Easter Sunday Egg Hunt @ The Pattern House

Easter Sunday, April 24, was Encounter's very first Easter Sunday Worship Gathering. Despite snow and rain throughout the week, Easter was a beautiful, sunny day — and it was the picture perfect day for a Super Fun Egg Hunt outside!

We had over 24 first-timers on Easter with lots of kids. We explored what it means to "Come Awake!" and how we are called to "rise up from the grave" of the broken things in life through Jesus. Listen to the podcast here.

After the great music and discussion during the worship gathering, we held a drawing for the "Biggest Easter Basket Ever!" It was certainly the biggest Easter basket in Helena with items donated from individuals and businesses throughout Helena.

Special thanks to Van's Thriftway, Lasso The Moon Toys, Montana Book & Toy Company, Panhandler Plus, GamePods Jr. Downtown, Capital Fret, and Great Harvest Bread Company.

When we're all done, we went outside for a Super Fun Egg Hunt boasting over 600 eggs filled with chocolate goodies. It truly was an Awesome Easter, by all accounts, and an awesome way to connect with the community — to be a church that's not just IN Helena, but FOR Helena!




You can find all the great photos on Facebook here.
Check out a Picasa slideshow here.

Temple Veil Concert & Encounter Meet & Greet

As part of an Awesome April on Good Friday of Easter weekend, Encounter was pleased to host the amazing musical duo, recording artist Temple Veil.

The Evening Concert also billed as an Encounter Meet & Greet at our new Pattern House location, was a complete success.

Subway sandwiches, chips, and drinks were on the menu as well as some great conversation before the free concert. It was also a blessing to see 11 new guests come check out the concert and Encounter.

This was the second time Temple Veil played for Encounter, and we were again blown away by the raw acoustic talents of Brysson on the acoutsic guitar and DeRock on the violin, keys and vocals. Seriously awesome stuff!



You can find all the great photos on Facebook here.
Check out a Picasa slideshow here.

UPDATE: "Given" on K-LOVE

Here's a quick update on the K-LOVE Radio News coverage I mentioned here. First, you can listen to the online version of the interview with the mp3 player below. You can access the web stream in the News & Weather section of their website. I didn't catch it the shorter version played on air. Did anyone else?

Update: "Given" on CBS

Here's a quick update on the CBS News "Given" coverage. You can access the story and their video stream on the CBS News website as long as it's available.. I also posted the video here.

"Given" Goes National

It's happening again with the Given project! I did a radio interview with K-LOVE radio (90.1FM in Helena) on Wednesday. It was just a short interview of how we hope to impact our community by giving back to our community.

K-LOVE radio is a national network of stations also affiliated with AIR1 radio (90.1FM in SoCal). The interview will be posted in the News & Weather section of their website and played on all K-LOVE and AIR1 stations across the nation next Wednesday, April 9. Be sure to tune in if you can.

"Given" on CBS

Apparently, we've struck a chord with our community.

We were contacted by KXLH Channel 25, our local CBS affiliate, about the Given project. KXLH is an extention of CBS Channel 3 in Great Falls. Either way, the news program will be filming parts of our service on Sunday as well as conducting an interview with a few individuals later.

I'm pretty jazzed up because I think one our biggest desires as believers and as a church is to make an impact for Jesus within the community where we live.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
-Psalm 115:1

Given

I haven't really had the opportunity to share with you about Easter and one of the cool things God is doing at Hannaford.

On Easter, we celebrated that Christ gave His life for us. Not only was He crucified on a cross for our sins, but He spent His life encouraging people to love God and to love others by giving of ourselves as He demonstrated through His life, death, and resurrection.

Furthermore, I believe that when we give ourselves away, we are fulfilling our role as followers of Christ. God wants people to love, share, be considerate of others, and provide a blessing to the world they live in.

So on March 23, 2008, Hannaford gave away nearly $600 to those who attended our Easter Sunday worship services – a one-dollar bill for each person. The challenge? Pass on the blessings that Christ has given us, by using the dollar to bless another.

The instructions were simple: "This one-dollar bill is given as a symbol of all that Christ has given to you. This dollar is not to be spent on yourself, but to bless someone else in a real and tangible way. The possibilities and creativity are endless."

