Concrete: What following Jesus Looks Like

To follow someone is to watch closely where they are going and what they are doing and go and do the same.

So, what does it look like to follow Jesus? Where have you seen it in the lives of those around you? What has it looked like in your own life?

What songs, readings, stories, dramas do you think of that illustrate what following Jesus looks like?

Concrete: Why do we sing?

Worship is also foundational to our walk with Christ. Why do we worship? What is the goal of worship? How do we do it? We'll explore the importance of worship in this next week of Concrete.

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve service is a very special and important part of tradition here at Cypress. The service this year will be a stand-alone service different from our production, Me & My Drum.

What are some elements to a Christmas Eve service that you would like to see us do?

Are there songs you wish we would sing?

Videos that would tell a compelling Christmas story?

Participatory elements that would be meaningful for the congregation?

This is your chance to get in the Christmas mood and tell us what does that for you.

I can't wait to hear your ideas!

[image by Zellaby]

Concrete: What to do with the Bible

The Bible is one of the ways God uses to communicate to us. To teach us, encourage us, guide us. But, how do we learn from it all that we are to learn? It can seem confusing and even knowing where to start is a daunting task. But this is a foundation we don't want to miss in building our faith.

What art elements can we use to help illustrate the importance and incredible richness of reading the Bible?

Concrete: How do I pray?

Prayer is foundational to our relationship with Christ, but it is also an area where many of us struggle. Whether it is feeling like we need to approach God by saying "just the right things" or being afraid to pray in public, or even just being consistent in our personal conversations with God in prayer, prayer is something that we can make more difficult than it was meant to be.

What art elements can we use to help illustrate what God intended for prayer to be for us?

Concrete: What is a church (and why should I belong to one?)

The first week of Concrete will ask the question:

What is a church and why should I belong to one?

What do you think of when you hear the challenge: Be the Church?

What are some songs, dramas, readings, videos or other ideas that come to mind when you think of what the church is?

Christmas Feedback Wanted

The Christmas planning team is very busy writing, shaping and planning.

What I can tell you so far is that Christmas this year will have a very percussive feel to it, with a hint of some blue men... and will theme around the song The Little Drummer Boy.

We are currently using a working title of Me and My Drum. Let me know whatcha' think about the title.

Thanks!

Stage ideas for Concrete

As we move closer to our next series, Concrete, what ideas do you have for stage design?

The series is all about the foundations we build our faith upon. Chris will post series graphics here when he has them. In the meantime...

what do you think?

Concrete: The stuff you build your life on

In November we will launch a new series called Concrete based on a series of similar title by Erwin McManus at Mosaic.

We'll be taking a look at the basics, the foundations on which we build our relationship with Christ.

The series will include weeks on the following:

What is a church (and why should I belong to one)?
How do I pray?
Why do we sing?
What to do with the Bible
What following Jesus looks like


Please go ahead and start thinking of and posting ideas for this new series.

Have you ever felt like this guy?

Maybe your attempt to find "happily ever after" didn't end on a nationally televised sporting event. Maybe it happened in a middle school classroom or at a college party or maybe, like me, you got past the proposal, past the wedding even and you found your heart broken in the privacy of your own home looking into the eyes of the person who would later become your ex-spouse.

The truth is, most all of us can tell our story of a time when we were hoping in, believing in and trying for a love that lasts forever and coming up way short of forever.

That doesn't stop us from longing for a forever kind of love. I believe God designed us to long for this kind of love. But I also know that it can't happen outside of His help and guidance.

We're all broken. We all bring our stuff into each of our relationships. So how, on earth, do we figure out how to be a part of a love that lasts forever?!

Cypress Meadows is going to take a look at this question over the next four weeks as we host a series called "Staying in Love". Because falling in love is easy... but staying in love is a different story.

If you want to join the discussion and figure out what we can do to find a way to stay in love, come and be a part of our series.

Date Night and a chance to laugh at relationships!

In a couple of weeks, Cypress is hosting an awesome opportunity for you to have a date night (*FREE* childcare is provided) as well as a chance to laugh at the craziness of relationships as comedy team, Barnes & Miner join us.




Barnes & Miner's credits include Comedy Centeral, the National Lampoon network, ESPN, HBO, NBC, Fox just to name a few. A hilarious married comedy team, they take on everything from eHarmony and in-laws to staying on a budget and not blowing your 401k. Barnes & Miner have one child and will leave you holding your sides as they open up about competitive parenting. You can check out their full bio here.


If you are within a 60 minute drive of Clearwater you can't afford to miss this great evening! Where else could you have a night out with your special someone for $20?!

Find all of the details and purchase tickets at Cypress Meadows' web site.

