jon mark

sooo, this is another post submitted as a part of the craziness over on fred’s blog…it’s a weekly hot spot for worship leaders to blog about what all happened in their weekend services…GO CHECK IT OUT!!!

as usual i was in the LIVE services at lima community church…here we go…

i started the service off by reading psalm 95:1-7…

1. rise and sing…by fee (with children’s choir)

then we had our video announcements and our meet and greet time of the service…

2. here is our King…by david crowder

3. tell the world…by hillsong

then we had our offering set-up…

4. Hosanna…a mix of starfield and hillsong versions

then we had our roll-in video and a short message given by our discipleship pastor, mike huckins…this included a time of listening to God speak and then acting on what it was that He was telling us…

5. from the inside out…by hillsong

6. arms open wide…by hillsong (with children’s choir)

7. how great is our God…by chris tomlin (with children’s choir)

8. how great Thou art…as performed by charlie hall

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WOW!!! that is how i sum up the weekend…there were sooo many things going on, with it being Christmas week…sooo many reasons for the wheels to fall of the bus…but things came together GREAT!!!

on tuesday i worked with a group of 10 children, 3rd-5th grade…it was the first time since i have attended limacc that i have seen a children’s choir of any kind…i had no clue what to expect from the parents or children…i didn’t even know if i would get enough to sing, with it being Christmas…but they came and worked for about an hour…and they gave me some hope that things would come together…

saturday came and the band had 45 minutes to get 5 songs down, before the children showed up to work on their 3 songs…we were DEAD ON with our time…the children came in and we worked on their songs for the next 30 minutes…everything just went like clock-work…we did our run through for the service and were ready to go…

we headed back and had a devotional time, both adults and children…we had a time of sharing reasons why our God is great…we took prayer requests and prayed over them…and before one service i had one of the children pray…his name was nate…he asked for God’s presence to be there in the church…it was!!! (and i don’t think it had anything to do with all of the sugar that they were inhaling in between songs and services…)

i have to say this was the first weekend in a LONG time, that i was nervous…i just wasn’t sure we would pull it off…i wasn’t sure that i would really remember all 8 songs and in what order they were all coming and when the children were coming and going, and if they knew when they were coming and going…AAAHHH!!!

outside of the worship leader (yours truly) messing up, the first “guitar solo” of his life, in two of the three services…things couldn’t have been better!!! the children brought out an interaction from the congregation that we don’t see every week…they were really engaged and i think it just made everything click…the children sang with every ounce of energy they had in them and really blew me away!!!

for me this sunday was very special for many reasons…one it brings an end to 2009…a year in which i was given the opportunity to lead worship in the three LIVE services at limacc…i started back in may and have enjoyed the journey…it also was a lot of work to plan and work with the children…and to see them on stage for the first time…it was something i knew that God wanted me to do…now i know why!!!

lastly it was special because i am now going to have time to focus on my family…with working two jobs, i just haven’t been able to focus my time and energy at home, as much as i would want to…i have an AMAZING(ly hottt) wife at home and two beautiful children that i would like to see more of…plus my body and mind have just taken a beating in the last eight months…sooo this past weekend was my last sunday of leading worship at limacc…UNTIL february…

i’m taking 5 weekends away from the church to just spend time with my family…to let my mind and body get where they need to be (or that’s the goal anyways!!!)…and i really want to seek a fresh vision and passion for what God has for me to be doing…sooo your prayers during this time would be greatly appreciated!!!

well, there you have it…

sunday setlists…LIVE…the last of 2009…

sooo, this is another post submitted as a part of the craziness over on fred’s blog…it’s a weekly hot spot for worship leaders to blog about what all happened in their weekend services…GO CHECK IT OUT!!!

as usual i was in the LIVE services at lima community church…here we go…

1. joy to the world…as recorded by third day

then we had a quick meet and greet…

2. rise and sing…by fee

at this point i read through psalm 145:1-7…i reminded everyone that we have SO MUCH to be praising God for…and of the hundreds of “stories” that were represented in each service…we need to be telling people our “stories” of what God has done in our lives…and we need to praise Him with ALL that we have!!!

3. sing to the King…by billy foote and charles silvester horne

4. You are my King…by billy foote

at this point, each service was different…we had a time of prayer in each service…but there was also a ministry time in two of the services, asking God to bring healing to people…healing in their mind, relationships, and in their bodies…then we had both the video and the verbal announcements…and lastly our offering set up…

5. o come all ye faithful…as recorded by third day

then we had the “roll-in” video which was our executive pastor vince nelson, “elfed”…and then he gave our message for the week entitled, “Christmas is for Imperfect Marriages”…

6. You are my King…acoustic reprise

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i’m excited to look back on monday morning and see what God was able to do this past weekend…coming into the rehearsal time i took a quick pole on who felt prepared…there weren’t many hands and the air…the majority seemed to have a very hectic week…and we had two Christmas tunes to pull together as well as teaching “rise and sing” to this band for the first time…it was a lot…but God pulled things together pretty quickly and by the service time saturday night we were ready to go!!!

i am more than pleased with how each of the services went…the band was very solid…i would say that “rise and sing” is a keeper…all of the services became very engaged when we started that one up…each service also had it’s own feel and time of ministry…God worked at different times in each service and in different ways…it was awesome to be a part of!!!

one thing that i ran into this weekend was the handling of ministry time…i had one of the female vocalists leading “You are my King”…yet i felt the need to lead it myself at the end of the service…it’s not a knock on the other vocalists at all, she does a great job…but in my mind the worship leader should be leading at that point of the service…i am able to sense where the pastor is going and lead along side of them…and for some reason, i actually hesitated on this saturday night…

then we got to the ministry time in the service…i was quickly reminded of why i feel that way…the host pastor came up during ministry time and wanted to extend it and even gave a very specific challenge to “someone” that God was telling him needed to deal with things…i was able to continue on without having to communicate that to someone else, for them to lead…i’m just not sure why i even hesitated in the first place???

sooo there you have it…

sunday setlists…LIVE…12/13/09…