We long to experience God. We long to hear from Him, worship Him, know more of Him... to Connect.
What does it look like in real time to connect to the God of the universe?
8.06.2008
8.05.2008
August 24 - Thirsty
Being thirsty can mean so much more than just feeling a need or desire to drink.
There are people in our world every day who are thirsty for water as well as thirsty for an education, thirsty for an opportunity to work, thirsty for the dignity found in providing for their own family. Things that seem to be givens in our lives.
Every year we partner with a church and school in St. Louis Du Nord, Haiti to do what we can to help people who find themselves thirsty. While we can't solve all of the global issues of thirst, we can make a difference for people in this community. For more information on our efforts to provide scholarships for students in St. Louis Du Nord and other ways we're trying to make a difference visit our web site:
http://www.cypressmeadows.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=151
There are people in our world every day who are thirsty for water as well as thirsty for an education, thirsty for an opportunity to work, thirsty for the dignity found in providing for their own family. Things that seem to be givens in our lives.
Every year we partner with a church and school in St. Louis Du Nord, Haiti to do what we can to help people who find themselves thirsty. While we can't solve all of the global issues of thirst, we can make a difference for people in this community. For more information on our efforts to provide scholarships for students in St. Louis Du Nord and other ways we're trying to make a difference visit our web site:
http://www.cypressmeadows.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=151
7.18.2008
August 17 - I Just Showed Up...: Leaving a Legacy
Acts 9 is the story of Dorcas who had half the town weeping at her death because of how she lived and loved.
How can we create relationships like that?!
Let's learn how to love boldly...forgive graciously....give generously.
How can we create relationships like that?!
Let's learn how to love boldly...forgive graciously....give generously.
August 10 - I Just Showed Up for My Own Life: Making It Count!
Luke 12:13-34
If you were to live your life in such as way as to "lay up treasures in heaven" what goes in your life? what
stays?
How can you live a life that makes an eternal difference?
If you were to live your life in such as way as to "lay up treasures in heaven" what goes in your life? what
stays?
How can you live a life that makes an eternal difference?
August 3 - I Just Showed Up for My Own Life: Showing Up
James 4:13-17
What is God calling you to today? Have you done it? Started it? If not, why?
Live for today...go for it... lead a no regret life.
Just show up!
What is God calling you to today? Have you done it? Started it? If not, why?
Live for today...go for it... lead a no regret life.
Just show up!
And the Angels Sang!!!!
We've had a breakthrough on the August series!!!!
I will post the individual weeks so that we can all begin submitting ideas, but first I wanted to congratulate Chris, Jan, Douglas and myself on swimming through the peanut butter and coming out on the other side, series in hand!!!
I didn't cry tears of joy... but I did throw a small private party in the auditorium while you all were away. :) Sorry you missed it. I'll have it cleaned up by Sunday.
Great job everyone!!!
7.15.2008
God Of The City
I had an idea that sprang out of something I heard at the arts conference. We sang a new song from Chris Tomlin called "God of the City". Its a good song that I've listen to for a while, but was never "grabbed" by it. After we sang it, the speaker that was up that day (Francis Chan) told a story about where the song originated.
We sang it again after his talk and the song took on a whole new form for me. The song was written by a band named Blue Tree. Lead vox Aaron Boyd recalls:
“There’s a couple from Carrickfergus, Ian and Leslie, and they moved out to Thailand to a place called Pattaya. We got asked to go and be part of an event called Pattaya Praise. Pattaya is a seaside town/resort place, and physically, it looks to be like the darkest place you’ll ever go to. And spiritually, it is THE darkest place we have ever been to. You just feel the evil. You just feel the enemy all over that place. It’s a very small place. . . But in that small area in Thailand, there are 30,000 prostitutes and that figure excludes kids and excludes anything that’s outside of the range of, say 18-30, and who are female. . .
Part of what we were asked to do was to go out and be part of an event which runs for four or five days. It had things like 24/7 worship and prayer and social action going on helping the people who clean the streets every morning. We played in a school and ministered in an orphanage and tried to get a heart for that city. As a band we were getting cold feet because we had four days in Bangkok to start, and in those four days it was great. We’d be quite hyperactive, and it was flat-out, four days; not an hour was lost to sleep in those four days. On the Sunday we managed to play in one church and it was brilliant, but we wanted more. And then when we got to Pattaya . . . we said, ‘If you can get us anywhere else to play, anywhere, we want to play. We just want to do what we do in the middle of somewhere and just go head-on into it.”
“There was a bar called The Climax Bar - on a street that’s about 10 metres wide, it’s a kilometre long and it’s filled with everything you can physically imagine. And I promise you, as a red-blooded male, to keep your head in the right place you’ve got to look down at the ground and walk down that street and pray because it is just so in your face. People hit you with menus about everything, flashing lights, just everything you can imagine goes on in that place. You see kids as young as eight, nine, 10, just selling themselves, you know?! You see 60-year-old guys walking down the street with two 13 or 14-year-old girls. Forget about the Christian thing, you just get raging! You properly get raging when you see that happening, you know?!”
. . . We got the chance to play in this bar, a two-hour worship set in this bar. I don’t think the people in the bar spoke a word of English but we basically got to go in. The deal was that we play and we bring a following of people with us; so we’re there, set up, really good gear! So we all set up and there was like 20 Christians all standing in front of us, and the deal was we play, they buy lots of drinks, alright? I don’t think the place has ever sold so much Coke in its whole life in one night!
