"But here in the dark, I'm not alone. So come with Your strength and carry me home" Bebo Norman, O Great Light of the World

I would not say that selecting songs this week was very difficult; these three songs have pretty much been with me all week.

"Arise, Shine" [TFWS2005]
"Shine, Jesus, Shine" Graham Kendrick [TFWS2173]
"O Great Light of the World" Bebo Norman

The Bebo Norman song probably would not fit in a Worship service, but I think it will fit very well in the singsong. I was not sure if I should include it, but I sang it through a couple of times and that decided it for me.

God Bless You!

I guess I have been avoiding thinking about this so far - maybe because I was hoping that I would not need to address it. But of course there really is no way for it not to happen. Now that I thoroughly confused everybody, I am talking about the fact that, when my mother-in-law dies, I and the rest of the family are all going down for the funeral and that we will be driving back. Which means that I will be away for possibly 3 Sundays.

The reason I mention it is that I will not be able to leave the work laptop from the office while I am away, so another way (laptop/computer) will have to be found to run the Powerpoint presentations for the church service. And of somewhat less importance, someone else will need to do the singsong.

Anyway, just a few of the things running through my mind as I am sitting here at the keyboard.

God Bless You!

"And with your final heartbeat, kiss the world goodbye. Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and Fly to Jesus, Fly to Jesus, Fly to Jesus and live!" Chris Rice, Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)

It is not amazing how much more stressful it is for everyone when death is near? I mean, everyone dies, but nobody really pays much attention to that until the end is really in sight. And of course, the stress is probably mostly for those people around the person dying. I only mention this because my wife is currently tending to her dying mother and I know how much stress she is under. And she was supposed to fly back home on the 29th but since her mother is getting worse every day it was agreed that she definitely was the best person to be there for her mother's last days. She had gone there a month ago because it was thought that she would not last much longer; but of course she has lasted longer than everyone thought.

Well I better close; I have been up much longer than I should have.

God Bless You!

"An Epiphany Service of Praise and Thanksgiving to greet the New Light" - that is the theme of next Sunday's church service. Now if you deduce from the theme that there will be a focus on the Light of Christ - you would be absolutely correct.

This sent me looking for songs that talk about the Light of Christ - or of Christ bringing his Light to us. One song that I have found so far is this one:

"Great Light of the World" Bebo Norman

Another song I have just found is:

"Shine, Jesus Shine" Graham Kendrick [TFWS2173]

I had forgotten about that song; we have done it in the singsong before and I think it fits very well with the theme. I will have to find some really great songs for this one not to be in the singsong.

Of course I have just begun to look at the songs, so I will have more information in the days to come.

God Bless You!

The 11pm service was very intimate and moving as far as I was concerned. It was done by candlelight and I think it was just great.

The 7pm service was also very effective. The Christmas story recounted through the "Come See" children's book worked very well. I know I am not giving you many details, but I think that you really had to be there to get how well it worked.

In retrospect, I think that we probably should have had a rehearsal for the queuing of the slides and the use of the microphones. Or maybe it was just the slide operator not paying enough attention to the minister :). But there could have been a microphone to use at the lighting of the Advent candles so the flow would have been smoother. As far as the use of the microphones is concerned, why does one of the youth feel the need to test the microphones every time she uses one? Did it not work for the other people that used it before her?

(mmmm, why do I always have a rant in one of these blogs? )

But, all in all, great services!

God Bless You!

The first of the two Christmas Eve services starts in less than 18 hours! Let's see how close we are to being ready for it. You may recall the "to do" list I posted a few days ago - was it really 5 days ago? Anyway, here goes:

1) Done by my younger daughter - Thanks!!!!!
2) Completed by 10pm Friday and sent to our minister to see if it needs to be modified.
3) Still working on that one. I think that we will be using the simplified version of the chords this time around.
4) Still have to do that.
5) Yes we did, and we are, and we will practice it at the same time as "Let the Christ Child In" which is tomorrow. Good thing we have done the song many times before.
6) This I will do tomorrow - this will give us a month to make the decision to go with the YWAM sound system that they have so kindly offered for us to use.
7) Yes, there is more. I had forgotten that I was going to do "Gloria Emmanuel" for the 11pm service. I have now practiced it and it should go well will a little more practice tomorrow.
8) I foolishly said "Yes" when our music director asked me to play "Silent Night" on the guitar as it is the way it was first performed. I will get on this first thing tomorrow morning. Now was that for the 7pm, 11pm, both? I never was a Boy Scout but I will just have to borrow their motto "Be Prepared".

God Bless You!

I was all ready to update this blog an hour ago when my work phone went off. One of our media servers has just rebooted itself and I have spent the last hour trying, unsuccessfully so far, to nudge the backups back to normal. It would appear that the backups have to die on their own before anything will happen.

