This weekend at all of the LCBC campuses, we will participate in an age-old ritual called communion. For folks who grew up in a liturgically rich church environment, communion is a familiar practice. But for many, this special event can seem a bit confusing and even intimidating. Communion is a symbolic gesture by which we remember Christ’s words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” For those who are Christ-followers, Communion is an opportunity to reflect upon the miracle of Jesus’ death on a cross where he stood in the place of all humanity and took the punishment that was required by God’s law. We were the rightful recipients of retribution for our state of digression, compounded over centuries of selfish and blind choices. We were separated from our creator. But then God’s son, Jesus, came along and became the sacrifice of blood to forever cover our wrongdoing. Before He was taken away to His execution, He had a meal with His closest followers. At this time He took bread and wine and shared it with them and they ate and drank in honor of the terribly gruesome fate He was about to suffer. Today, we remember Jesus’ willingness to suffer for our sake by eating and drinking during a gathering together as His followers. If you are a follower of Jesus, I hope you can be around LCBC this weekend as we remember together. Communion is just a symbol. But it is a symbol of something much greater than we can describe.
Communion: Symbolism Over Substance?
One Sure Step
Here is a pattern displayed across all ranges of demography: We love options. We hate making choices. We want to feel like the path of our situation is unbridled and we can chose our way to a future of infinite possibility. Problem: That doesn’t happen.
This is a common theme in the exploratory and theoretical life of the 20something. Unfortunately, we are all told thru grade school that the world is our oyster, that we can grow up to be the next Michael Jordan (he was a really good basketball player), or the next President of the country. The reason this is unfortunate is because 99% of us spend our twenties realizing that (gulp) we have limitations. What? The world is NOT my oyster? I don’t even know what that means, but I’m disappointed. For many, their twenties are just a string of ill-advised choices that lead to a haphazard life. But for others, they come to a realization. All of this muddling around to try and figure out what you’re good at, it’s a gift.
Yes, our twenties are a gift to us. A decade in which we can spend all the time we need getting our heads out of the clouds and learning to put our nose to the grindstone, as they say. We will not use this time to stop dreaming dreams, but to start dreaming realities. Time to recognize our unique skill sets and find a unique way to apply them and solve a unique problem. I truly feel and have seen evident in the lives of successful livers that forward motion is not dependant upon knowing what the future should look like, then taking action. No way. The best way to find success for life beyond our twenties lies in a folksy saying from way back: “Do what you can with what you have where you are”. The only sure step is the one right in front of you. Take it. Then you’ll see the next one.
(Image by: betta design)
God Is On Our Side
Every so often I hear people ask questions like, “Why is this happening to me?” Or, “If God really cared for us, would there be disease, catastrophe, etc.?” I understand that questions like these are really an expression of individual pain – questions born out of experiences that are extremely difficult to deal with. It is hard to answer these questions satisfactorily, mostly due to the fact that the answer we are looking for when we ask difficult questions is the one that eases the pain of our situation. The thing that we sometimes forget is that God, while He is looking out for our interests, is also looking out for the interests of every other person on earth. In our small minds, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where God could act to the benefit of all. But if there is one thing that scripture shows over and over again, it is this: God is on our side. He promises us in so many ways that he will care for us. Does this mean he will make everything work out the way we want them to? Probably not. But the question is, do we trust Him? The measure of weather we trust him is if we can say the words we read in The Book Of Psalms –
Ps 86:11 – 12
11 Teach me your ways, O Lord,
That I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
So that I may honor you.
12 With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
Realizing His awesome power to create the world and knowing that he holds us in His hand is a comforting thought. Trust is the answer to the difficult questions. As difficult as it may be to trust Him, it is a decision we will not regret.
Press Record Lyrics – “Savior Called”
This post is apart of a Press Record Lyrics blog series. Check out the Press Record album for free here.
We are continuing our series of posts with the lyrics from Press Record, the live record from the night of worship by the same name. Next on the track list is Savior Called. This song was written out of a conversation that Jeff Culp and I had. We were discussing ways that we could intimately describe Christ’s death and what it has meant for us. It was a real “holy moment” as we began to write down the verses. We really were feeling these things as we wrote. It’s a special song to me. The language is so rich and descriptive. Hope you guys enjoy it and find meaning somewhere in the lines for yourselves as well.
Savior Called
Michael Ferrari, Jeff Culp
2009 LCBC Worship
Look what love I’ve found;
So complete, so secure, so sweet.
Look what hands I hold driven through with nails,
Hands so strong holding hands so frail.
Look what love I’ve found!
Look what joy I’ve found; I’m made new,
I’m redeemed through and through.
Laughter fills my heart when I recall
The day you became my all in all.
Look what joy I’ve found!
Look what peace I’ve found;
I am still, I can rest in your will.
I’m falling to my knees at the thought
That I’ve been saved I’ve been bought.
Look what peace I’ve found!
Your love’s the perfect measure
For what my heart should treasure
You lift my head up. You lift my head up.
My salvation story
I sing to bring you glory
I lift my hands up. I lift my hands up.
Savior called to me and
Hands once bound have been untied
And freedom found.
These feet have been set free rom shackles’ hold
Now they run to calling Savior‘s fold.
Press Record Lyrics – “Wonders Never Cease”
This post is apart of a Press Record Lyrics blog series. Check out the Press Record album for free here.