Finally, we encouraged people to share their stories. I think it is important that we celebrate when Christ works through us. It encourages other believers and demonstrates to others that we truly are followers of Jesus.

We've set up a website around the "Given" project. You are invited to explore the stories of how God used dollar-bills (and ultimately people) to bless the lives of others. Also, if you want to participate, and/or have a story of your own, we invite you to submit it onlline.

This has been an awesome experience and we are looking forward to what God will do through us. People have only just begun to share their stories.

Click here for the Given website.
Click here for the Press page with photos.
Click here for other posts on the Given project.

Various Reading From The Web

I've been catching up on my reading from the web. Here's some stuff that caught my eye...

Seth Godin speaks to another reason the "experiences" we create in our church gathering are more important than we realize. Click here.

Lifechurch.tv has an interesting ministry inside Second Life, a virtual online world (find out more about Second life here). They had their first Easter service in Second Life. Read about the experience on Terry Storch's blog here.

Church Marking Sucks suggests that churches and Christians can use new internet technologies to engage culture. They encourage us to be willing to use online entertainment here, to be active in the formation of Wikipedia articles here, and to embrace RSS technologies here. Since internet usage has grown to almost 80%, a church website is no longer a novelty - it is a necessity. The same will be true as these other technologies gain usage and popularity.

Click here for a very simple and inexpensive way to start a small business or church website.

Shane Yancey of Nailscars.com asks "Are we busy re-sewing the temple curtain?" Click here for his sermon outline - here for the mp3.

Seth Godin encourages us NOT to settle for the mediocre through compromise. Click here

Tony Morgan reports on New Spring's Easter service here. I find it interesting that they kept going with their normal series and didn't do a special "Easter" service. It seems to me that when you're connecting with people, every service is "special."

Finally, Perry Noble share these two amazing stories here and here.

Scared Of Easter?

Maybe I'm strange, but this church ad made me laugh...

By the way, check out the new featured photo from Easter. I've got some new Easter photos and a video coming soon. I'll let you know.

Easter 2007: What Is Your Greatest Day?

Our Easter worship celebrations were a great inspiration this year. Again, God really brought things together. Of course, I've mentioned before that our theme this year was "The Greatest Day." I gave a short synopsis of the background here. Here is a recap of Easter at Hannaford...

CALL TO WORSHIP
- All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises by Paul Baloche

John 3:16 tells us that "God so loved the world, He gave His only son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

OPENING PRAYER
Awesome Lord: Today we celebrate Your precious gift of physical and spiritual life available through Your death and resurrection. Really, the song says it quite simply. You lived, You died, You rose, You're alive! Because of Your great love, our hearts, our lives, our world ... is forever changed. Thank you. Help us to live each day for You. We pray this in Your name, Amen.

VIDEO - Your Greatest Day?
(Special thanks to the videographers: Erica Alexander, Jesse Shirley, and Ashley Robinson.)



For many of us, our Greatest Day is when a child is born. There is something magical when there is suddenly new life when there was none before. We are forever changed.

I would imagine that God feels the same way. God LOVES new life! Jesus said in Luke 15:7 that there is "there is more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue." When we are lost and then become spiritually alive to Him ... every day that happens is God's Greatest Day ... a joyous, happy day.

WORSHIP
- Happy Day (The Greatest Day in History) by Tim Hughes & Ben Cantelon

New life in this world ... new life though faith in God ... these are only possible because of Jesus. He died on the cross bearing our sins upon Himself. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). But we are not ONLY forgiven, we are raised to new life in Him. Our strength, our hope, our life now comes from Him. His resurrection was ours ... and it was THE Greatest Day of all.

