I can never thank you guys enough for all the support, love and prayers during my niece Lacey's delivery and illness.
She took a dramatic turn this weekend. They were able to remove her from the ventilator on Saturday and took her feeding tube out late Saturday night. She was moved out of ICU and into a regular room on Sunday afternoon. Jaelynn (the baby) was released from the hospital on Saturday and Aunt Tammy got to take care of her this weekend. We were able to bring Jaelynn to the hospital on Sunday night and Lacey was finally able to hold her baby for the first time (she was born on Monday around lunchtime). It was quite an emotional time for all of us!
They were able to get the catheter and the oxygen off Monday and she got her IV out yesterday. I just spoke with my sister and Lacey was released from the hospital and is at home! God has truly blessed our family with the turn around she has made since last Thursday when we came very close to loosing her. We are all praising God for his goodness and healing. We realize that it’s the prayers that everyone has lifted up for her.
Thanks so much for all the love and prayers all of you have shown for my family. I am extremely grateful!!! She still has a long recovery (trying to get that lung to heal properly) so please keep her in you prayers.
Thanks again for everything!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
September Praise Dates ...
Did you notice that the title says dates ... plural. We are going to be singing more this fall! How much more? We are going to see how it goes and decide together how much we want to do. BUT ... in September we'll be singing twice. You are going to LOVE the music!
You can check out the dates on Praise Choir People, our praise choir network. There is a link in the column to the right of this post. Or click here to get there.
You can check out the dates on Praise Choir People, our praise choir network. There is a link in the column to the right of this post. Or click here to get there.
Monday, July 28, 2008
A Lifestyle of Worship
Here is a blog post that I want to share with you. I found it on PraiseCharts Live. It is written by John Telman who is a worship leader at Victory Family Center. You can find more about him at http://www.trulyworship.com/.
The New Testament gives little instruction regarding the use of music in the life of a person and the church. Rather, biblical instruction centers on character development that results in a lifestyle of worship. The song is important but becomes secondary to the more important shape of an individual's inner health. As an example, singing about placing faith in God is full of integrity and value when individuals believe and exercise this fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Does this conclude that we must be perfect to sing? The answer is obviously “no”. As was in the case of the psalmist, we are not fully developed in our character but we must actively address any inconsistencies between what we sing and how we live. The song is an expression of the inner man, not the other way around. While we must perfect the skills and abilities that God has placed in us to sing or play music, we must equally, if not more so, seek the development of the character of Jesus.
Dallas Willard, in his book, “Renovation of the Heart” says, “the life we live out in our moments, hours, days and years wells up from a hidden depth. What is in our heart matters more than anything else for who we become and what becomes of us.”
It's not just a matter of singing about faith. The action of faith must be exercised, (no matter how weak or new) for the song of faith to have meaning. Words mean something. They are expressions of the inner man.
Deep within us, we all intuitively understand this. Have you ever become a part of a quarrel with your family before a worship service? Was it easy to worship moments later or did it affect worship? Without restoration, singing praise and worship to God is shallow!
Jesus taught in Matthew 5:23,24 that our offerings must follow the integrity of the inner man. “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
In fact God so desires the inner man's character to precede the song that he stopped one worship service! “Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:23-24). God sees it all! Our songs don't impress him no matter how beautiful they sound if our hearts are not right! And it is God who we want to impress with our song, isn't it? Do we want God to say to us, “away with the noise of your worship”?
With humility and introspection we can come before Almighty God. We can make his praise glorious as living sacrifices. After all, that is our reasonable worship!
The New Testament gives little instruction regarding the use of music in the life of a person and the church. Rather, biblical instruction centers on character development that results in a lifestyle of worship. The song is important but becomes secondary to the more important shape of an individual's inner health. As an example, singing about placing faith in God is full of integrity and value when individuals believe and exercise this fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Does this conclude that we must be perfect to sing? The answer is obviously “no”. As was in the case of the psalmist, we are not fully developed in our character but we must actively address any inconsistencies between what we sing and how we live. The song is an expression of the inner man, not the other way around. While we must perfect the skills and abilities that God has placed in us to sing or play music, we must equally, if not more so, seek the development of the character of Jesus.
