Sunday Set List //19// the challenge...

We are on a journey from God, through our pastors, staff and leadership to get back to basics.

"love God, love other's, serve the word..."

I produced this weekend. Worship was wonderful, but what really seems to have our team on fire is our Saturday morning devotionals.
Very interesting.
Last week: bouncing ball of distraction...
This week: Poetry and silence (posting tomorrow)
See when we actually take the time to "seek God" first all the other things of life seem to fall into place.
So with that in mind, here are the songs we sang yesterday at XC.
Worship Set 1
You Are My God
Worship Set 2
The Time Has Come
Video - Swiffer Commercial (hysterical) waiting for a copy to post...
Worship Set 3
All I Want is You (Spoken Word)
From The Inside Out

I've also been hearing it in other worship leaders out there. When was the last time you took time to truly focus on simply resting in God? I challenge you to do so...
No really I mean it...

This post is in cooperation with other worship leaders and worshippers across the world at Sunday Set Lists on Fred McKinnon's blog. Come join us...

Gut Shabbes...

Good Sabbath...

creative fuZion lab //20// at a loss for words...

Welcome to "creative fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...
This is the blog kingdom where freaky creatives are able to share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom.
This is the place to share whatever creative element you are using in your weekend service or just something you have been dreaming about. Come and see what others are doing, come and share what you are doing. Let's spark each other's creativity...
So here’s what you do…
1. Each Thursday YOU post on your blog on whatever creative church element sparks your passion.
2. In your blog, link back to this weeks specific creative fuZion lab.
3. Then post the link to your particular post at the NEW Mr. Linky below.
4. Then come back and comment. If you don’t blog yet, still feel free to share your idea in the comments.
5. Then off you go. Go visit other people’s ideas, comment and share.
6. Ready to begin? Here we go. Let the creative fuZion begin.
Spread the Word.
Dorothy (vicar of vibe)


Words completely failed me when I was trying to explain this weekend's worship experience. We have been focusing on "seeking God". And the design plan was setting up various worship stations. 6 stations: A prayer wall, pillows to lie before the cross, communion station, journaling and reading station, an art station and a meditation station with votive lights.
Simple thought, simple plan.
But this weekend was much more than that. A lot of it centered around the devotion that we had on Saturday and the bouncing ball challenge...
Sometimes words can not explain the power of what has happened…
I think that is what was blowing me away.
Story #1
We have had a prayer wall (replicating the wailing wall in Jerusalem) for many years.
That was one of the stations this weekend. People were invited to come and write prayers and/or take a prayer from the wall and pray for it.
O.k. are you ready for this?
Someone brought his neighbor to Cross Current. He is a practicing man of the Jewish faith. First time in a “Christian” church.
He was absolutely amazed, he recognized the prayer wall immediately and actually went forward and participated at the wall…
After he left he was telling his friends that this was something special, he had no idea that this is what “church” was like…
Story #2
At the art station during worship there was a very young girl (probably about 5 years old) who spent 20 minutes drawing an offering to God. It took my breath away.
These are just two examples of the feeling this weekend, the spirit of God was palatable this weekend.
When was the last time that God was palatable in worship for you?
Your turn, please share some creative elements from your worship.

bouncing ball...

This journey is going to bounce around...(no pun intended originally). Mostly because I am unable to think linearly about this process...
I appreciate the way we schedule our set-ups and practices at XC. We do a Saturday set-up and practice because we are a mobile church whose venue is a local junior high school. Each week we come in and set up from the ground up. I was producing for this weekend's experience. One of the responsibilities for the producer is to conduct a devotional time. Devotions are normally a reading and prayer.

So Friday at work, I literally just found a random ball laying on the ground. I bounced it...
and it EXPLODED in a kaleidoscope of flashing colors...
In that very instant God exploded in my brain...

"these are distractions in your life,
this is what is keeping you away from time with Me... "

This is what the devotional time was to be about.
When we are in service to God, we spend so much of our time creating experiences that usher people into the presence of God.

Who is more important "them", us or God? We know the answer.

So Saturday, I gathered everyone and bounced the challenge ball...
Played a worship music (on the computer, so that our worship team would be able to participate) and challenged everyone to just STOP and BE with God.

The experiential design for this weekend was various types of worship stations. (More on creative fuZion lab tomorrow about the stations)

We all just stopped and waited on the Lord.
___________________________________

Today, again I challenge you to STOP.

This was what we played on Saturday. It's an older song. Just listen. Take time, take time, take time...and be swept away into His presence.



I ask you what are your distractions? What are you going to do about it?
(and, yes the ball in these photos is THE ball I found)

a gauntlet is being thrown down...

it’s 5:00 a.m. and God has woken me up again...
We have deal, God and I.
It always sounds a little flippant to me when I explain; but years ago, I was frantically seeking to be able to carve out more time with God. I finally gave up in desperation. I “told” God I simply couldn’t find time in my own power and I asked Him to please carve out the time for me and I would follow His lead.
Now, I must explain I love to sleep. Particularly I love to sleep late. Well, wouldn’t you know it that is where God met me?
At first I didn’t realize what was happening. That first week, I complained.
Then the realization hit me, DUH! I had asked for it and God was answering me. I now understand that when I wake up early, it is God calling me…
It is actually very interesting. For example, last night I set my alarm for 8:00 a.m. and BOOM! It’s 5:00 a.m. and I am awake and I instantly start singing a song of praise.
Today it was “How He Loves Us” by Kim Walker. At the point of “I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy…”
I challenge you to find some time to truly encounter God…
Ask God today to carve that time out, step into Him, step…
Do you have just nine minutes today? Even if it is to simply stop for a few minutes and listen to this video.

Oh, how He loves us…

journey with me...

