Monday Downloads [on tuesday...sorry...]

*Sunday night felt different from the moment I walked into the church at 4:30. It was hard to explain then and even harder now, but everything just felt gloomy. I probably should have found a room to pray in right up until 6:00 but instead, I pushed Jakie around in his stroller and tried to encourage people and pray as I walked. Donovan is always happy so he cut into the gloom factor a bit. Joe seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and since he handles all of the tech and media and sound he was covering a lot of bases. Lindsey lost her grandfather earlier in the weekend, so she had a brave face on but she was hurting inside, and generally everyone seemed tired. The reason all of this is relevant and the reason I am being transparent about it is because I want everyone to know that even church leaders struggle. We get attacked. We get down. We worry. We carry burdens. We are real people with real life going on. This service is about real people journeying together and bringing each other along as we try to move from where we are in life to where God wants us to be. Sometimes we have tough times and Sunday night started out that way.
*The worship through music was wonderful. Things kept going wrong and Joe kept fixing them. The power on the stage went out during practice and Joe jumped right on it. The worship band, Face To Face, sat there through it all and took it as it came. They are wonderful and when the time came to lead us in worship they did. I still lose track of time when they lead us.
*I was able to talk to a lot more people Sunday night. People are hurting. I am overwhelmed by that, but it just pushes me closer to the Spirit and I know that I have to rely on Him for wisdom and discernment.
*The message came straight from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes things happen that we don't expect, but our responsibility is to make sure that anyone that the Lord trusts us with is able to worship with us through music and the sharing of God's Word.
*We had lots of people interested in reading through the Gospels with us during the month of November. If you haven't started, or if you've already fallen behind, don't let it get you down. Find some time to get away and read. Three chapters per night will take us through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John during the month of November. By tonight, we will be through Matthew 12. Please consider joining us. Its not too late. Right now, there are about 25 of us reading together that I know of.
*I will be posting several things this week about discipleship. I feel like I need to flesh out the message from Sunday, so tune in throughout the week.
*We are also posting this blog on WordPress and we will eventually switch completely to that site. Check us out at www.LifeAt6pm.wordpress.com.
*Can't wait until next week. Face To Face will be leading us in worship throughout the entire service. Donovan has been seeking the Spirit's guidance on this for quite a while now and I cannot wait...