WORSHIP
- My Savior My God by Aaron Shust & Dorothy Greenwell

DRAMA - Easter ... Everyday!We used the video here as inspiration. Basically Ruthie Hill did a live monologue. She sat at her computer with a camera connected as it recording an entry for "MyTube." We broadcasted the camera feed live to the big screen during the skit. Here are some minor changes we made to the video clip script:

'... Deep within the soul of every person is something that God places inside: life, purpose, hope, love. And it’s moving, stirring, wanting to come out and grow ... to be fully developed. He changes us forever ... and I don't want to deny that new life that's inside of me ... I want that "resurrection life." I want Easter ... EVERYDAY. That way everyday can be my Greatest Day. Does anybody else feel like this? I don't know, maybe I'm insane. I guess I'm rambling again ... (Clicks camera off)'

The "Resurrection Life" only come from Jesus. As we draw our power and hope from Him, He will love the world through us. Everyday can be our Greatest Day when we live the "Resurrection Life."

WORSHIP
- Resurrection Life by Tim Timmons

WELCOME & GREETING

OFFERING & FEATURED MUSIC
- Where Would I Be? by Ed Kerr of Harvest
(Andrea solo with piano and cello)

EASTER MESSAGE
Pastor did a good job mentioning "The Greatest Day" a few times, but the message didn't really relate to the overall theme. His message entitled "Now What?" basically made the point that there IS life after death. Whether we end up in heaven or hell depends on what we do (with Jesus?) here in this life.

CONGREGATIONAL READING
Really, all of our Greatest Days are possible because of the Greatest Promise of John 3:16. Will you say it with me?

For God So Loved The World [The Greatest Action]
That He Gave His Only Son [The Greatest Sacrifice]
That Whoever Believes In Him [The Greatest Invitation]
Should Not Perish But Have Eternal Life [The Greatest Gift]
(reading inspired by this video)

He died to bring eternal life, and He lives so that death has no hold. Because He has shown victory over sin and death, and because He brings us our Greatest Days, He is the matchless King who is crowned the Lord of all Life.

WORSHIP
- Crown Him With Many Crowns by Dan Galbraith, George Elvey, Godfrey Thring, & Matthew Bridges (Praise Charts)

We invite you to live your Greatest Day every day, through the resurrection life that Jesus Christ offers.

DISMISS
- Resurrection Life by Tim Timmons

One last thing. We weren't sure if the idea for the cross would come together. As it turns out, Doug did a great job on the cross (see photo above - more photos in the ePhoto gallery). At the beginning of each service as people were entering we hung a sign on the cross which read, "Can we pass the cross unchanged?" After the worship service, we turned the sign over to display the second message, "We are forever changed!"

It is so true ... we ARE forever changed! What is your Greatest Day?

"Consuming" Thoughts From Easter

This year I experienced difficulty planning our Easter experience at Hannaford. To me, Easter is a very special day in the Christian life - even overshadowing Christmas. Because of this, I put quite a bit of pressure on myself to help plan an experience that creates an atmosphere where people can meet with God - too much pressure, in fact.

In my planning this year, I elicited others' insights into Easter in order to find some fresh ways to communicate the resurrections message. While helpful, I was also troubled by some responses.

Several people said something to this effect: Easter just isn't Easter without singing such-in-such song or doing such-in-such activity. Quite immediately my response was "Easter isn't Easter without JESUS." Anything else is something we're attached to, personally.

To quote John Ortberg: Too often, people find a way to God, and beginning to worship that WAY more than they worship GOD. Jesus makes Easter! Anything more and anything less are traditions of man. I emplore you, please don't miss the significance of Easter because you are relying on man-made traditions!

The root of the issue is really the way we've begun to see worship. Worship is more than singing songs. Somehow, we think we've worshiped when we "feel good" about the song service. My question is "how does God feel?" Did you praise Him? Were you consumed by Him? Were you completely surrendered to Him? -OR- Did you feel uncomfortable clapping to the songs? Were you 'bothered' by the person who was holding their hands up? Did you even utter some words of praise to God?

Rick Warren nailed it when he said, "It's not about you." Worship is all about God. It is ABOUT Him and FOR Him. It is not about your being comfortable. As someone who's life desire is to see people meet with God, my job will NEVER be about making people comfortable. I continue to ask God to reveal to me how to help people become "consumed" by God instead of being "consumers" of worship.

Louie Giglio, founder of the Passion Movement, presented some challenging thoughts on this subject nearly a year ago. Here a summary...