Dallas Willard, in his book, “Renovation of the Heart” says, “the life we live out in our moments, hours, days and years wells up from a hidden depth. What is in our heart matters more than anything else for who we become and what becomes of us.”
It's not just a matter of singing about faith. The action of faith must be exercised, (no matter how weak or new) for the song of faith to have meaning. Words mean something. They are expressions of the inner man.
Deep within us, we all intuitively understand this. Have you ever become a part of a quarrel with your family before a worship service? Was it easy to worship moments later or did it affect worship? Without restoration, singing praise and worship to God is shallow!
Jesus taught in Matthew 5:23,24 that our offerings must follow the integrity of the inner man. “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
In fact God so desires the inner man's character to precede the song that he stopped one worship service! “Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:23-24). God sees it all! Our songs don't impress him no matter how beautiful they sound if our hearts are not right! And it is God who we want to impress with our song, isn't it? Do we want God to say to us, “away with the noise of your worship”?
With humility and introspection we can come before Almighty God. We can make his praise glorious as living sacrifices. After all, that is our reasonable worship!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Oh me of little faith!
Ok… I thought to myself…I can do that, but I didn’t imagine that many others in the group would be able to come. But so what… if we’re a small group and so what… if the droning of the endless
What an amazing experience this morning was! My heart was so full…full of love for all my brothers and sisters in Christ (especially the ones who are dealing with difficult situations and showed up to praise anyway), full of humility for, once again, realizing that my expectations were too small for a God who’s so big…full of gratitude for the opportunity to be part of such a talented and devoted group of people and full of wonder at how God showed up at a Chick-fil-A parking lot.
I love y’all,
Sharyn
In His Presence
Thanks for your service at the His Radio event this morning. We didn't really know what to expect; but once again, God showed up and did what he wanted to do. It was pretty amazing, don't you think?
Who would have thought that singing on a hill, behind the band, in a parking lot, next to one of the busiest roads in town would be a "with God" experience? This one was!
It's a pretty good picture, really, of how God wants to be in our lives. We live with a lot of chaos and noise going on around us. God is there, but we aren't usually aware of him. The stuff around us distracts us and keeps us focused on the wrong things.
But when we praise him, and surrender in worship to him, he moves into the reality of our lives. Just like he did this morning on Woodruff Road. He enccourages us, comforts us, directs us, and brings joy into our lives.
It happens when we are together praising him. But it can also happen anytime in the chaos of our lives. Praise is the entrance into his presence. It is not really that he moves in. He's already there. In praise, we become aware of him and move towards him. When that happens, we are in a position to take part in the kindom life, the abundant life, that he has promised.
We tasted a bit of it this morning!
Thanks His Radio and to our Brookwood family for voting for us and giving us this opportunity. It was a gift.
Who would have thought that singing on a hill, behind the band, in a parking lot, next to one of the busiest roads in town would be a "with God" experience? This one was!
It's a pretty good picture, really, of how God wants to be in our lives. We live with a lot of chaos and noise going on around us. God is there, but we aren't usually aware of him. The stuff around us distracts us and keeps us focused on the wrong things.
But when we praise him, and surrender in worship to him, he moves into the reality of our lives. Just like he did this morning on Woodruff Road. He enccourages us, comforts us, directs us, and brings joy into our lives.
It happens when we are together praising him. But it can also happen anytime in the chaos of our lives. Praise is the entrance into his presence. It is not really that he moves in. He's already there. In praise, we become aware of him and move towards him. When that happens, we are in a position to take part in the kindom life, the abundant life, that he has promised.
We tasted a bit of it this morning!
Thanks His Radio and to our Brookwood family for voting for us and giving us this opportunity. It was a gift.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Lyric Sheet for Friday
Here is a link to the lyric sheet that Tammy has prepared for us for Friday morning.