And we got to play for two hours. And just the way the band set up, we like using loops, and at one point I just started singing out. I started singing “Greater Things”, something along those lines, almost prophesying over the city. And without going into the band dynamics, slowly this groove emerged from this thing. And long story short; we walked out of that Climax Bar with pretty much a nailed song, as strange as that sounds. Then we were on the way home.
We were all. . .it was that tumbleweed silence, you know? It was like, ‘What actually just happened in that time?!’ It was one of the most powerful worship experiences we’ve ever had. I actually remember looking out, and you’re looking down a wee alleyway, into the street, and it was just 50 or 60 probably British tourists and they’re just sitting there listening going, ‘What is this all about?’ Coming from The Climax Bar which is pretty much a strip club. Just, here we are singing about Jesus in the middle of this. . . It was one of the most random experiences but it was a God thing, God was there.”
Here are the lyrics:
You're the Lord of this nation, You are
You're the light in this darkness, You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless, You are
Pre-Chorus
There is no one like our God
There is no one like You God
And greater things have still to be done, in this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done here
You're the King above all kings, You are
You're the strength in the weakness, You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness, You are
My idea:
I'd love to get video footage of our city (Clearwater & Tampa) and use that as the background and maybe in the setup for the song. It'd be a great response to a teaching on evangelism or God's power. I think we could probably even take it a step further, but not exactly sure how.
We sang it again after his talk and the song took on a whole new form for me. The song was written by a band named Blue Tree. Lead vox Aaron Boyd recalls:
“There’s a couple from Carrickfergus, Ian and Leslie, and they moved out to Thailand to a place called Pattaya. We got asked to go and be part of an event called Pattaya Praise. Pattaya is a seaside town/resort place, and physically, it looks to be like the darkest place you’ll ever go to. And spiritually, it is THE darkest place we have ever been to. You just feel the evil. You just feel the enemy all over that place. It’s a very small place. . . But in that small area in Thailand, there are 30,000 prostitutes and that figure excludes kids and excludes anything that’s outside of the range of, say 18-30, and who are female. . .
Part of what we were asked to do was to go out and be part of an event which runs for four or five days. It had things like 24/7 worship and prayer and social action going on helping the people who clean the streets every morning. We played in a school and ministered in an orphanage and tried to get a heart for that city. As a band we were getting cold feet because we had four days in Bangkok to start, and in those four days it was great. We’d be quite hyperactive, and it was flat-out, four days; not an hour was lost to sleep in those four days. On the Sunday we managed to play in one church and it was brilliant, but we wanted more. And then when we got to Pattaya . . . we said, ‘If you can get us anywhere else to play, anywhere, we want to play. We just want to do what we do in the middle of somewhere and just go head-on into it.”
“There was a bar called The Climax Bar - on a street that’s about 10 metres wide, it’s a kilometre long and it’s filled with everything you can physically imagine. And I promise you, as a red-blooded male, to keep your head in the right place you’ve got to look down at the ground and walk down that street and pray because it is just so in your face. People hit you with menus about everything, flashing lights, just everything you can imagine goes on in that place. You see kids as young as eight, nine, 10, just selling themselves, you know?! You see 60-year-old guys walking down the street with two 13 or 14-year-old girls. Forget about the Christian thing, you just get raging! You properly get raging when you see that happening, you know?!”
. . . We got the chance to play in this bar, a two-hour worship set in this bar. I don’t think the people in the bar spoke a word of English but we basically got to go in. The deal was that we play and we bring a following of people with us; so we’re there, set up, really good gear! So we all set up and there was like 20 Christians all standing in front of us, and the deal was we play, they buy lots of drinks, alright? I don’t think the place has ever sold so much Coke in its whole life in one night!
And we got to play for two hours. And just the way the band set up, we like using loops, and at one point I just started singing out. I started singing “Greater Things”, something along those lines, almost prophesying over the city. And without going into the band dynamics, slowly this groove emerged from this thing. And long story short; we walked out of that Climax Bar with pretty much a nailed song, as strange as that sounds. Then we were on the way home.
We were all. . .it was that tumbleweed silence, you know? It was like, ‘What actually just happened in that time?!’ It was one of the most powerful worship experiences we’ve ever had. I actually remember looking out, and you’re looking down a wee alleyway, into the street, and it was just 50 or 60 probably British tourists and they’re just sitting there listening going, ‘What is this all about?’ Coming from The Climax Bar which is pretty much a strip club. Just, here we are singing about Jesus in the middle of this. . . It was one of the most random experiences but it was a God thing, God was there.”
Here are the lyrics:
Verse 1
You're the God of this city, You're the King of these peopleYou're the Lord of this nation, You are
You're the light in this darkness, You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless, You are
Pre-Chorus
There is no one like our God
There is no one like You God
Chorus 1
Greater things have yet to comeAnd greater things have still to be done, in this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done here
Verse 2
You're the Lord of creation, the Creator of all thingsYou're the King above all kings, You are
You're the strength in the weakness, You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness, You are
My idea:
I'd love to get video footage of our city (Clearwater & Tampa) and use that as the background and maybe in the setup for the song. It'd be a great response to a teaching on evangelism or God's power. I think we could probably even take it a step further, but not exactly sure how.
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