Worship is a simple act where I put my life in God's hands, and my life aligns to His plans. We realize that God is a consuming fire, and so something inside of us is hesitant to put ourselves in His hands because were not at all sure that we want to be swallowed up in His light and consumed by His fire. We would rather be a "consumer" of a pleasant worship experience, than to become a "consumee" - our lives consumed by Him.

So the question arises, "have we become 'consumers' of worship?" As a "consumer" of worship, we of become infatuated with the experience of worship instead experience of meeting God and being consumed by Him. Worship is supposed to be the place (or heart position) where we are consumed by God. Paul referred to this in 2Timothy 4:6 saying, "I’m being poured out like a drink offering." As a consumee, we say, "Here I am, God. Use me up. I’m putting my life in Your hands." Here is some comparison between the two approaches:

• Consumers ask, "what’s in it for me?"
  Consumees say, "I’m in it for You."
• For consumers, worship is about style.
  For consumees, worship is about surrender.
• Consumers ask, "What can I buy?"
  Consumees say "I have been bought."
• For consumers, worship is enjoyable.
  For consumees, worship is costly.
• For consumers, worship is segmented.
  For consumees, worship is all of my life.
• Consumers want worship to be trendy.
  Consumees see worship as eternal.
• For consumers, worship is my choice.
  For consumees, worship is God’s will.
• For consumers, worship is about me.
  For consumees, worship is all about Him.

How are you going to invest this short time on this planet in something that will not be fleeting and will not fade away? No one can stop you from putting your life in God’s hands. And, nothing can stop the power of God in your life.

I really appreciate these thoughts from Giglio. Being consumed by God in worship has less to do with being stirred up by the style, tempo, or even familiarity of the music – and more to do with experiencing God in worship and connecting with the life-change only Jesus can make.

On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being consumer and 10 being consumee) - where are you? Where is your church body as a whole? More importantly, what can you do to move toward the consumee mindset? I'd love to hear your responses...

Most Non-Christians Believe In The Resurrection

I'm sure you're reading this title and thinking, "Did I read that right?" I heard about this report on K-LOVE radio this week. (I listen as I get ready in the mornings.)

A Southern Baptist organization conducted a survey finding that 75% of people (who are NOT born-again Christians) actually believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day. Most Easter messages I've heard in recent years have focused on PROVING Jesus' resurrection. I've always thought that was weird. Not only were they boring, the arguments really aren't convincing to a non-believer.

I did a little more research and found the source article for K-LOVE's news report here. If you read it carefully, I think they make the best observation near the end of the article.

We need to get past trying to PROVE Jesus. We can't change people or their opinions, but God can. And He does! We need to focus more on the meaning of Easter and redemptive power of Christ. "If Jesus did rise from the dead, what does that mean?"
Let us always remember that information does not transform lives, Jesus does. It takes relationship, an encounter with the living God to prove that He exists, that He loves us, and that He offers the gift of salvation to every person.

Experience The Cross - John 3:16

I just wanted to let you know our Good Friday Worship was awesome! Our Youth Pastor Gezer and his wife Kaci have been working really hard for several weeks on this (and actually made up the prayer stations based on John 3:16 to follow through with our Easter service). The youth did an amazing job leading us through the service! They prayed, led worship, and instructed us on the prayer stations. Wow! I think we had about 150 people attend - not a lot, but a good turnout for Good Friday. Here's a run-down on the service:

PRELUDE
- CD: Christ His Passion: Remembering The Sacrifice
- The Cross Countdown from Saygiun Designs (Ordered from sermonspice.com)

CALL TO WORSHIP
- Empty Me from Jeremy Camp - Guitar, Keys, & Djembe

PRAYER STATIONS
John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Tonight we’ve set up prayer stations to help you connect with Jesus’ sacrifice. Let us explain how you’ll experience this verse, John 3:16, as you move through the stations.

Station 1: For God So Loved
"For God so loved the world..." Station one is called "For God so loved." At this station, at the back of the room, there will be a large poster, with the words “For God so loved”. Take a marker and trace your hand onto the poster and then write your name in your hand. As you pray, thank God for His love for the world and His specific love for you.

