Throughout all the chapters we had to read this week there was the constant reminder that it is all through Jesus. "Worship is a meeting between God and human beings" (pg 88) This can only happen because Jesus made a way for us to communicate and have relationship. It is so cool to know that we are experiencing the work of Jesus in motion. We worship in excitement and anticipation for when Jesus returns. I needed to read these chapters to reevaluate my worship times and if i am really focusing on what worship is or if I am focusing on what I want it to be. Finally it was a great reminder of how important the church is as a body of believers. We do not all get every gift but it is worship when we all help each other by offering our gifts as an act of service. "Worship brings believers together and arranges them according to their functions." (pg 69)

While reading through the second part of this book for class I was feeling tired and like I wanted to be done, but then He mentioned Galatians 5 and at first I just kind of skimmed over it. I kept reading but I kept thinking about Galatians 5 and how I want to look up the whole chapter and read it again and I am so glad I did.  At the end of verse six it says "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love". If I challenged myself to living out this chapter everyday my life would look drastically different in a good way. Then the chapter ends by saying "Since we live by the Spirit. let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." I don't even realize when these qualities slip into my everyday life but I want to be careful of this. I am the kind of person who feels things very deeply and am affected by however I start my day so If I challenged myself with these couple verses in the morning I think I would see a great change in my life. Hopefully This encouraged you to do the same. REMEMBER!! "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" :)

Chapters 1&2 Joyfully persue a relationship with our Creator

Alrightyyyyyy! well, I just started reading the book Worship Old and New by Robert E. Weber for my worship lesson and I have already been challenged by it. One of the things that really hit me while reading the first chapter is that he talks about worship being a joyful act. I have been so challenged by the idea of being joyful this month. In 1 Peter 1:8 Is says "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." I love this verse because it basically tells us that if we are a believer we have no choice but to be filled with the joy that is hard to express. This is one key thing that sets us apart in this world. People can see we are different because of our joy. It's challenging isn't it? Our worship should come out of a place of joy.
The thing I loved about chapter 2 is that it was a great reminder of how God is constantly pursuing a relationship with his people. We talked about this in class last week but it made me examine my own thinking when Josh said something like its not that we should be asking for more revelation but we should be asking God to open our eyes to the revelation of him that is all around us. He is available... we usually are not.

Well I finally figured out how to log into this blog again which is really exciting! Anyways... On thursday and friday we had to attend lecture series for one of our classes. My favorite part of this years lecture series was learning about the country of Kosovo. It was so interesting that most of their population is under the age of 30. I think it would be a really cool place to visit because they have only been a country for a couple of years. It was also interesting to hear that the guy who spoke was part of the only Christian band in the country. That is crazy to me since we have so many in the USA. They really challenged us to be mission minded and use our gifts to further God's Kingdom. It was exciting to hear the good things that are going on around the world. It also reminded me how we can have a huge impact on the world by allowing ourselves to be used.

Another cool thing that happened this week was the 24 hour worship event at Visible Music College. It was an amazing time of encountering our Savior and lifting up the Name of the Lord. Everyone who lead did a great job of listening to the Spirit and pointing us to the things of God. I especially enjoyed spending time in the prayer room. It was a space where I could relax and easily focus on communicating with God. I need to spend more time in prayer because it totally refreshed me.

Kairos Moment

Kairos Moment:

I took classical piano lessons growing up and hated it like most kids do. However, my mom could see I had a gift in music so she forced me to attend lessons. The only reason I liked going is because she always brought me through white castle after my lesson. This was very special for me because I was the only one that liked White Castle in my family and it was the only time I ate fast food. I know they are disgusting but sometimes I crave one of those hot sliders haha!! Anyways, this went on for years and finally one day I was crying to my mom in the car and I said “all I want to be able to do is worship while playing the piano.” She must have liked that answer because after that we were determined to find someone who could teach me chords and how to lead a congregation into worship. We came in contact with this lady named Abby Lopez who is an incredible polish musician who had a heart for worship and the church. She was an answer to prayer. She taught me Chords, how to lead vocally, and a guitar.

All this was going on when I was in junior high. I was about 13 and that is an extremely hard age for young girls at least it was for me. I struggled with self esteem issues and also just trying to figure out who I was. I had a desire to do the things of the Lord but I didn’t spend time in the word on my own and my idea of a good worship time was singing songs that I liked. I soon learned that singing songs I liked wasn’t worship at all. One lesson I was sitting with Abby and she told me to sing out to the Lord whatever was on my heart. I got extremely embarrassed and said I had nothing to say. She then stated that I have a lot to say and that I should do what she asked. She would always come off very aggressive because her first language is polish so she didn’t spend time thinking about how to say things in a nice way. I have to add that I was very emotional at 13. People could just give me a weird look and I would start crying. Needless to say I was all choked up and embarrassed that I had nothing to say/ sing out to the Lord because I wasn’t confident in who he was in my life. A week or two later I was at a the Mighty to Save Hillsong Concert and we were singing the song “Fire Fall Down” and for the first time I truly had a desire to know the Lord and let the Holy Spirit invade my life completely. I remember standing there completely unaware of my surroundings just praying that God would use my mouth to express his goodness and truths in my everyday life. That was a moment of transformation. I experienced the Lord in a new way.

The next week when I came to lesson I was singing out new melodies and truths about the Lord and Abby was shocked. She asked me what Happened and I explained to her that I wasn’t really sure what happened but that the Lord had answered my prayer and broke me of my pride. I knew who he was and I was confident in who He made me to be. After that experience I had a desire to read His word and become more like him. I started memorizing scripture and sharing the goodness of the Lord with my friends. I am forever changed by that moment when I acknowledged the Holy Spirit living in me and started allowing Him to act through me.

This was the verse I have lived by ever since.

1 Timothy 4:11-16

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

In Class on Thursday we learned how to run a sound board! Yikes ;) This was something I have never even touched before because technology and I have an extremely hard time getting along. Anyways it was so good for me to learn and understand how it works. I hope everyone in class enjoyed me singing "baby" for at least 15 min! haha

Leadership

I learned so much about leadership in class on thursday!
It was really interesting because we started off the conversation talking about how leadership is a skill not a gift. It is something that is learned. The best leaders are the best followers. Being a follower means that you have to work on being confident, credible, and compassionate. Those things only come if you have taken the time to follow and learn from other people.

This lesson really excited and challenged me because I feel like I am becoming a good follower by getting a chance to learn under Josh... He has gained so much wisdom from following others and I am so lucky to get to learn under him! Our ultimate goal is to follow Christ right? and he is the greatest example of how to be a fantastic leader by following God the Father.

I was just reading Hebrews 12 and the last two verses were a great reminder to me of what our worship should look like..
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptable with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." mmmmmmmm scripture is  amazing!