In any case, there has been some progress on the todo list side. I have begun practicing "Christmas Offering" in earnest - I am still trying to figure out which guitar chords will be easiest to play. I have also started on the Powerpoint presentation - I would say I am about a third of the way done.

Well I better go back to trying to fix the problem at work - although I have this feeling that nothing will happen until everything is restarted. And now, right in the middle of the backup window, is not the time to do it.

God Bless You!

Quick entry to report on the lack of progress on the todo list. I was late coming home, and then spend a good part of the evening trying to solve computer problems here at home as well as down south where my wife is staying. Unfortunately I did not have much luck with my wife's problem.

Only two things to report on really - I now have started going over the "Christmas Offering" song, which is taken from Paul Baloche's online songbook, and I will be working on the Powerpoint presentation during my lunch hour tomorrow (the computer, ie. laptop, with Powerpoint is at the office). The good thing I guess is that I have been humming "Christmas Offering" all day.

As it is entirely too late for me to still be up I will close now and update again tomorrow.

God Bless You!

As I sit in front of the computer after an evening of relaxation, it begins to dawn on me how much there is to be done before the Christmas Eve services. I better make a list of things I currently remember I have to do:

1) Scan pictures for story time for 7pm service.
2) Prepare Powerpoint presentation for 7pm service.
3) Practice "Christmas Offering" by Paul Baloche for 7pm service.
4) Practice "Let the Christ Child In" for 11pm service.
5) Did we say we would do Rutter's "The Lord Bless You and Keep You"?
6) Renew rental of mixing console? (expires Dec.24th).

I have yet to start on any of these; fortunately it's only Monday :) And no, this is not a call for help from those reading this blog; it is merely a way to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Oh, one more thing: I mentioned a couple of days ago that I was putting my bookmarks on the web so they could be accessed from anywhere by anybody. So if you want to see the web sites I visit to find songs and/or lyrics to prepare for worship you can go here.

God Bless You!

We went to church earlier than usual as Sunday was the "Breakfast in Bethlehem" event where the characters in the birth of Jesus came to life and mingled with the people. It was fun to be able to chat with them - of course as my daughters were Mary and the Innkeeper I got to hang around with them quite a bit. All of the characters did a very good job giving a glimpse into what it would have been like in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.

I heard good things about the songs I had chosen for the singsong - which is great because I certainly really enjoyed singing them. I think that, like my younger daughter, I find it much easier to worship in song and those songs really spoke to me.

The service itself was also great - and the story re-enactment really got the message across I believe. A few petty technical things took a little away from the service - I had trouble going to the next slide with the remote from where I was sitting - but I don't think that it took much away from the message.

I had hoped that since a period of settling down had been arranged before the choir sang that we would stay in our seats, but that was not to be. As far as I am concerned, the sole reason for moving had been addressed so there was no reason to move. I am not going to rehash the whole incident, suffice it to say that I think it was not one of our prouder moments - we came of as a bunch of whiny, primadonna children. Just my opinion of course.

Well I better close as I have to get up early tomorrow.

God Bless You!

I (I guess I really should say "we" since the whole Thibodeau clan currently in Victoria was there) spent time at the church Saturday helping with setting up for "Breakfast in Bethlehem" which will take place on Sunday morning. Also, I had a conversation with our minister where she firmed up the overhead picture requirements for the story portion of the service.

I spent a good part of the rest of the day getting the Service and Singsong Powerpoint presentation ready. The Singsong one was made easier as I had pretty much decided yesterday (Friday) which songs I would be doing on Sunday. After pondering over it for a day and not finding objections with my selections, the order of the songs tomorrow will be as follow:

"Today" Brian Doerksen
"Let Him In" Steven V. Taylor & Gary Sadler
"Adore Him" by Joel Lindsey.

As I mentioned yesterday, the first two songs were done over the last two Sundays. And since we are following the story again, I though I could refresh everybody's minds about what the message was in the last couple of weeks. The last song is more of a Christmas song, but since we are going to go over the birth of Jesus in the service I thought it would be appropriate.

Not much else to say, except that tomorrow starts earlier than usual so I better go get some sleep.

God Bless You!

I have not been very faithful with keeping up my blog (actually blogs since I have not been any better on my other blog - Chris' Musings). I just have not felt like doing much of anything.

I have been thinking about the singsong for this Sunday, and I have been toying with the idea of repeating two songs from the previous weeks since we are pretty much doing a recap of what has gone on the last few weeks - at least that is what I think is going on.

"Today" Brian Doerksen
"Let Him In" Steven V. Taylor & Gary Sadler

And since this will be the last Sunday service before Christmas, I thought we would do something with a Christmas theme.

"Adore Him" by Joel Lindsey.