HIS RADIO LYRICS
I'll see you Thursday evening.
This is going to be fun!!
HIS RADIO LYRICS
I'll see you Thursday evening.
This is going to be fun!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Lord We Praise You
We have a new song on our set list for Friday. Be sure you listen to it on http://praisechoir.ning.com. We have sung it a couple of times on Sunday mornings recently. We'll work on it Thursday night. It's an easy song to learn. I think you are going to love it.
New Prayer Request
Please see the prayer request below from Luke Brunson. Luke is one of our guitarist. Please join the Worship Team in lifting up Luke and his family in our prayers. This e-mail was received on Friday night:
"Zachary has just had another seizure. He's resting now, after giving him his medication to stop the seizure. We'd like to ask you all to join us in prayer for Zachary's healing. We worship a MIGHTY GOD and one who answers the cries of his children in their time of need. There's power in prayer and it's multiplied when two or more believe and ask. The WORD says GOD "WILL" give what we ask for if we believe. It does NOT say.."MAYBE". So, please join us in believing Zachary is completely and totally healed and this will be a mighty miracle for EVERYONE to see.
He is the ALPHA and OMEGA. He knows this thing from start to finish and he WILL finish what he's started because the LORD GOD is NOT a liar and he cannot fail!!!
Thank you in advance for your prayers.
God Be with you all!!
Luke, Victoria, and Zachary"
"Zachary has just had another seizure. He's resting now, after giving him his medication to stop the seizure. We'd like to ask you all to join us in prayer for Zachary's healing. We worship a MIGHTY GOD and one who answers the cries of his children in their time of need. There's power in prayer and it's multiplied when two or more believe and ask. The WORD says GOD "WILL" give what we ask for if we believe. It does NOT say.."MAYBE". So, please join us in believing Zachary is completely and totally healed and this will be a mighty miracle for EVERYONE to see.
He is the ALPHA and OMEGA. He knows this thing from start to finish and he WILL finish what he's started because the LORD GOD is NOT a liar and he cannot fail!!!
Thank you in advance for your prayers.
God Be with you all!!
Luke, Victoria, and Zachary"
Prayer Request Update
I received an voice mail from Brian Moss this morning regarding his mother. He asked me to be sure and thank everyone for their thoughts and prayer last week. On Friday when they did the heart catheter for his mother, Ann, the doctors did find a blockage in the main artery, but they think they can treat it with medication – so praise God they will not have to do surgery. Brain and his entire family were extremely thankful the love and prayers that you provided to them last week.
Let's continue to lift up Ann, Brian and their family as she adjust to being on the medication. Please pray that this will relieve the situation and she will be feeling better real soon.
Thanks again!
Let's continue to lift up Ann, Brian and their family as she adjust to being on the medication. Please pray that this will relieve the situation and she will be feeling better real soon.
Thanks again!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
What an Opportunity!!
I'm excited about the opportunity we have to sing next Friday. From a "perfomance" standpoint, it may be a challenging environment ... outdoors, not many mics, traffic rushing by. But perfomance is not a part of our mission ...
Our mission is to worship and praise God, and to lead others to that same place. We don't need good mics to do that. All we need is an opportunity to praise God. WLFJ is giving us that. Let's just pour out our hearts in praise. Like so many times before, we will see God will take it from there and do his thing!
Get ready to GET YOUR PRAISE ON!!
Our mission is to worship and praise God, and to lead others to that same place. We don't need good mics to do that. All we need is an opportunity to praise God. WLFJ is giving us that. Let's just pour out our hearts in praise. Like so many times before, we will see God will take it from there and do his thing!
Get ready to GET YOUR PRAISE ON!!