Staying in Love - Multiple Choice

1 Corinthians 13 is a popular passage from the Bible that many couples include in their wedding ceremonies. Its description of love is inspiring. Yet, upon further examination, you'll also find specific instructions that, when applied, will result in long-lasting, love-filled relationships.

Staying in love - Feelin' it

How can two people stand at an altar and swear they will love each other until "death do us part" and then just a few years later hate each other more than they have ever hated anyone? How can the person to whom she gave her deepest vow become the person she despises most? What can we do to avoid this become us?

Staying in Love - A Pulse and a Prayer

While it's easier than ever to fall in love, it's harder than ever to stay in love. And, no one wants to fall in love and just endure. We want to stay in love.To fall in love all you need is a pulse. To stay in love what you need is a plan.

Is it even possible to stay in love?



If so, what should our plan be?

Staying in Love - The Juno Dilemma

Falling in love is easy.

Staying in love, being committed to each other, is a bit more difficult.

Ever wonder if people can stay together for good... like people in love? Is it even possible for two people to stay happy together forever?

Looking for love... ok, a love-ly set design

It seems stage design is an area where a lot of people have a lot of ideas so here's your chance to share them!!!

We are now in the process of planning the stage design for our Fall Big Push series: Staying in Love.

Here are some images from the marketing we are using to get your creative juices flowing.








Now, post your thoughts on what we can do with our stage design that will be creative, capture the mood of the series and put our best foot forward for the guests we will have visiting during these four weeks.

Testing a tool for your use

I had a request awhile back for you all to be able to post pictures some how as suggestions for Muse. I agree this would be a VERY valuable asset for this site. So, I'm in the process of testing this out with Picasa and will give you full details once I've worked out the bugs.

Here is a test of pics of our recent "IT" set design that was created by Chip Davis, Chris Cox and myself.

Go Fish: It Was This Big!

Based on the story in 2 Kings 7:3-11 this service will center around the idea that is stated in verse 9 of the story:

"This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone!"

We, like the lepers in the story have discovered something fabulous... something life changing. With this new discovery comes a great responsibility. We have to go back, we have to talk, we have to invite, we have to share with others the good news of Christ that has changed our lives.

Go Fish: Don't Muddy the Water

Religion can seem to be such a complicated thing. In fact, often, is the stuff that makes it complicated that keeps people from becoming a Christian. But in reality what each of us needs to know to be a Christ follower is very, very simple: God loved, God gave, we believe, we receive.

Worship Wednesdays

We have one more Worship Wednesday left, are there any worship ideas that you would like to suggest for our last Wednesday? Any creative ideas for how to share communion together?

Go Fish: Fishing Buddies

Want some good news? We were not challenged to fish alone.

We each have an amazing story of God's love that we can individually share with people in our circles. There is something completely irreplaceable about the power of your story. There is also something irreplaceable about the role of the church in our opportunities to share God's love with others.

So, fishing is not a solo sport. It is designed to be done together. You have a very important part and so does the church.

Go Fish: Caught and Released

Jesus made a very interesting appeal to the first disciples. He challenged them to "come follow Me and I will make you..." Did He say "wise", or maybe "disciplined", or how about "great fathers to your children" or even "great pastors?" No, He said "I will make you fishers of men." And He did just that. These 12 men started what soon became the Church. They did not do this because of their knowledge or talent or skills, but because of what they had seen. They had seen Christ - the Son of God and had experienced for themselves His love for them. And they couldn't help but tell others about it.

You and I were fish once.

Someone cared enough about us that they couldn't let us keep going through life without showing us Christ Who had changed their lives - knowing that He would do the same for us.

So we were caught and we too are released to tell others about this amazing thing that has happened in our lives.

Updating IT

So, I mentioned before that IT will be a three week series... make that four.

The forth week of IT will be September 6 and will be called Radiate IT. We will address how once we have IT it is almost impossible not to let others around us see IT in us.

Thoughts for this new week?

IT: Keep IT

Once we have IT, we definitely don't want to lose IT, but somehow life gets in the way of IT. What elements can we use to help challenge people to Keep IT?

IT: Get IT

After our first week in IT where we will talk about what IT is, we're going to talk about how we "Get IT". What elements can you think of that would help us illustrate how to "Get IT"?

IT?

Sunday, August 16 we're launching IT.

We're going to talk about what IT is.

IT is something you can't manufacture, but you can feel IT, see IT and experience the effects of IT. You know IT when you have IT.

Do you know people who have stories about having IT?

Have you seen dramas or videos that capture the idea of IT? or that capture a great image of what IT is not?

Some ideas to get your creative wheels spinning:

Drama - Pulpit Talk
Drama/Video - Amena Brown's "You"
Song - "Something Changed" Sara Groves


So, what other ideas do you have to help us talk about IT?

