jon mark

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

i was BACK in the LIVE services at lima community church…this after taking the entire month of january “off”…thanks to the snow and wind, saturday night was CANCELED…but sunday morning we were rolling…here we go…

we started the service off with our video announcements and a LIVE announcement from two of our staff, about our video venues…

then i re-introduced myself to the congregation and explained my time off in january…and rolled into this song “i wrote”…you can read about that here…(i will be getting the total amount raised this weekend, and posting it soon)…this rolled right into our meet & greet time…

1. rise and sing…by fee

2. everlasting God…by lincoln brewster

3. Jesus Messiah…by chris tomlin

then our executive pastor, vince nelson, came up and read a passage of scripture…he also set up our offering time…

4. sweetly broken…by jeremy riddle

then we had our roll-in video and our message given by the lead pastor at limacc, dan huckins…right away he let everyone know that i would be matching the first $2,500/$3,000 that was donated to the Haiti relief…and he challenged people to give…then he shared the first message in a four week series entitled “Healing for all of us”…this even included a great video testimony of healing from one of the men in the church, tom turner…very powerful!!!

5. Healer…by hillsong united

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what a weekend to come back to!!! saturday i try to pull in the parking lot and see the dump truck that is plowing…is STUCK!!! and needless to say the saturday night service ended up being canceled a short time later…which means there was NO REHEARSAL saturday…everyone had to show up EARLY sunday…

we were limited on our time, but rehearsal went rather well…as did the services…the band came prepared and God took care of the areas where we were lacking…one transition was HORRIBLE to me in the first service…that was between our song and the roll-in video…it was like taking a train from 100 mph down to 10 mph in a matter of 20 seconds…so i switched the songs around a little, which is reflected in the order above…this was chalked up to a lack of communication/a lack of time to communicate the feel of the roll-in video…

elton john visited for a short while and people really enjoyed that…it was funny because our local newspaper even ran a full page ad about elton john yesterday…our local symphony orchestra is doing a night of his cover tunes…pastor dan was a GREAT sport and threw things right back in my face…but all the while we were challenging people to give to a great cause and they did!!!

the best part of the weekend was the ministry time…i can not tell you how many people were flooding the alter, in need of healing…God was at work this weekend at limacc and it was very evident…i can’t wait to see what He does with the next three weeks of this series!!!

if you want to view the weekend services of limacc, go check out our livestream page…it appears as though they have both services, under one video…the 10:45 service starts at the 01:46 mark in the video…

well, there you have it…

sunday setlists…2010…take ONE…

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…

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. everlasting God…by lincoln brewster

2. Jesus paid it all…as performed by kristian stanfill

then we had our communion set up by the service host…

3. revelation song…by gateway worship

we took the elements following the first chorus of revelation song and then finished it out the song…and our service host came back up to pray and introduce the video announcements…this was followed by a couple more announcements and the offering set up…

4. rise and sing…by fee

5. i am free…by ross parsley

then we had a roll-in video to the message…it was our head pastor’s first week back to speak after a three month sabbatical…so the IT staff decided to “elf” him for the roll-in…it was a nice welcome back!!! the message was entitled “Christmas is for the flawed”…we were challenged to get our hands out of the monkey jar and quit holding on to past mistakes or struggles…

6. rise and sing…by fee

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sooo, this weekend i was absolutely jacked to introduce a new song to everyone…the theme to the message was going to be on redemption…sooo when i was preparing it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to introduce  “rise and sing”…i had been waiting for the chance to do it for a month or so…but nothing had really worked out…but the opening line just rang in my head, “if you’re alive and you’ve been redeemed…RISE AND SING”!!!

the services all went well and by far the majority of the comments, both good and bad, were about the new song…most people really enjoyed it and the song just stuck…each service had people jump up and do exactly what the song was telling them to do…i didn’t even have to ask!!!

the funny part for me was that we followed that song up with “i am free”…and if you’re familiar with that song, it’s up beat and high energy…HOWEVER it was DRAGGING compared to “rise and sing”…i never thought i would have that issue, but hey…

the band did a great job with the music this weekend and coming prepared…we did have to do a little extra work on some things, but it was more than worth it…there were last minute changes in two of the services and the band did a great job of following me…even when i forgot the changes…the good thing is that i was able to smile and laugh at myself inside!!!

it was a great weekend at limacc…it was great to have pastor dan back speaking…God is continuing to work and reach people…i’m SOOO thankful that He allows me to be a part of what He is doing each week!!!

sooo there you have it…

sunday setlists…LIVE…12/6/09…

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…

our services this weekend started off with our video anouncements…i then welcomed everyone and we dove right in…

1. everyone(praises)…by ross parsley

2. all because of Jesus…as performed by fee

then our head pastor, dan huckins, addressed the congregation…this was his first service back in over three months…he’s been on a sabbatical…he gave an update on health problems that he has been dealing with…he shared what God had laid on his heart for limacc to be doing more of…he also set up our offering time…

3. reign in us…by starfield

4. arms open wide…by hillsong united

5. how He loves us…as performed by kim walker

then we had our message given by the executive pastor, vince nelson…he really challenged men to step up and be the Godly leaders we should be…to rely on God’s grace to hold us together and do what He calls us to do…

6. arms open wide…by hillsong united (short reprise)

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this weekend was just a little ODD for some reason…our rehearsal time went ok saturday night…nothing seemed too far out of the ordinary…there were a few things to work out, but nothing major…we had a good run through…but the service was DEAD…

we had a few errors musically that we didn’t have during rehearsal…but that wasn’t it…the service had ZIP for energy and no one was responding to anything…even when our head pastor got up to speak, no one even clapped…it was just ODD…and i really have no idea why…

sunday morning we all showed up and were still scratching our heads…we ran through the problem spots for music and got things ironed out…we pulled one song for the first service, just for the sake of time…and off we went…

right off the bat there was a buzz among the people and things were sooo much better than saturday night…the energy level was there and even more than normal for the 9am crowd…and there was a good response, both during our time of music but also to our head pastor’s return and to the challenge given during the message…

of course we get out there for 10:45am and it’s off the charts…there are people everywhere…the energy is HIGH…and the response was amazing…pastor dan got a standing ovation that lasted quite some time…people were singing and worshipping with everything they had…and i would say musically we didn’t do any better in that service than the others…there were still some mistakes that seemed random to me…but the people were there to worship and did so…their response to the message was awesome as well…

again, this weekend was just ODD…i’ve never seen this big of a difference in the three services…and it leaves me scratching me head as to why…why are the services sooo different…why can’t all of the services have the energy and response of the 10:45am service…and of course i have no answers…sooo i will have to trust God and seek His wisdom and understanding…i will seek Him for answers that i don’t have and for guidance in any changes that i need to make…

sooo there you have it…

sunday setlists…LIVE…11/29/09…