Well that is what I am thinking right now - there still a little while to go before Sunday so things could change. And we are going to church tomorrow to help with the building of the town - where we turn Wheeley Hall into Bethlehem. I am sure I will have a chance to chat with our minister about what the plan is - I am particularly interested into what we want to project on the overhead screen during the part of talking with the Bible characters.

God Bless You!

I spent a good part of the evening listening to Advent and Christmas music on what has to be, so far and by far, my favourite worship music web site: CreativeWorship.com. This site offers original music, sorted by theme, with lyrics, music samples (and sometimes the whole song) as well as lead sheets so that you can sing/play them yourself. An example of the music I like is: "Adore Him" by Joel Lindsey.

Their most prolific collaboration duo has to be Steven V. Taylor & Gary Sadler. And their music is very good. As a matter of fact, I have used one of their songs in the singsong last week: "Let Him In". Not all the lead sheets are free, but their prices are very similar to what you would pay for sheet music. I would heartily recommend spending some time listening to the music on the site.

I have been asked before to share the web sites I use to select music. There is a service on the web which allows you to store your bookmarks on the web so you can share them with everyone. I have begun to put my bookmarks there and will put more information about how to reach them once the web site stops misbehaving (they must be doing maintenance) so I cannot verify that the links I enter here will work. You can certainly give it a try now if you like: del.icio.us.

God Bless You!

This is going to be a short entry since it is so late already, but I wanted to say how enjoyable the services were yesterday. The sketches in the morning service worked very well (even though the sketches and the powerpoint slides were in a different order) and I think it really got the message across.

The evening carol service was also great and, besides a few logistical things, went off without a hitch. The caliber of singing of the choirs participating has improved since I have started going to those services. I can truthfully say that all of the choirs sounded good - with the Queen of Peace choir actually giving me chills. The service was very relaxed and everyone seemed to be having a really good time.

I don't remember for sure, but I think I volunteered myself for some more work. One of these days I really have to learn to say No. :-) It is certainly nice to see the level of excitement about trying new things in the church.

God Bless You!

It took me a while to get my act together, but I finally found some songs that I wanted to sing. Here they are, in the order they will be sung:

"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" Charles Wesley (VU2)
"Tomorrow Christ Is Coming" Fred Kaan (VU27)
"Let Him In" Steven V. Taylor & Gary Sadler

I must say that the vindictive part of me did not want to sing "Tomorrow Christ Is Coming" as it is the one I was ranting about in the previous entry. But the important thing is not whether or not we should be singing a more familiar tune instead of the original one, but rather that the congregation concentrates on the message the words convey. Since it is not a "guitar song", I will just sing it a cappella to familiarize the congregation with the tune.

God Bless You!

Sometimes I just do not understand people. Here we are going over the Sunday service at choir practice and we come to "Tomorrow Christ is Coming" VU27. The choir director asks if it is familiar and we say "No". So she says "Well, I will just play it the whole way through". Then she mentions that we have done it before - probably once in the last 5 years. To which I said "Well, it could not have made a big impression if I do not remember it". Anyway, we are singing the tune in the book. The choir director will play it through before the congregation sings. I can already tell you that, by the time the congregation gets comfortable with the tune (if they do), the hymn will be over and they will have missed the words. I probably should have objected more, but hey, she's the choir director and I am just the baritone in the back row. Oh well, maybe I will sing the hymn in the singsong so people at least have half a chance.

Which brings us to the songs for the singsong, or should I say the lack of same. I have not had a chance to really think about it yet, so I do not really know what I will be doing.

I was able to find some better images to put up on the overhead for the 3 skits I was talking about yesterday. I thought about putting the new pictures up, but you will just have to come to the service next Sunday (December 11 - singsong at 10:45, service at 11:00) to find out what they are - and more importantly to listen to the message.

God Bless You!

To begin with, I should say that what I really think we should be looking for is a Worship Leader, but I think that it is too radical a departure, too big a step to take. So Music Director is probably a good compromise.

As part of the service on Sunday, we are going to have some modern day examples of "no room at the inn" in different scenes. I have been given some pictures to use for the overhead presentation, but I am not sure that they really get the point across. I will try and put the pictures in this entry so they can be seen.



The first picture is okay I guess, it does show busyness at the bus depot.





This picture of an emergency room does not at all carry an idea that there is no room. Maybe I am just not getting what the point of this picture is.




And doesn't this picture convey to you a full store? I didn't think so.



Also, the pictures are really too small to be used in the presentation and retain any kind of clarity. I guess it is time to go search the web for pictures.

God Bless You!

Well it was the finance committee meeting, but it was more about visioning than about finance. As I mentioned yesterday, we really need to find out what kind of church we are (or want to be) before we can know where the money needs to go. There was a lot of brainstorming done, and the notes from the meeting will be sent to everyone so they can mull them over then next month. At the next meeting we will be refining the vision/mission further.