Station 2: He Gave His Son
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son..." Station 2 is called "He Gave His son." Philippians 2:5-8 says that though Jesus was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He took a humble position and appeared in human form. Jesus, the Son of God, suddenly became a man and suffered all that men suffer. He felt pain, hunger, fatigue, and sorrow. He truly walked in our shoes.

At this station, located out in the fellowship hall, there are several trays of sand on the floor. Remove your shoes and socks and walk through the sand. As you pray, think about Jesus’ sacrifice to become human for you and thank God for giving His Son for sinful earth.

Station 3: Whoever
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever..." Station 3 is called "Whoever." John 3:16 promises us that no matter who you are or what you’ve done, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you will have eternal life. At this station, look at the many people in the pictures. Think about the people in your life who haven’t yet believed in Christ. Take a moment to pray for them and to thank God for the opportunity He gave you to know Him.

Station 4: Believe
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him..." Station 4 is called "Believe." What does it mean to truly believe? Jesus said in Luke 9:23 that if you want to follow Him, you must lay aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow Him.

At this station, in the fellowship hall, there are two paths: one wide path that many people choose in place of Jesus, hoping what they believe will lead to life; and one small narrow path that leads to the cross. As you choose what path to follow and walk down the path, think and pray about what it truly means to believe in Jesus. Confess to God the things that you’ve allowed to take the place of following Jesus in your life.

Station 5: Shall Not Perish
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish..." Station 5, located at the back of the room, is called "Shall Not Perish." Jesus took our punishment on the cross. He perished for us. At this station, hammer a nail into the cross/wood. Confess your sin and thank Jesus for taking your punishment. Thank God for freedom from death and sin.

This room now a sanctuary. You are free to experience the stations in any order. The only rule is that you must remain silent. This is a time for personal experience and reflection. May God bless you in this time of prayer.

COMMUNION
- Stations video from Sacramentis (Ordered from sermonspice.com)
- Where Would I Be? from Harvest - Piano & Cello (solo by Andrea)
Communion was available for people to come up and serve themselves.

FINAL PRAYER STATION
Jesus cried out in a loud voice "Father, I give you my life." After he said this, he died. (Pause)

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus. Jesus became man and died on the cross in place of all mankind, but that wasn’t the end of the story! Three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead. He came back to life – so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Light is a symbol of eternal life. In John 8:12, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. (Light the Christ candle.) The person who follows me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life."

At this final station, take one of the small candles and light it from the large candle as a sign of your new life and new light in Jesus. (Light a small candle from the Christ candle.) As more and more candles are placed here, we’ll see how Jesus’ light and love spread through Him to all of us.

CLOSING SONG
- In Christ Alone by Stuart Townsend - Keys, Guitar, & Djembe

Well, it was truly a "good" Friday service with a strong focus on Christ's sacrifice. I am very excited about the experience we have planned for Easter as well: The Greatest Day. I will report on our worship after Sunday. For now, we are praying this prayer from Highway Video, posted by Greg Atkinson on Church Video Ideas. We look forward to what God will be doing. May you have blessed Easter yourself!

Hosanna in the Highest!

This last Sunday, the one before Easter, is known as Palm Sunday and it marks the beginning of the “Passion Week” or “Holy Week.”

The week began as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. He was given a King’s welcome as He came. People waved palm branches and spread their clothes in His path ... and they shouted a peculiar plea: “Hosanna!” It would be the last time that Jesus would enter Jerusalem.

He angrily turned over tables in the temple courts this week. The last supper and Jesus washing the disciples’ feet took place this week. His anguished prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, His trial, beating, and finally the crucifixion occurred this very week.

While the people shouted “Hosanna!” at the beginning of the week, they shouted “Crucify Him” by the end. While He was given a King’s welcome, He was given a criminal’s death.

“Hosanna” in its Old Testament context, expressed the pain and despair of the people; a crying out for revolution and deliverance. It was a plea for salvation, meaning "Save Us!" or “Deliver Us!”

Today, “Hosanna!” is also an affirmation that God has acted, finally and decisively. It is a constant reminder of the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we know He is the true King of all creation, we invite Him to take His rightful place in our lives. Let our lives serve as a living testament that He have delivered us from sin and death!

"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9)

Easter Finalized: The Greatest Day!