Friday, July 18, 2008
His Radio Morning Friends Summer Tour with Rob and Kristen
We are all set to join Rob & Kristen from His Radio on their “Morning Friends Summer Tour” live broadcast next Friday – July 25th at the Chick-fil-A on Woodruff Road. We will need to be on location – ready to sing at 7:00 AM. If everyone could arrive around 6:45 AM we can all get together and be ready by 7:00. We will be singing the following songs:
> I Know Who I Am
> God of This City
> How Can I Keep From Singing
> Everyone (Praises)
> Everlasting God
> Lord We Praise You
We are not certain of whether or not we will have microphones available, or be able to have our instruments plugged in – but we are all going to join in together to sing praise to our God regardless of the limitations!! We all just have to be prepared to “roll with the flow”.
We will have rehearsal for this event on Thursday night – July 24th in the Chapel. We will start at 6:00 PM and should be finished no later than 7:30 PM. Unfortunately childcare will not be provided.
This is quite an honor for Brookwood! We would like to have everyone involved in the Worship ministry available for this event if their schedule will allow. If you have already e-mailed me your availability – thank you. If you haven’t responded please do so as soon as possible, because I will need a headcount of who will be involved.
As far as dress code – everyone is asked to dress casual and comfortable, since we will be in the parking lot of Chick-fil-A. The praise choir is welcome to wear their “Get Your Praise On” tee shirts.
Congratulations! We will see you guys on Thursday night!
> I Know Who I Am
> God of This City
> How Can I Keep From Singing
> Everyone (Praises)
> Everlasting God
> Lord We Praise You
We are not certain of whether or not we will have microphones available, or be able to have our instruments plugged in – but we are all going to join in together to sing praise to our God regardless of the limitations!! We all just have to be prepared to “roll with the flow”.
We will have rehearsal for this event on Thursday night – July 24th in the Chapel. We will start at 6:00 PM and should be finished no later than 7:30 PM. Unfortunately childcare will not be provided.
This is quite an honor for Brookwood! We would like to have everyone involved in the Worship ministry available for this event if their schedule will allow. If you have already e-mailed me your availability – thank you. If you haven’t responded please do so as soon as possible, because I will need a headcount of who will be involved.
As far as dress code – everyone is asked to dress casual and comfortable, since we will be in the parking lot of Chick-fil-A. The praise choir is welcome to wear their “Get Your Praise On” tee shirts.
Congratulations! We will see you guys on Thursday night!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Prayer Request
I would like to ask you to join me in lifting up Brian Moss’ family in your prayers. As many of you know Brian is one of the drummers for our Praise Band. His mother, Ann, has been having some problem with dizzy spells for quite some time. They removed her gall-bladder about a year ago, but she has continued to have problems. They recently found out that she has a blockage around her heart. She is going in Friday – July 18th for a heart catheter. Based on what they find with the heart catheter, they may have to do heart by-pass surgery. Please keep Brian and his family in your prayers this week. Especially pray that Ann will have peace about the procedure(s). Like a typical Mom and Grandmother, she is concerned about her children and grandchildren.
Please lift up Brian’s entire family to our Lord during this difficult time. I have asked Brian to let me know what the doctor’s find on Friday and I will provide everyone with an update.
Thanks!
“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24
Please lift up Brian’s entire family to our Lord during this difficult time. I have asked Brian to let me know what the doctor’s find on Friday and I will provide everyone with an update.
Thanks!
“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24
“His Radio Morning Friends Summer Tour”
As most of you know by now Brookwood’s Praise Choir and Praise Team won the “His Radio Morning Friends Summer Tour” competition. This is quite an honor for our church and our Worship team. I have been in contact with Kristen Roberts from the His Radio Morning Show and we will be singing next Friday morning, July 25th at the Chick-fil-A on Woodruff Road for the His Radio live broadcast.
We will need to be at Chick-fil-A ready to sing at 7:00 AM. We will be featured during their break at 7:10 AM. The morning show will be talking on the air and we will be singing in the background. We will prepare 5-6 songs that the choir and praise team are familiar with and can all sing together. We will sing periodically from 7:10 AM until around 9:00 AM. Unfortunately because of the limited electrical supply we will have available to us at this event, we will not be doing individual solos and members of the Praise Team will have to share the microphones (if we are able to have any microphones at all) with the Praise Choir. We will just all join together in sharing our praise, our worship, and our love for our Lord! We are hoping to have all of our Praise Team and Band Member there for this event – even if they will not be playing an instrument that morning.
