Stones of Remembrance

        “So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Josh. 4:4-7, tNIV).



        This last Sunday we had the chance to get together as a team and remember what God has done in the music ministry since September. Coming together as a multi-generational church has not been easy, but the benefit has been great. Some our pile of stones have come from this hard road, but in general as we listened to everyones comments we could see that God was definitely moving among us. This is his ministry and I am so glad that I have the chance to be apart of it.

Here is our pile of stones form our worship team family. I pray that we can remember what God has done as we look forward to what he will do through this ministry.

Soundboard gift...
"The cash gift came in just as we were choosing a sound board."

Together...
"We play better together more and more. Takes less joint practice. Much more confident together." This shows our growth as a band, that it does not take as long to learn a new song.

Daily Dedication to Worship...
"I have appreciated regular Sunday reminder to dedicate worship to God... and seen how that has helped lead to daily dedication of my work day, interaction with others, and relationships, all I do as worship to God"

Musical Growth...
"Nice to have JR sit down and go over a little of the theory or give me a CD to study."

God Being unfalling...
"God has always been unfailing, no matter what songs we do and no matter how well it goes musically."

Growing in Community and models for grace and patience.
“I have been so blessed by everyone on the worship eam and the great examples of patience, grace, humor, caring, etc....i.e. JR with the choir as it transitioned, Milo constant smile and joke.”

Freedom...
"Growing in freedom in worship because we are more comfortable together, the sound folks are providing awesome support, we don't have to worry about 'performing' and we know God is working."

Praise Songs...
"I did not like the 'praise music' because I love hymns. Now I'm use to them and enjoy the worship with another way to sing to our Lord." This takes strength to change musical style, but it is good when the focus in on worshipping God.

Song Selection...
"On paper the songs selection doesn't thrill me but its great - all things work together for good." Being apart of the team it is very easy to get tired of songs quickly, but when you add our congregation it becomes less about the music and more about drawing close to God.

Attention to Music...
"Every few weeks someone from the service asks that the volume be adjusted or the piano louder, ect. After awhile I realized it was really cool that people cared so much about our music." This is a tough lesson, thank you sound crew.

        Here are a couple from my journal that I shared...

Journaling...
"Journaling about the songs and how they interact togethe each week has brought a lot of joy and is my act of worship."

Choir...
"I always have great joy when working with the choir, but the most exciting part is to see them become the lead worshippers in the congregation after the choir week."

Great is Thy Faithfulness...
"Our church came together in September with this song, and the truths found in this song are what makes haveing a multi-genreational church worth it.

We also prayed for Jonathan as he leaves our team. Jonathan, your heart for worship, and expression through music has encouraged us all. We will miss you dearly.