Here it is! Our next installment in the Press Record Lyrics blog series. Growing up I always heard my parents and other adults say the phrase,”Wonders Never Cease.” Meaning? Life has a way of surprising you. I thought about this and thought it might be fun to try and apply this idea to God and then put it into a song. This tune is a result of that effort.
Wonders Never Cease
Michael Ferrari/Playsome Music
Your wonders never cease to amaze
I’m falling on my knees to praise
Your love will never end for me
God of Wonders, your wonders never cease.
I could walk ten thousand miles away
And you would still be here to hear me say
In spite of all I’ve done please give me peace
You’re the God of Wonders, and no wonder –
Your wonders never cease!
Your hand is ever on my heart
Your light will guide me through the dark
Your promises are true for me
God of wonders, your wonders never cease.
I pour out my heart and you are there
I open my mouth and you hear my prayer
I open my hands to worship you
I wonder at all you’ve brought me though
Press Record Lyrics – “Your Name”
As you may or may not know, we released the sing-along project entitled Press Record this week. We thought it might be fun to do a blog series of all the song lyrics. The first installment of the series is “Your Name”. I really hope you are able to worship God in new ways with these songs. Singing along with you that night was a highlight of my experience in ministry! Enjoy!
Your Name
Michael Ferrari/Playsome Music
Oh whoa oh oh
Whoa oh oh
Oh whoa oh oh
Whoa oh oh
You are one in three
And You are god of me
All I have is all for You
Hands up in the air
Are hands that fold in prayer
‘Cause all I need is all of You
You are life from death
You fill these lungs with breath
And what I have is what you give
You’re the pen and verse
You make the best of my worst
And you show me how to live
You’re the God of the sea
And You’re the god that created me
In the wind in the trees is Your Name
You’re the god of the sky
Still You’re here when You hear me cry
And the word on my lips is Your Name
You turned old to new
When You turned me to you
My life has turned around for sure
Press Record: What to Expect
Here is what you can expect when you show up to the “Press Record” event next Tuesday night. There will be a sweet stage set. There will be wires laying about so watch your step. There will be cameras in the room. There will be a stage in front of the stage. The chairs will be set up a bit different than usual. There will be a kind of excited curiosity in the air. There will be one guitar. There will be lots of voices.
We are so very stoked to sing along with you in the worship and glorification of our God. But before we can press record, we have a homework assignment for you. In the middle of the set, we’ve decided we should take a break and record a song together that will be captured on video. There may be two or three takes of this tune. It is a song you don’t know yet. But we are giving it to you for free so you can learn it in preparation for next week. Click this link and you will receive instructions on how to download “Have It All”.
Again, we are so excited to capture this night, to hear the enthusiasm and the love for God in our collective voice when we get together and Press Record.
Created to Create
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 AM the Saturate Team meets to brainstorm ideas for our Tuesday night gatherings. We hash out concepts, talk about content, and try to come up with new and unique ways to communicate the awesomeness of God to whomever shows up at Saturate Tuesdays.
Two weeks ago we were talking about our upcoming series, “The Artist”. The concept behind the series is learning to view God as the artist or the Master Painter. We are his workmanship. Created for His glory. If this really is our true identity, then everything we create is a reflection of Him and gives Him glory. Our songs, literary compositions, photos, paintings, the things we build, all of it is to his glory. As we talked about this, I started writing down lyrics. After the meeting was over, I went back to my office and made up this little song. Hope you like it. I know God does. It’s called “Made To Make”.
(Image by Brett Burton)
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Statistics, Relationships, and the Jump Into LIFE Groups
Statistics show that 20Somethings are waiting until a later age to get married. Statistics also show that, once married, they are having fewer children. One more stat. 9 out of 10 men say they do not have a close friend.
Almost a year ago, my wife and I decided it was time to figure out this whole “LIFE Group” thing. We knew of another couple that lived downtown like we do and were part of a group that had recently disbanded. We got in touch with Sean and Megan and together decided to start our own LIFE Group. For a while, our group consisted of just them and us. But slowly a few more couples joined us. It’s been an amazing experience. We get to have meaningful conversations about life as turn-of-the-decade 20something married couples. Some of us are in the earlier part of our twenties, some in our later twenties and early thirties. Some of us have kids, some do not, others are thinking about it.
Susan and I recently had a baby. It was such a great feeling to know that there would be friends around us that would be there to celebrate with us and maybe even bring us some killer food!
In addition to having support thru life’s bigger moments and challenges, it’s nice to know that as a man, I have a few dudes that I can call so we can get together for the occasional pipe (an event we have affectionately named Pipe Night).
It has been exceedingly cool to look back on our time as a life group and see that we have formed relationships that defy the statistics thru support in life’s craziness. Making our jump into a LIFE Group, totally worth it!
The Hiatus
Dear 20Something,
I’ve been thinking and wanted to make sure you knew that we’d be taking a little break from each other. You keep talking about seeing your family and the busy season that’s going on. So I thought a break might be best. But know that I’ll look forward to seeing you again. Wait!…I know…why don’t we set up a time now that we both agree to get together again? You know, catch up, “how’s life, how’s your dad – haven’t seen him in a while”, that sort of thing. Yeah! Let’s say that Tuesday January 25th at 7:30pm in the West Wing Auditorium, we will meet up and then just… see how it goes? After the 25th, who knows? Maybe we can hang out EVERY Tuesday. But for now, just know that I hope you enjoy the season and the holiday. I hope you have a great time catching up with all of your old friends and family.
20Something… do me a favor? Remember that I… I love you. K? See you in January.
Yours Truly,
Saturate Tuesdays