This honor was bestowed upon us by His Radio and also by the folks from our church and community who took time to cast a vote for our Praise Team, Praise Band and Praise Choir. We should all feel very honored to have received this recognition for our praise and worship!
I need to know how many folks will be available to participate in this event. Please e-mail me whether or not you will be available during this time next Friday (if you have not e-mailed me already from the e-mail that I sent out to everyone earlier today). I will then follow-up with more details on rehearsal times, etc…
Thanks and congratulations on such an awesome honor!
We will need to be at Chick-fil-A ready to sing at 7:00 AM. We will be featured during their break at 7:10 AM. The morning show will be talking on the air and we will be singing in the background. We will prepare 5-6 songs that the choir and praise team are familiar with and can all sing together. We will sing periodically from 7:10 AM until around 9:00 AM. Unfortunately because of the limited electrical supply we will have available to us at this event, we will not be doing individual solos and members of the Praise Team will have to share the microphones (if we are able to have any microphones at all) with the Praise Choir. We will just all join together in sharing our praise, our worship, and our love for our Lord! We are hoping to have all of our Praise Team and Band Member there for this event – even if they will not be playing an instrument that morning.
This honor was bestowed upon us by His Radio and also by the folks from our church and community who took time to cast a vote for our Praise Team, Praise Band and Praise Choir. We should all feel very honored to have received this recognition for our praise and worship!
I need to know how many folks will be available to participate in this event. Please e-mail me whether or not you will be available during this time next Friday (if you have not e-mailed me already from the e-mail that I sent out to everyone earlier today). I will then follow-up with more details on rehearsal times, etc…
Thanks and congratulations on such an awesome honor!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Congratulations
I heard that we won the WLFJ choir contest. Congratulations! It's fun to see that the folks that worship with us a Brookwood made the effort to vote for us. We are not in the business of getting accolades, but I think that we can view the fact that our fellow worshipers voted for us as an indicator that God is using us in their lives. For that, I'm grateful and humbled.
I hear that we're going to be asked to sing at a WLFJ remote event. I'll let you know more as soon as I hear more.
Get your rest this summer. Next year is shaping up to be a busy one for us. Steve Smith loves what we do and has some big plans!!
- Joe
I hear that we're going to be asked to sing at a WLFJ remote event. I'll let you know more as soon as I hear more.
Get your rest this summer. Next year is shaping up to be a busy one for us. Steve Smith loves what we do and has some big plans!!
- Joe
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The Worship Team would like to thank you for your willingness to use your God-given talents at the Brookwood County Fair on Sunday night. We are hearing a lot of positive feedback.
Joey, Tammy and I would like to thank you for your dedication and commitment to showing God’s love to our church family and the people of this community. They are estimating that we had between 5,000 and 6,000 people here for the event. I know I had a great time and I think that everyone else did as well.
Thanks again for serving!
Steve
Joey, Tammy and I would like to thank you for your dedication and commitment to showing God’s love to our church family and the people of this community. They are estimating that we had between 5,000 and 6,000 people here for the event. I know I had a great time and I think that everyone else did as well.
Thanks again for serving!
Steve
Prayer Request
Please join me in lifting up Chris Moon and his family in our prayers. Chris' mother Ruth Moon (87 yrs. old) had a stroke Monday night 6-23-08 and is paralyzed on her left side. It has left her unable to speak clearly, move her left side or swallow. Her doctors do not think she will do well with rehabilitation although she was sent yesterday to a nursing home to try. She has Alzheimer’s and the doctors tell the family that Alzheimer’s patients just don’t respond to therapy. The problem being that she can’t swallow and won't do rehab, she won't live long without a feeding tube which she doesn’t want.
Please keep Chris and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Please keep Chris and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
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