Our theme for Easter and Good Friday is finalized and posted here on the Hannaford website.
The Greatest Day: Through our greatest day, we are changed forever. What is your greatest day? All our greatest days are possible because of THE Greatest Day; the day that Jesus rose from the dead and demonstrated His power over sin and death. And because of this, EVERY day can now be our greatest. Come gather at Hannaford for worship and celebration to experience the God's love through the resurrection truth that we are forever changed.

• With our John 3:16 as our anchor scripture, we will be focusing on the idea that we are changed forever because of Christ. Some music will include Tim Hughes' Happy Day (The Greatest Day in History) and Tim Timmon's Resurrection Life. We also have featured song we've been working on with piano and cello, Harvest's Where Would I Be?
• We have plans for a "Man on the Street" video featuring interviews with random people around Helena. We'll be asking them "What was your greatest day?", "What was the greatest day in history?", and "Why?"
• We are also working on a skit of someone making video of themselves on "MyTube" discussing how they wish everyday could be Easter (inspired by this video).
• Finally, we're planning to have a 6-foot rugged cross up in the entryway of the Worship Center. It will have a crown of thorns on it and on Easter morning we'll add a purple fabric. Somehow we're trying to integrate the message "Can we pass the cross without being changed forever?"

Experience The Cross: God gave his one and only son so that we need not perish. This is something not only done for us, it is something done in in us as well. Come join us as we explore the deep meaning of God's sacrifice of love and "Experience the Cross" through reflective worship, prayer stations of Jesus' passion and a special time of communion.

• The youth will be facilitating a prayer station service (multisensory worship) again on Good Friday, like last year.
• The youth are working on and will be leading the music as well.
• We're planning to theme the stations around John 3:16 to tie in with Easter morning. For instance, the first station will address God's love , "For God so loved the world..."

Well, I'm pretty excited about Easter. I wish I could get our sermon to go along with our theme as well, but it's not likely. That kind of integration and single-mindedness is something I've been praying for a long time. Either way, it should be a great focus on The Greatest Day!

The Greatest Day!

Usually I think of Easter as a busy time of year. And while, I'd like to say that there are slow times and busy times of the year, I'm learning that it never really slows down. As usual, I've got a number of things going on right now.

Promise Keepers: This Saturday is the local Promise Keepers conference here in Helena. It's gonna be great! I'm the Worship Team Leader again this year so I'm trying to wrap up a number of loose ends - presentation lyrics, transitions between songs, and so on.

Hosanna: I started rehearsing the song Hosanna! (by Carl Tuttle) with the kids in Children's Church this last Sunday. We're planning to have them sing to celebrate Palm Sunday.

Experience The Cross: We are doing a prayer station service (multisensory worship) again on Good Friday. Like last year, the youth will be facilitating the service. Gezer and Kaci are trying to theme the stations around John 3:16 to tie in with Easter morning. We're going to call it Experience The Cross again this year.

The Greatest Day: Easter is coming up quick! Our theme this year is "The Greatest Day!" with John 3:16 as the scripture anchor. Through our greatest day, we are changed forever. What is your greatest day? Could it be that all our greatest days are possible because because of THE Greatest Day; the day that Jesus rose from the dead and demonstrated His power over sin and death? Because of this, can everyday now be our greatest day? We are forever changed!

Kellin Sick: Kellin was pretty sick with a fever today. He stayed home from school, but we're praying he'll feel better tomorrow.

Busy Decorating: Andrea has been busy decorating for some people in our Helena. Lots of work, but she likes it and she's getting paid.

Devil's Brigade: Andrik has this encroaching big project. It's pretty exciting. He's got some major research, supposed to find some sources to interview, and then the school is going to film him. Each kid gets a 30 second spot and will be broadcasted on PBS Montana. Needless to say, both Andrik and I have been researching his subject: The Devil's Brigade. Apparently, this joint American-Canadian brigade was formed and trained right here at Fort Harrison in Helena. Officially called the First Special Service Force, it was the basis of the formation of all modern elite forces including the Green Berets, Delta Force, Navy Seals, and Canada's JTF2.