I am on an incredible journey of fire for about a month now and over the next week or two I am going to try to explain where I have been traveling…
Join with me on this journey...

Sunday Set List// I am at a loss...

Words are completely failing me to describe this weekend's worship experience...

I am still working on it and will have to post later this week.

All I am able to say at this point is that God is

the most amazing thing that we have in our loves and He faithfully shows up, expecially when we carve out time for Him.

Worship Set 1

The Time Has Come

Bridge

Fields of Grace

Message 1

Worship Set 2

Indescribable

Hosanna

Message 2

Worship Set 3

Heart of Worship

I Surrender

Bridge message:

Worship Set 4

All Creature of Our God and King

Doxology

Take time to step into God this week...seriously!

Join us at Sunday Set list at Fred McKinnon's blog.

creative fuZion lab // 19 // In the Middle of the Garden...

Welcome to "creative fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...
This is the blog kingdom where freaky creatives are able to share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom.
This is the place to share whatever creative element you are using in your weekend service or just something you have been dreaming about. Come and see what others are doing, come and share what you are doing. Let's spark each other's creativity...
So here’s what you do…
1. Each Thursday YOU post on your blog on whatever creative church element sparks your passion.
2. In your blog, link back to this weeks specific creative fuZion lab.
3. Then post the link to your particular post at the NEW Mr. Linky below.
4. Then come back and comment. If you don’t blog yet, still feel free to share your idea in the comments.
5. Then off you go. Go visit other people’s ideas, comment and share.
6. Ready to begin? Here we go. Let the creative fuZion begin.
Spread the Word.
Dorothy (vicar of vibe)

This was one of those flat out fun weeks.

We had a drama sketch entitled "In the Middle of the Garden" script written by our own Mark MacDicken, who leads our drama team. Mark also played the serpent and Eve was portrayed by the ever so lovely and talented Ashley Choyce.
Take a minute to read the script. It was hilarious! Especially the ending...
The staging was a tree and a bush. You know, typical garden of Eden setting.
The tree was made with live cuttings from a hedge in my yard and was attached by plastic cuff ties to our cross.
The "bush" was a stage flat covered with dark green material gathered up in multiple spots with safety pins.
The serpent puppet was made by hand by Mark MacDicken (again). Seriously, look at the detail. It's wonderful. I hope to have the video of the sketch up soon.
I tell you, one of the things that I really appreciate about our creative teams; we do this week in and week out. We really LOVE what we do and feel blessed that we "get to" serve. It's a hard concept for some people to fathom. But it's one of those things "if you don't get it, you don't get it". You either truly love serving or you are a poser.
My question for you this week: Do you LOVE what you are doing? Or are you a poser? Why or what not?
Now it's your turn to share. Tell me something that you are excited about creatively...

creative fuZion lab //18// new ways of thinking

Welcome to "creative fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...
Once upon a time there was a blog kingdom where freaky creatives could share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom. Sadly, it went away.
Yet the creative minds keep blogging.
Now there is a place to share all those creative elements again at the creative fuZion lab on Thursdays.So here’s what you do…
1. Each Thursday YOU post on your blog on whatever creative church element sparks your passion.
2. In your blog, link back to this weeks specific creative fuZion lab.
3. Then post the link to your particular post at the NEW Mr. Linky below.
4. Then come back and comment. If you don’t blog yet, still feel free to share your idea in the comments.
5. Then off you go. Go visit other people’s ideas, comment and share.
6. Ready to begin? Here we go. Let the creative fuZion begin.
Spread the Word.
Dorothy (vicar of vibe)

I have been quite taken by visualworshipper.com

They do absolutely amazing things with projections. I've been dreaming about this concept for many months and playing around with a small projector I have.
Our first attempt was in August last year. We projected a motion loop of clouds floating.


This week we projected a stained glass image on the back curtain.
The pictures I took turned out really bad. But it
will give you the idea. It actually turned out really nice.

We are talking now how to utilize two or three projectors to be able to project a much larger image across a larger space.

This is actually really fun. I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities.


Next, my family has asked me to stop climbing on ladders. Several things have happened to me
recently and they are concerned for my safety.
So this adds a new dimension for planning the stage designs.

Either not hang cloth or have someone else

climbing the ladders. I've been asking God what He thinks I should do now...

This idea hit me this weekend. We opened the back curtains. Then attached cloth (with safety pins) on the the rope (that opens and closes the curtains) and then closed the curtains, which
raise the cloth up like a flag on a flag pole. It took a couple of times to get the placement correct,
but it worked extremely well.
Then we stretched the cloth across the stage.
I'm sure other ideas are going to come up.

So, over all this is what our stage design looked like this week. it actually was really interesting and fun to do. Oh, I forgot to mention that the picture of Jesus is covering up the proctor and computer.
It's been a tough week. With people being a little judgemental, not about the designs but about what our creative team does and how (often) we do it. It was odd and hurtful. But, I realized if I am the only person doing this for how ever long, I'm really fine with it. But I have very committed people from our creative team that step in to help now. We are all at a point in our journey where we are eager to serve, which comes from the overflow of our relationship with God. And you know it's always been true 20% of the people do 80% of the work.

Now I am going to work for the next day or two on a tree for this weekend. Ha, ha!

Do you have any new concepts you are working with?
Now it's your turn.

the creative process or explosions in my mind...

Creative Community Spring Challenge

This week I’d like to challenge as many of you as possible to write a post on your own blog specifically dedicated to THE CREATIVE PROCESS.
What ignites that flame inside you to create?
What sparks that passion inside you?
How do you channel your creativity into a finished product?
What do you do when you struggle to create?
How do you celebrate your wins?
Do you enjoy your creative process?
How do you share your creative elements with others?