Transforming Worship

Great quote from Ralh Waldo-Emerson:

“The gods we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that.  That which dominates will determine man’s life and character.  Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we worship we are becoming.”

Still meditating on the 2 Cor 3:18 verse.  It’s amazing how much I see myself being conformed to my culture as I am with the Father less.  But on the other side of the coin, it’s astonishing how quickly I begin to transform into HIS image when I am continually in his presence: in worship, in prayer, in study, and in works.  I want to be like Him.  I want to be like Jesus.

So this Christmas. What dominates us?  Is it the need for material things?  Or are we dominated, consumed, and infatuated with His presence. Because where we spend our time and who we worship is what we will become.

Have a great day everyone.

Cole

Presence Video – 2



Come to one of our services this month and record your own Presence list to send to all your friends and family.

Declaring tomorrow’s faithfullness….Today

Reading Ps 102 this morning and came across this passage:

¹⁷ He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸ Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD :

¹⁹ “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,

²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.

And while I think the obvious fact is that we are that generation that the Psalmist was prophetically of, I also believe there is something more here:  A principle if you will.

If today you feel broken, hurting, or abandoned. Begin to declare God’s promises.  Begin to lift up Rom 8:28 and declare that God will raise work this for your good, because He loves you!  Say it in the depth of the darkness, in the hopeless part of your brokeness, because, when He lifts you up, others will praise this God that you held so confidently to.

There is a word for this type of praise actually. It’s the word Tehilla (no, not tequilla).  And it means to praise God for things receive and for things not yet received. David used this word for praise when he said:

I will bless the Lord at all time; His [tehilla] will continually be on my lips.  -Ps34:1

There are times when our declaration of God’s goodness and his faithfullness are simply a response to an overflowing heart.  His deeds are fresh on our heart and mind.  This type of praise is good, but the faith involved is small.  But when things turn dark, and hope seems lost, and STILL His praise is on our lips. THAT praise requires faith. That praise is at the heart of Ps 102, when David writes down God’s faithfullness that HASN’T happen as if it HAS ALREADY HAPPENED:

“The LORD looked down from from His sanctuary….to release those condemned to death”

So, declare today his faith fullness for tomorrow.  And those who hear it, will Praise the Lord.

Blessings,
Cole

Presence Video

If you come anytime during Christmas, we’ll let you record your very own Presence list video to send to all your friends and family!

Check here or on youtube channel: TheChristmasPresence for videos.

Another Christmas hint

What on earth could this chair be for?

 

 

Keep checking this blog and SnellvilleUMC.org to find out. Reveal will be mid november.

A more spiritually directed post coming later today.

Cole

A little hint…..

So, here are 2 hints at what we will be doing for Christmas this year at SUMC.

Hint 1:  Radioshack

Hint 2:

What do YOU want for Christmas?

I’m excited about it, but we’ve got SOOOOOO much work to do. If you are good at writing scripts, videos or building sets, I would love the help. It’s gonna be a blast.

Cole

Songs this morning

Set from this morning:

Lose my soul (Toby Mac)
Your Grace is Enough (Chris Tomlin)
Enough (Chris Tomlin)
Message
You are good (Cole Jennette)
I surrender (Lincoln Brewster)
The Stand (Hillsong)
Revelation Song (Gateway Worship)
All We need (Charlie Hall)

I made a loop for “Lose my soul.”  You can get it HERE.  I ripped off Aaron Keye’s arrangement.  If you are gonna use it, e-mail me and I’ll send you the mp3 of the arrangement.

Have a great day.

Cole

Nuggets

Just some 1-2 liners God was giving me during my time in the word this morning.

-Sinning is no longer the standard, but the exception. And IF we sin, not WHEN, we have an advocate (1 Jn 2:1)

-Not only CAN we be like Jesus, we WILL be like Jesus if we are following Him. (1 Jn 2:5-6)

-The darkness is fading and the light is growing. Satan’s attacks are desperate attempts.  We are already winning (1 Jn 2:8)

Everyone have a great day.

Cole

Sunday Morning Songs and Track

Songs from this sunday:

You lifted me out (B) – Chris Tomlin
Forever (A) – Chris Tomlin
——-
Dance with Me (C) – Jesus Culture    Personal favorite of mine
Open Up (A) – Cole Jennette
Fall in this place (B) – Planetshakers
Jesus, Lover of my soul(E) – Hillsong (lots of people do versions of this song)
Your love never fails(Bb) – Jesus Culture

We made a track to go along with Dance with Me because our keyboard player was out. It stops doing anything specific at the bridge and just holds a C on the pad.  But before that it’s exactly like the CD.  You can check out it by clicking HERE.

Have a great week.

Cole

Will all the sinners please stand up

Yep, an Eminem reference as a title!  We all know how gangster I am. lol

Ok, so imagine your married (or maybe you don’t have to imagine). I ask you, “How’s married life?”

You say, “It’s ok, I just can’t seem to get close with my wife”

And I go, “Wow, that’s a big deal, what’s going on?

And you say, “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure she is mad at me”

So I ask, “Well what happened?  Did you do something?  Is she acting cold toward you?”

You say, “Not sure what happened. She’s acting like she loves me and everything is fine, but I’m sure I did something”

And finally I say, “Your crazy….”

It may sound odd but I feel like this is how a lot of us as believers are living in our relationship with God: Convinced He’s mad at you and you’ve done something wrong, with no real evidence for either. If I were to walk into a church, really most any church, and say, “Raise your hand if you’ve sinned today”  I promise almost every hand would shoot up.  But if I followed up the question with “What did you do?” There are a shocking number of people that wouldn’t be able to tell me.

Believers, can I share something with you:  You have been freed from sin(Rom 8:2.  It’s no longer the rule, it’s the exception! (1Jn 3:9) IF you sin, confess it and receive forgiveness.  You are an heir, a conqueror, and a saint. Your old man is dead, stop carrying him around.  He’s heavy!  Brothers and sisters, when we believe we are sinners, we act like sinners.  We were believe what 1 John and Rom 5-8 say about us, we will begin to act like free, dominating people. The sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can get back to destroying the works of the devil and bringing God’s kingdom. Let’s do it!

Cole