Worship Confessional – Sunday, August 2, 2009

This morning at OBC was one of those ones that just makes the thankful that I get to be a part of this. Seriously – great morning with a great bunch of people, both the people service on stage as well as the people who came to be a part of our service.

The first weekend in August is a long weekend in Canada – we have no real reason to celebrate a holiday, so we’ve just called this one a Civic Holiday. That’s pretty awesome in my books! Normally long weekends show a bit of a dip in attendance but our auditorium was JAMMED and the vibe in the room was great. Our pastor, Earl Marshall (blog|twitter) finished our series called “Jesus Neighbourhood” and reminded people that our focus is “repent, believe, follow” and that when this message of Jesus is presented to others there will be some who just don’t get it. But in light of knowing that some will not respond, the call on OUR lives is to continue to “repent, believe, follow” – to persevere in the calling God has given us. Great morning and a great wrap-up to the series.

Here’s what it looked like for us -

Glory In The Highest – Chris Tomlin – A
This Is How We Know – Matt Redman – Bb
Your Name – Paul Baloche – Bb
Announcements/Q&A
Message
I Exalt Thee – E
Be The Centre – Michael Frye – E

Some thoughts from this morning:

• 8:30 call time (which we have during the summer) is way easier than 7:30 call time (which we have the rest of the year). Going back to two services will not be nice for my Saturday night sleep schedule!
• There was incredible energy in the room this morning – it really felt like a community event happening inside our building.
• I’m not sure I remember seeing so many unfamiliar faces – the woman who collects our Connection Cards had quite a pile of them so we’ll see if they were just in town visiting or if they’re people who are exploring OBC.
• When I was in university I attended a great church which was very encouraging to me personally and in my faith journey. The pastor of that church was visiting with us this morning – that was a real privilege. Great to see him & his wife.
• If you raised an eyebrow at “I Exalt Thee” and thought it was an odd song to pull out, you’ll be seeing it show up at more and more churches soon. The folks at Jesus Culture did an updated version of the song on their last record and it’s inspired lots of people to bring it out. Worked really well for us this morning.

All in all, great morning. I love my church and that I get to be a part of the leadership here. So fortunate and know that God is alive and working among us, around us and through us.

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