Before the finance committee meeting started, there was a quick meeting of the Official Board. The main purpose of the meeting was to let the Board know that our organist and choir director had tendered her resignation effective at the end of January. I will be sorry to see her go as she is a very nice person, but I think that the church is moving in a direction where she could not go. Of course, the people around the table started saying that they needed to start advertising for a new "organist and choir director". That sounded so wrong to me. Another organist and choir director is exactly what we do not need. A better title would be music director, but since this meeting was not the place to start that discussion, I held my tongue. I am sure there will be opportunities for everyone to make their views known.

Anyway, it is getting late so I better close.

God Bless You!

The world will never be won to Christ with what people can conveniently spare. - Bernard Edinger

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully - 2 Corinthians 9:6 (New Revised Standard Version)

As I mentioned in yesterday's entry, tonight's Discernment meeting was about tithing. Of course, most people think of money when they hear the word tithing. But that is only a part of it. Tithing is a gift of your Time, Talent, and Treasure.

I was going to put down something about it here, but I have trouble putting it into words. For me, giving more to the church gives me joy. Knowing that what I give makes a difference for the work of the church in God's work in the community makes me want to give even more.

And now I get to have a say as to how the church does God's work at the Finance Committee meeting tomorrow night. Well maybe I should say that we will try and define what kind of church God wants us to be so we can find out what work it is that needs to be done. I look forward to seeing the Spirit at work tomorrow.

God Bless You!

"give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back." - Luke 6:38 (Revised Standard Version)

I really enjoyed the service this morning. I think the Reflection (Sermon) was very effective the way it was done, with one of the voices coming from a person hidden from view. I enjoyed singing "Today" by Brian Doerksen; the only thing I might do differently is that this song just begs to have the congregation join in the singing. The singsong went okay, although I felt like something was missing. Nothing wrong with the songs, but in retrospect they just did not speak to me I guess. I don't know, I just cannot put my finger on it.

If you are a member of the Discernment committee, you will have recognized the passage above. That is one of the passages quoted in chapter 6 of the "Real Faith for real life" book we are reading. Doesn't that just give a whole new twist on the subject of giving?

I do have an issue with the statement that the author makes at least twice (pp.111 and pp.122) that "we cannot out-give God". Not that it is not true, but rather that since everything that we are and that we have is from God it seems to me that it should be very obvious that we cannot do that. It is also interesting that he says that you get more than what you put in (based on the first part of the passage above) (pp.111) whereas I zeroed in on the latter part that, to me, says that you get back what you give.

Should be interesting conversation tomorrow night.

God Bless You!

As it is getting quite late, I will only mention the songs I have chosen for the singsong tomorrow. They are (in the order they will be sung):

"There's a Voice in the Wilderness" VU18
"Joy Shall Come" VU23
"The King Shall Come" verses 1,2,4,5.

God Bless You!

I would be remiss if I did not direct everyone to this internet prayer site: Sacred Space. It was pointed out to me (and others) by our minister. Please consider checking it out.

There is a Christmas song I found last year but never got a chance to do anything with it. I figured I would mention it here so that, at least, other people would be aware of it: "Gloria Emmanuel". There are song samples on the site if you register/login.

I had hoped to have picked my songs for the singsong by now, but really all I have is one song so far: "The King Shall Come" using the Morning Song tune (VU162 if you want to see/hear it). I have found other hymns where the words are very nice, but the tune is unknown to our congregation. Also, the meter of those tunes is rare, so there really are no other tunes. Another possibility is "Joy Shall Come" VU23.

One last note. For those of you listening to contemporary Christian music, you might want to check out the CD "today" by Brian Doerksen. I am doing the title track "Today (As for me and my house)" in the service this Sunday and I have been listening to the CD every chance I get these last few days.

God Bless You!

A couple of weeks ago I watched a Paul Baloche instructional DVD titled "Leading Worship: Creating Flow". The thing that struck me was how, even though he and his band were practicing/demonstrating their craft, he would actually be praying/worshipping while doing it. At first I thought he was just putting on a front, but after seeing how much it was affecting him I came to see that he was genuinely praying/worshipping.

This came to mind tonight while I was sitting at choir practice. I was thinking "here I am singing about/to God and I am just worried about the mechanics." And I was getting distracted by little things: the piano being back in its regular position after we had moved it out of the way just 6 days ago; the overhead screen having been moved halfway up - a temporary position or one that we want to use - will the projected image fit? Another thing, I decided to give it a go (praying/worshipping) and, for me, it is harder to do if you are singing a song about God rather than to God. Maybe that is why contemporary Christian music is written in a way that allows the people singing to sing to God.

Our minister sent me a link for some Advent music. I have not had the chance to really look at it but there was one that I might try and do during the singsong: "The King Shall Come"- which I have yet to pick any songs for. Crunch time is coming.

God Bless You!