Recent Weather: It's been getting warmer here in Helena (in the 60's). We might be looking at an early Spring, but you never know. Today, it got up to warm and sunny 75 degrees - and then just an hour later it was 62 and raining.

Easter Worship Recap

Well, here's an update on Easter.

First, Good Friday was an amazing and powerful service. We had a good amount of people there, maybe about 80% capacity. The youth did the explanations and setups for the prayer stations and did a great job. For music, we tried a semi-acoustic approach with guitar, piano, drums, and violin. I think the three songs (Beautiful Scandalous Night, In Christ Alone, and At The Cross), really helped add to the mood. Finally, we put long curtains over the windows. (Did I mention we have new windows in our auditorium? More on that here.) It's still pretty bright at 6:30pm so we needed to do something to create an more reflective atmosphere.

Easter was a wonderful contrast to Good Friday. Both services were packed (about 90%-95%), but no overflow was needed (we only had 3 seats left in one service). Taking the reflective mood of meditation on Christ's passion, Easter took the next step of celebrating the resurrection. The message of the service was right on cue (you know I mean all the messages, not just the sermon).

The visual background depicted a seedling growing out of the ground to signify the new life Jesus brings. Through the service, the seeding would grow into a viable plant. There was a video clip called "Erase" that depicts the sin we may carry (neglect, pride, lust, adultery, hypocrisy), shows it erased, and then shows it replaced by Jesus' love and righteousness. Pastor Crosby spoke on how the resurrection is a fact and can be proved. The point of the service, however, was that God is in the process making us into the people He created us to be. We are being remade. We, too, are being resurrected; not to death into the old life, but into an entirely new life in Christ. We encourage you to "Experience the Resurrection" in your life.

One last note...I drew heavily on concepts from Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. Some deep stuff, even seemingly controversial, in the book. I highly recommend it.

Experience Easter

It seems like it's been forever since I last left a post - I've been really busy getting ready for Easter.

I've been really inspired and excited about Easter this year. First, we're having a Good Friday and two Easter morning worship services. They are themed "Experience the Cross: Prayer Stations of Jesus' Passion" (Good Friday) and "Experience the Resurrection: He Makes All Things New" (Easter).

Our Good Friday service will be a reflective time with a large portion of time set aside for seven prayer stations. If you are not familiar with a prayer station service, the room is set up to have a multisensory experience that involves the physical body in the act of worship. One station, for instance, might involve a table you can go to that has ice cubes in bowls. The instructions might suggest picking up and holding an ice cube as long as you can. As it begins to hurt, you can imagine and meditate upon the pain Jesus felt upon the cross; then pray in gratitude for the far worse pain and suffering that Jesus endured for our sin. So you can see that we will literally be "experiencing" some of Jesus' passion.

For Easter Sunday, our theme is directly related to this graphic I "borrowed" from a peer review on Church Marketing Sucks. The graphic depicts the transition from death to life - the Resurrection. But the title "Experience the Resurrection" speaks both to Jesus' resurrection, and also to the new life we can have through Him. Jesus' death and resurrection mean nothing to us if we're not being transformed into a new life - the life that God intends.

Whew! May you have a wonderful Easter - full of joy, celebration and new life!

Andrik's Science Project

It just seems that all the things Andrik does in school, I didn't do until I was older. I remember him having homework in Kindergarten, book reports in first grade, and now a science fair project in fourth grade. I didn't do one until I was in Junior High - and even then, my dad did most of the work :-o

Well, Andrik's project, specially chosen by Mom and Dad and agreed upon by Andrik, was to drop water balloons from different heights and then to measure the splatter. I could explain the whole thing to you, but you know how much I love photos!

Easter and Beyond

Well, our last entry was just before Easter. Easter Sunday, Good Friday, all the postcards inviting residents to Hannaford – it was a busy time. All in all, Easter went well. The postcards went out. On Good Friday, we watched The Passion of the Christ again and then had a quiet time of communion and worship. It was nice and really set the mood for Easter morning three days later.

Easter was not as packed as it might have been. It seems we had several visiting families, but at the same time, we had a number of regulars out visiting family for the week or weekend. All in all, we numbered about the same. It was a couple of good services, though.