Choir and orchestra begins September 7!
Anyone with a love for singing and playing music is invited to the first Choir & Orchestra practice on Sunday night, September 7 @ 6:00 P.M. in the worship center! No tryout is necessary and childcare is provided for every practice. We'll be listening to the music and you'll be treated to a preview of all the drama, sets and special effects of this year's Christmas Musical. Whereas last year's musical was "cute and light-hearted," this years musical will be big and epic: told directly from the scriptures in a powerful way. Think "the biblical Christmas story" meets "Lord of the Rings." It will be the biggest thing we've every attempted as a worship ministry, and we'll need your help to pull it off for the glory of God!
Christmas Musical: December 12-14
We will perform the Christmas musical on Saturday night, Dec. 13 for the community. Then again on Sunday morning at 9:00 and 10:45. We will also video tape the Christmas musical on Friday night, Dec. 12 so it can be shown on Christmas morning on Fox 7. This isn't public access: this is network T.V., so we have the chance to reach a very large audience! I am so grateful for the opportunity to share the true Christmas story with our community! So mark your calendars, choir and orchestra, you won't want to miss the 2nd weekend in December!
Wednesday night, Aug 20: Pray for the Schools
I wanted to tell you about a great church-wide event. The elders will be leading the church in praying for the elementary, Jr. High and High Schools on Wednesday, Aug. 20. They will meet you here at the FCCN campus, then everyone will carpool to some of the schools and pray on their campus for the teachers, students, faculty and staff. I would love to join you in this, but my small group meets that night, so I'll be unable to attend. I'll have more information in next week's blog.
Value for the Month: "I'm a 10!"
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
By now you should all have taken the spiritual gifts analysis on the FCCN website. You know that you are strong in 2 to three areas. For example, my gifts are administration and evangelism, with lesser strength in exhortation. If you have not yet taken the assessment, you can click on this link: http://www.fccn.org/Resources/SpiritualGiftsAnalysis/tabid/206/Default.aspx
Many of you may be asking, now what? The spiritual gifts analysis does a great job in explaining your strengths, and how to use them. I'd suggest that you read through them and consider where God is leading you to serve. For example, if "teaching" or "exhortation" is one of your gifts, you may consider becoming an equipper in the worship ministry. If "Pastor/Shepherd" or "Administration" is one of your gifts, you may want to look at being a mentor. If "prophesy" is a gift of yours, then the focus group is definitely your thing. If "showing mercy" is one of your gifts, then you need to come with me to the hospitals every week. :)
Most importantly, we all need to find where are passion and talent connect. That is your "sweet spot." If you are both passionate and talented at something, then that is an area where you can achieve excellence.
Here's an example from my own life: I am very passionate about basketball: I love to play it, watch it, read about it, dream about it, etc. But I am not talented in basketball. No matter how hard I try, I will never reach excellence in playing basketball. So God has limited my NBA championship rings to the Xbox on "NBA Live" (I'm the starting point guard for the Indiana Pacers. We've won 2 championships, and I've been named rookie of the year and MVP in the same season. :)
Here's another example: I was very talented in my summer job in high school. I moved heavy boxes around a warehouse and organized shelves. I received excellent performance reviews every quarter, but I HATED IT. I counted the minutes till I was done every day. I was not passionate about it.
So, for me, worship ministry is something that I am very passionate about and where I have some talent. But I'm continuing to refine exactly which role in worship ministry for which I am best suited. Feel free to talk with me about that, by the way, because I welcome your insights.
So, my suggestion for all of us is to find where our talent and passion intersect. That's your sweet spot, and that's where God has called you to be. Consider 1 Corinthians 12 28-31: "And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts."
I'm praying for us all to be able to know where God has created us to say, "I'm a 10!"
God bless,
Phill
Phill Foust
Minister of Worship
First Christian Church of Newburgh
4544 State Rd. 261
Newburgh, IN 47630
Office phone: (812) 858-5000
Cell phone: (812) 449-3474
Fax: (812) 858-5001
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