Fall Big Push Series

This October/November we will host our Fall big push and the weekend services will be based on a series by Northpoint Community Church called Staying in Love. The final title and topics are yet to be decided, but you can check out the original series here: Staying in Love and start submitting your ideas now!

September Series: Go Fish

Fishing stories. We've all heard them. "It was this big." "You should have seen the one that got away." People love to tell stories of their fishing adventures. When it comes to faith, however, most people clam up. Why is it we can't talk about what God has done in our lives as naturally as we can spin fishing tales? We will discuss things like: We Were All Fish Once, Why Fish?, Fish Guts, Fishing Buddies, Muddy Water, and The One That Got Away.

Based on the series by the same name at Northpoint Community Church.

New Series in August - It

August 16 - 30 we will host a 3 part series called "It."

It seems that some churches just have "It". Some people have "it." We all want to have "it."

"It" is elusive and difficult to define. You know "it" when you see it. "It" is from God and "It" is a powerful, life changing force.

Based on Craig Groeschel's book, It, in August we are going to take a look at what "it" is, what contributes to "it" and what it means to get "it" back and guard "it."

August 9 - Celebrate

On August 9 we want to set aside a day to celebrate the volunteers at Cypress and all that they have accomplished in the past year.

What ideas do you have that we could incorporate into our weekend service to honor our volunteers?

August 2 - Build on the Rock

We've spent the last several months looking at statements Jesus made. And that in itself is a good thing... but if we don't allow what we have learned to change how we live our lives then it has not been time well spent.

What do we each, individually, need to do now with the information we have? And what is keeping you from doing it?

Difficult things to swallow

The first week of July we're going to address some of the things that Jesus said that are "difficult to swallow".

What things do you find in the Gospels that fall into that category? What art elements come to mind that raise this question or address it?

Jesus Uncensored to Continue Through July

We've been humbled and amazed at what God has chosen to do in our services over the last several weeks in our series Jesus Uncensored. Highlights have been our service, "Be healed" where we got to share the story of a couple here at Cypress and how they have experienced first hand God's grace and healing power; our service "Remember Me" where we took an entire service to look closely at Christ's statement to remember Him through communion; and services like "Let's go to the other side" and "Follow me". In all of these we were able to implement ideas that were submitted by people who were previously outside of the service planning circle.

It is so awesome to get to see more and more people participate in our service planning by submitting ideas.

This has motivated me to give new attention and focus to Muse.

I hope you will join me as we grow this creative community even larger and dialogue with more ideas and creative input.

In July, we are going to continue in our Jesus Uncensored series and will address the following topics:

July 5 - Difficult statements to swallow
July 12 - Pray this way
July 19 - The Holy Spirit will lead you
July 26 - Who Touched Me?

I'll be posting more specific explanations of these shortly. But for now, what elements in a service help you connect with God?

Jesus Uncensored

When you sit down and read the Gospels it doesn't take a lot of in-depth study to discover that Jesus made a lot of statements during His ministry. Some that are bold, loving, grace-filled, strong, and many just plain confusing.

We're going to spend some time discussing many of these statements Jesus made, understand what He was saying and also figure out how they apply to our lives today.

2009 Destinations

OK, here we go!

All of you who have taken on my challenge to stretch your artistic muscles and create, here are the topics we're addressing over the next several weeks.

If you have photos, essays, scripts, journal entries, drawings, dances, or songs that you want to submit for these topics either post a comment here or email the ideas to me at: Cypress Arts

Destinations

Money Town
Money Management
Giving to honor God

Lovers Leap
Relationships
Marriage
Sex

Angerville
Two weeks on handling and mishandling our anger

City of God
Two weeks on our relationship with God

Fools Paradise
What Proverbs has to say about foolish behavior

That should give you lots of food for thought as you create.

I'm really looking forward to your thoughts and creations!

New Year - New Direction

I was so overwhelmed and excited to work side by side with artists this past Christmas to create, edit and write the program for Wonder! What a fun creative process!

And it got me thinking... rather than have this blog/conversation just be about generating ideas... what I would REALLY LOVE to see is to see this blog generate new original art.

The reality is that, here at Cypress, we are surrounded by phenomenal artists. Writers, photographers, musicians, dancers, etc.

And I have been wondering for some time... what could happen if we unleashed the massive amounts of creativity hiding in the seats on Sunday mornings?

So, let's do just that!

Here on "Muse" I will be posting the series and topics that we will be covering over the next several weeks. If you have, or feel inspired to create, original art that relates to the topic, please send it my way or post it here as a comment. I will bring the art to the planning process and we will consider it for possible use in a service.

As always, we as a team of artists will need to hold our gifts loosely understanding that our art may or may not be used. But I do feel strongly that if we all participate and "spur each other on" we will not only improve what we offer to God and to Cypress on Sunday mornings, but we will improve as individual artists as well.

So, I'm in. Are you?