Weekly Update// Pastor Will

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Hi, friends!

Last Sunday was a remarkable testament to the power of God's presence in our lives. Seeing everyone gathered in one space, united in worship, was a truly inspiring sight. I hope you felt the same sense of unity and awe that I did.

I'd like to share again the Psalm I read before the Celebration of Ministries at Asbury: Psalm 150.

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

            praise him in his mighty heaven!

2 Praise him for his mighty works;

            praise his unequaled greatness!

3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;

            praise him with the lyre and harp!

4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;

            praise him with strings and flutes!

5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;

            praise him with loud clanging cymbals.

6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

What I love about this Psalm is its unrestrained praise. It's as if the Psalmist was determined to exhaust every possible way to express gratitude to God. I can picture them saying, "What instruments do you have? A ram's horn? Fantastic! Bring it!" Or, "You don't have an instrument, but you can dance? Wonderful!" And perhaps my favorite verse, verse 5, which seems to say, "I appreciate your efforts with the cymbals, but I need you to give it your all—eleven out of ten!" You get the idea.

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, I encourage us to focus on the things we have to celebrate. Yes, there will always be things to lament and grieve, and that's perfectly normal and healthy, so make sure to take the necessary time to do so. But let's not forget to celebrate as well. Let's celebrate all that God has done and all that God will continue to do in our lives. Amen? Amen!

We will be resuming our regular service times this Sunday, November 26th, with our 9:30am Contemporary/Celebration Service and our 11:00am Traditional Service. Since it's Christ the King Sunday, the message will be a stand-alone one focusing on that theme.

There's a lot happening in the coming weeks as we approach the Advent season, so be sure to check out the rest of this email for all the details!

 Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and we'll see you all on Sunday.

God Bless,

Will