Reflections for private and family worship and preparation for corporate worship
Posted in Worship Notes on Feb 12th, 2010 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, I just looked at the weather report for this upcoming weekend and a smile came to my face. The forecast is overwhelmingly clear. Cold, to be sure, but there’s a happy little sunshine graphic under each of the dates on the weather calender. There’s no sign of the snow and ice we’ve [...]
Posted in News & Events, Worship Notes on Feb 6th, 2010 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer Family, As Mike just announced, the leadership has decided to cancel services for tomorrow. Like many of you, I am disappointed to miss our time of worship together. Mike also encouraged us to participate in family worship to commemorate the Lord’s Day – but I’m very aware that many of us don’t know [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Jan 22nd, 2010 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, This week we celebrate the ordination and installation of two new deacons. God has greatly blessed us by continuing to raise up new leaders to aid us in our mission to carry the Gospel to our community and to the world. The service this week is a celebration of the calling this [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Jan 15th, 2010 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, Each week as we gather for worship, something amazing happens. It’s much more significant than good music, a well-delivered sermon, or even reconnecting with friends in your community. The very presence of God dwells among His people. God made His presence known first as He walked with Adam in the cool of [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Jan 8th, 2010 Comments Off
Greeting Redeemer family, Happy New Year! I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season, and are enjoying the beginning of 2010. For me, the end of the holidays means saying goodbye to family, taking down the tree, putting away decorations, and finally taking the Christmas music off my MP3 player. As I moved [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Dec 17th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, Christmas is just a week away! The sense of anticipation and excitement is all around us. Personally, I can’t wait to see friends and family next week. Food and presents and traveling and carols: all things that point to this being a very special time of year. While it might be easy [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Dec 11th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! I look forward to this special weekend every year. This week is our annual Lessons and Carols service at Redeemer. For those unfamiliar with this service, I’m sure you’ll notice the difference pretty quickly. Instead of our typical Sunday liturgy, this service features a unique interplay between Scripture and song. The entire [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Dec 3rd, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! December has begun! The turkey leftovers are almost gone from the fridge. The oldies stations have officially switched over to 24 hours of Bing Crosby. Houses are adorned with colored lights and green wreaths are tacked to front doors. Black Friday may be behind us, but my e-mail box is filled with ads reminding me of [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Nov 28th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! It is my hope and prayer that each of you is enjoying a wonderful start to the Thanksgiving holiday. This season is a wonderful gift. It is a time to step away from our usual routine and obligations. It prompts us to reconnect with friends and family. It offers an opportunity to [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Nov 26th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! It is my hope and prayer that each of you is enjoying a wonderful start to the Thanksgiving holiday. This season is a wonderful gift. It is a time to step away from our usual routine and obligations. It prompts us to reconnect with friends and family. It offers an opportunity to [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Nov 20th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! Last week, we learned more about God’s global mission, and had the privilege of praying for the Parks family as they prepare to take the Gospel message to the people of North Africa. That Gospel message, simply stated, is that Christ has come so that we might not die in our sins. [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Nov 13th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! Each week, I sit down to write this e-mail. My hope is that, by talking through some of the various songs and prayers that we will use in our services, you will be prepared to engage with each element in the service. Our aim on Sunday morning is to go beyond simply reciting words [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Nov 5th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! This past weekend was the end of Daylight Saving Time, and by now you’ve probably forgotten all about that extra hour of sleep you got last Sunday morning. I know I have. But I have been very aware of something related. It’s definitely getting dark much earlier in the day. It made me realize how [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Oct 30th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, Before I get too deep into this e-mail, I should make a very important reminder: we set our clocks back an hour this week! But an extra hour’s sleep isn’t the only thing we’re celebrating this Sunday. This weekend is also our annual commemoration of Reformation Sunday and All Saints Day. Both these holidays [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Oct 23rd, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! Earlier this week, I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather by hiking Sharp Top, a ridge just 30 minutes outside of Lynchburg. There really is no place like the mountains of Virginia in the autumn. The explosions of color from every hillside are simply amazing. I’d been looking forward to this hike since [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Oct 17th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, A couple of years ago, a critical scholar named Bart Ehrman wrote a book called “Misquoting Jesus,” claiming that the Bible had been doctored over the centuries and no longer accurately represented the historical Jesus. The author made the rounds of different media outlets, eagerly telling audiences that they should be scandalized [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Oct 3rd, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, This week we come to the end of our series in the book of Proverbs with a look at the important spiritual fruit of self-control. At first, this may seem like a strange way to end a series, with such a specific emphasis. Yet it is also essential that a study on [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Sep 25th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family!\n \nThis week we move towards the end of our series in the book of Proverbs. We have spent the last few months reading through this book of wisdom and asking how Scripture informs particular issues and topics from money to sexuality to citizenship. As we move towards the end of this series, [...]
Posted in News & Events, Worship Notes on Sep 18th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! Most of us have negative associations with church and money. Mention those two words in the same sentence and a flood of mental images follows. Suspicion and cynicism is often close behind. And some of that is well deserved. We’ve all heard stories of charismatic personalities that have used false religious promises [...]
Posted in News & Events, Worship Notes on Aug 28th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, One heart one spirit One voice to praise You We are the body of Christ One goal one vision To see You exalted We are the body of Christ This week we begin our new Fall Sunday School schedule. One of the classes that is offered each season is an Introduction to Redeemer [...]
Posted in News & Events, Worship Notes on Aug 21st, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! This is a week of some big transitions for our church family. The first instance of these transitions was an open house this past Wednesday at the church building on Mimosa and Burnt Bridge. It was a wonderful evening as we meet some of the families in the neighborhood, learned about their [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Aug 14th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, This week we continue our Summer series in the wisdom literature of Proverbs, as Pastor Mike teaches on how we are commanded to pray for our nation. Having grown up in the DC area, I confess that I often get cynical when people start mixing God and politics. Walk the aisles of [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Aug 7th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! Through this Summer, we have been organizing our time of worship around the book of Proverbs, a collection of the wisdom sayings of the ancient people of God. This week, Mike will be teaching on what the words of the Proverbs have to say about our words today. The Scriptures have much [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Jul 31st, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family, This week we take a little side-trip from our Summer series in Proverbs as Mike will be sharing some further reflections on our church’s recent trip to Northern Africa. Mike will be preaching from Matthew 15 on true spirituality. The passage centers around Christ quoting Isaiah: This people honors me with their [...]
Posted in Worship Notes on Jul 27th, 2009 Comments Off
Greetings Redeemer family! After focusing last week on Pride, we continue our series in Proverbs this week by looking at what the book has to say about Humility. We’ve joked around the office about the irony of teaching on humility. Pride seems easy to talk about. We see it in our world regularly. Any time [...]