Black Friday

Each year, on the day after Thanksgiving, thousands of people wake up early and wait in long lines in the cold outside major retail stores just hoping to get a deal on a flat screen TV or a Tickle-Me-Elmo or whatever that year’s must-have gift is.

Several stores opened at 4:00 a.m. this year and Toys-R-Us opened its doors at midnight. The Twitterati reported that there were 1,500 people in line at our local Toys-R-Us store…waiting for toys! If you’ve ever taken part in the Black Friday ritual, you know how passionate people are about this experience.

Part of my responsibilities as a media minister includes arriving at church early each Sunday morning to setup for our four worship services. When I pull in, typically before 6:00 a.m., the only people who are there are the pastor (studying and praying), 1 or 2 of the facilities staff (unlocking doors and turning on lights) and one elderly gentleman who always meets me at the door (gotta get that coffee brewing before the masses arrive!).

I wonder what it would be like to pull into church at 6:00 a.m. this Sunday, Bible and Starbucks in hand, and see 1,500 people waiting in line to get in…waiting to get a gift that isn’t a passing fad and doesn’t need an extended warranty…the most valuable gift ever…Jesus Christ.

Maybe it’s time for us to re-examine our priorities.

Production week

It’s PRODUCTION WEEK again! We’ve been working on lighting, audio, staging, video and more trying to get ready for “He Has Been Good” - this Sunday’s Children’s Choir concert. Production weeks are always hectic as we try to nail down every detail to pull off the perfect concert or event.

That made me think this week...unusual, I know! Are we working as hard as we can to pull of the perfect Sunday morning worship service (basically an event) every week? Are we paying close attention to every detail? Are we preparing with our best efforts to create an environment that will help people come in on Sunday and worship the King of all Creation without distraction?

Wow...I’ve got to get busy working on Sunday’s stuff!!!

Missions Sunday School Lesson

We wrapped up production on the Missions video this afternoon. DVDs are being duplicated as I type.

Pray for those who will watch the lesson on November 22. Ask God to use this to inspire them to live their lives on mission for Him.

I’ll be uploading the video segments (5) to Youtube next week. Stay tuned...

"...and to the ends of the earth"

This week I’ll be editing videos for a Missions Sunday School lesson DVD that will be shown to all of our adult Sunday School classes on November 22. We interviewed several people for this video last week. Brandon and Nikki James shared about God’s calling in their lives to serve in the Dominican Republic, Jason Cline told us about the mission of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Jason Egly told us how First Baptist Hendersonville is partnering with church plants throughout our country.

We also filmed Philip Nation who will be leading the Sunday School lesson video. He challenged us to be Christ’s witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

I’m excited to see how this project is coming together. I’ll post portions of the video as I finish them up.