Anchored in the Heavenlies: May 29th - June 4th
This Week & Beyond...
Hey hey!! Welcome to this weeks communication!!
A big thank you to all who came and served at the Pursuit night!! My count put us at just shy of 55 people!! What a great time worshipping and meeting with the Lord. I heard say that someone was healed without even getting prayed for!! PTL!! I was asked by the Loeppky's as to when we are planning the next one, so, we definitely didn't spoil our welcome, even in spite of the crazy loud music and shaking floor!
***Important***
Well, summer is just around the corner and that means a couple things.
1) Appreciation night! As per usual, come July 1st, you are all blessed to be released from the music ministry! That is if you should so desire... ;) Thank you for serving, we will be having an appreciation get together on Sunday, June 25th at 7pm. I look forward to hanging out as a group one last time before we all part for more relaxing, bug filled, nights!! Please mark it on your calendars and let me know if you have any thoughts on what you'd like to do the evening.
2) Block out dates!! As mentioned, you are to be released from serving, however, if you'd like to continue, you are more than welcome!! I would ask that you take a couple minutes, yes, that's all it takes, and block out any dates that you don't want/can't serve throughout July & August. This serves me so well while making the schedule.
- it let's me know if and how much you want to serve
- it let's me know when you can and can't
What a great tool as I look to making the schedule in the next week or so. If you could accomplish at your earliest convenience, that would be so wonderful!! Okay, let's just say that I will be making the summer schedule on June 14th, so, if you haven't done this before then, things may get messy! :)
Great, you're in the know, up-to-date, now go out and enjoy the beautiful weather!!
Blessings,
G
Devotional...
Anchored in the Heavenlies
by David Baroni, Nashville, Tennessee, www.DavidBaroni.com
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil... (Hebrews 6:19)
"Above the high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil!" I love that line from the hymn, "The Solid Rock." As my wife and I were worshiping and praying today, I sang that line several times and sensed the nearness, the presence, the assurance of God.
I was very grateful for that nearness, because, as I write this, there has been more month than money. The royalty check that I was counting on to pay the mortgage was lower than it has ever been and not nearly enough to help us get caught up financially. I have juggled bills and tried to figure out what to do, and I have been tempted to panic. Unfortunately, I am ashamed to say that I have even given in to that temptation at times.
This is not something new for me. Feast or famine seems to be the lot of this self-employed, traveling music minister. Although I must admit, we usually feast, and we never have been truly without food.
Many times, when I am in the midst of a difficult situation, I am reminded of the things I so easily share from the pulpit, "God will give you a peace that transcends your circumstances." Or, "He is faithful and even though the night gets long and dark sometimes, there has never been a night without a dawn."
I believe those things with all my heart, I really do. Still, though, sometimes they seem much easier to say than to live. Then there are mornings like this morning when I sensed so tangibly the presence of my Father God as I sang, "My anchor holds within the veil."
Jesus said, "Blessed are you who have not seen and yet believe." Hebrews 11 tells us that, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."
The truest demonstration of worship is when we can still trust Him even when things aren't going well. And for those of us involved in the worship ministry of our churches, how we worship when life is topsy-turvy will encourage others in their worship of God.
Do you want to hear how this financial need was met? I will tell you about it sometime. I know that it already has been met in the heavenlies, it will be manifested on earth somehow and, for now, this is all the answer I need.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Tell of a time when things weren't going well and you needed to trust God. Remembering those times helps us to be able to encourage others -- and ourselves -- to worship Him even when all outward signs seem to point in the opposite direction.
2.When you are in a difficult situation, what promises of God do you cling to? Or what songs do you sing to help keep your focus on God?