, overloaded, we need to take up for that one and let him/her rest. One person cannot do all the work. Work as a team. Take turns at hard tasks.

The geese in the rear honk to encourage those in front. We need to be positive and encouraging to others.

When a goose becomes ill or wounded and has to land, 2 geese will go down with him and stay there until that goose dies or heals and is able to fly again. When we see someone hurting, we need to stick by that person. If someone is floundering, falling into sin, dropping out of formation, let them know that they are not alone and we are here to help. Don't let them suffer alone. Be there.

Geese are ready to fly when the time comes for them to fly. We need to be ready to fly when the Lord says it time to fly...both in working for Him and as far as the rapture. Be ready for His return.

He used a power point presentation for his lesson and it was awesome!

[krazyyouth]

We just finished week two of a five week series over Forgiveness.

That must be neat to learn about? Hey take note or some verses I can look up because that would be great for some pointers when i need to forgive someone because i learned its not good to hold a grudge agianst someone because it eats you up and makes you so unhappy.

[Lindleigh]

Wow! I love that! It's really interesting to think that nature can be real examples of how we should be toward others.

[krazyyouth]

Wow! I love that! It's really interesting to think that nature can be real examples of how we should be toward others.

yeah I really never notice it until i did a bible study a couple weeks ago,

[LauraA]

That must be neat to learn about? Hey take note or some verses I can look up because that would be great for some pointers when i need to forgive someone because i learned its not good to hold a grudge agianst someone because it eats you up and makes you so unhappy.

Matthew 6:14-15
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.


Matthew 18:20-22
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.


Matthew 11:24-26
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

[Labby]

This weekend my youth group went to Youth Convention, a three-day youth conference in Salem. It was my first time going since 2002, and the first time I went as a leader.

The speaker was the AG's National Speed The Light director (STL buys vehicles and equipment for missionaries). The man is a powerful speaker. Soooo many students went forward to receive Christ; I don't know how many I prayed for that I didn't know. The second night, people came forward to drop their pains and troubles at the feet of Christ. Again, I don't know how many guys I prayed for, and I don't know how long I spent praying for one of my students. And then the next morning, students went forward to make sure they're 100% right with God before leaving for their own personal missions field. Prayed for a few more students there.

And since I had to work Saturday night, which left me absolutely exhausted, I skipped church Sunday morning. And evening. In fact, I didn't get out of bed until it was time for me to get ready for work tonight.

[LauraA]

That's awesome, Steve. I'll pray right now that those who realized their need for Jesus will continue to walk in His ways and grow in His Truth.

[drake71449]

hey all just wanted to say how funny things can be....at church we are studying in Revelations...and yesterday i saw the devotion from J on rev 21:4....and its a blessing to be able to sing my songs and J's songs at church and have the members there to be blessed by his message to our hearts and this lost world

to God be the glory
:P

[LauraA]

^^^Amen. Well said.

[LauraA]

Tonight our pastor spoke on how some things concerning halloween, how it got started, the reason behind it and all that. Most of you know that stuff already, so I won't go into it, but what was really neat was this: They (he and his family) are having the church over on the 31st for a fun night, and we're going to make a big bon fire. We're supposed to bring anything that we feel is weighing us down, tying us to the world, harming us spiritually, etc. Then we'll toss it in the fire. I thought that was a cool idea!

[Kelly]

That is so cool!!!! What an awesome idea!!!

[Labby]

Tonight our pastor spoke on how some things concerning halloween, how it got started, the reason behind it and all that. Most of you know that stuff already, so I won't go into it, but what was really neat was this: They (he and his family) are having the church over on the 31st for a fun night, and we're going to make a big bon fire. We're supposed to bring anything that we feel is weighing us down, tying us to the world, harming us spiritually, etc. Then we'll toss it in the fire. I thought that was a cool idea!

My youth group has done that a couple times in years past. I lost soooo much music during one Burn. It was a couple hundred dollars' worth of cds.

Just make sure that the things holding people back aren't fireworks, gasoline, bleach and brake fluid...

[LauraA]

My youth group has done that a couple times in years past. I lost soooo much music during one Burn. It was a couple hundred dollars' worth of cds.

Just make sure that the things holding people back aren't fireworks, gasoline, bleach and brake fluid...

LOL!! Good advice about the gas, bleach, etc, Steve! How funny.

It went really well. There were even tvs and computers brought to the burning. (Instead of burning, some of the things were smashed and put in the trash.) I made a list of things about me that need changing and threw it in. It was a pretty long and humbling list.