Harvest Worship

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FriFridaySepSeptember30th2011 New Church Home Update
Posted Friday, September 30 2011 @ 10 PM
"It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy."
Psalm 92:1-4

It TRULY is good to give thanks to the Lord isn't it?!

Incase you've missed the big announcement last week in church, God has provided for us in a BIG way ... we have a new and permanent church home!  Woodland Middle School has been "home" to us for over 4 years, and now the time has come to move onward to doing BETTER ministry.  Remember, we're about doing things better with excellence that honors Christ, and only Him.  Don't let anyone fool you, but our faithfulness, diligence and pursuit of excellence in ministry is paying off with blessings from the Lord!

Our new church home is going to bring many new exciting ministry opportunities along with new challenges to grow and stretch our faith in Christ together.  We'll have renwed energy in the things that matter most.  With less setup & take-down, we'll gain more energy for practice and excellence in music and production values, more care for guests and visitors, and more undistracted focus in our ministry from the top-down.

Here's what you need to know going into this weekend:

- This Sunday, October 2 will be our LAST & FINAL Sunday at Woodland.  Come prepared to worship the Lord in that place one last time and bring Him glory for the provision that He has offered to this date.

- After service this weekend, we are loading up the trailer and taking everything "home" with us.  Please plan to stick around and help in the final tear-down process.

- Next Sunday, October 9 will be our FIRST Sunday at our new location!  (15 Commerce Drive, Grayslake, IL 60030).

- On Friday, October 7 from 6p - 8:30p, we'll be hosting what we're calling a "Re:Launch Event" at the new ministry center for all volunteers in our worship (music, production, ushers) and children's ministries.  Please make every effort to attend as it will be a night of worship, prayer and training in the new location.

- This week (October 4 - October 7), we'll be in need of volunteers to assist with the setup and installation of current and new equipment and supplies.  The majority of our ministry will see very few changes, as our supplies are easily transported and can be relocated with little disruption.  However, we need to make this place look like home for our new community and first-time guests.  Please email me at matt.till@harvestgurnee.org with your availability.

There are so many more things to say about what God is doing ... but please continue to be in deep prayer for your church through this transition process.  Check out a newly posted video on our website announcing the move, http://www.harvestgurnee.org/.

Looking forward to what the Lord has planned for us this ministry year!

Blessings,

Matt Till
Director of Worship
FriFridaySepSeptember2nd2011 It's Not About You
Posted Friday, September 02 2011 @ 1 PM
When Mary and I set out to lead our church in reading the Bible in a year starting in January, we had no idea of the journey the Lord was about to send us out on.  What seemed like a "good thing to do" has turned out to be the "absolute greatest thing we could have ever done"!  When we finish on December 31, 2011, it won't be a big relief, or a major victory, or a party thrown because of the accomplishment, but rather our personal devotion and time with the Lord has proven to be more valuable than ever imagined.  We have learned more about who God is and what he "requires of you O man" (Micah 6:8).

On every page we are constantly reminded that life is not, has not been, or will ever be about me, you or us.  It's always -- yesterday, today and tomorrow -- about Him!

Ezekiel 36:22 says, "Thus says the Lord God, 'It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name.'"

Listen to me ... God is at work in your life.  He might be placing a trial in front of you.  He might be stretching you beyond your personal comfort zone.  He might be blessing your socks off with an abundance of something.  But no matter what He is doing in your life, it's really not about you!  It's about Him!  He's acting so that you wake up, get a clue, and realize that He is God and not you.  He's acting so that you might become a beacon of hope and light to someone who has no idea who Jesus Christ even is.  He's acting all for the glory of His own name.

So where does that leave us?  Pawns in God's game of chess and self-glorification?  Far from it!  We are prideful, tirelessly-sinful people who dread the idea that we can't have full and complete control of our lives ... we're enslaved to our own sin ... and in that is the beauty of His gracious gift to us.

"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."  (Titus 3:5-7)

Regardless of what God's been doing in your life, make a choice today to draw closer to Him.  The answer is never isolation, backing out of commitments, sleeping in, calling in sick, or hiding under the cover of "private matters".  It's always about God bringing Himself glory in and through you, no matter how or what you're feeling today or tomorrow.

Reflect and pray over this passage beginning today and through the remainder of the weekend, and let's experience God at work together ...

"For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)


Lifting high the name of Jesus Christ in worship,

Matt Till
Director of Worship
WedWednesdayAugAugust24th2011 Excellence in Ministry: Part 2
Posted Wednesday, August 24 2011 @ 6 AM
Hello Friends!

It's been my prayer that you are refreshed and energized by the Spirit of God this week, especially as it comes to learning what it means to bringing excellence in ministry.  It wouldn't be right if we simply poured out our time, energy and resources for an event like the one we had a few weeks ago and not follow up with what the Lord has planned for us this ministry year.  It's my hope that God continues to speak to each and everyone of you, because our ministry is only a small reflection of the larger kingdom of God.  Each of you brings a specific, useful talent and gifting to the body, and God has FULL intentions on using you in that greater purpose!

Last week, I mentioned that excellence is not mediocrity, disengaged ministry, perfection or professional ideals, because at its very core, excellence is not, and has never been, a man-centered reality.  Rather, excellence is a state of transcendent superiority made possible only by the power of Jesus Christ!  In other words, excellence in ministry can ONLY be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit acting in and through obedient followers of Jesus Christ!  

So how do we get there?  

Pastor Mike shared with us a simple, three-point formula that frees up our heart and allows the Holy Spirit to work with little interruption to bring out excellence in our lives.

Character + Talent + Discipline = Excellence

Character:  This is our integrity; who we are when no one is looking.   Are we walking in the light of God's Word?  Are we repentant over our sins?  Are we living a life that is dependent on and a reflection of Jesus Christ as our savior from sin and eternal death?

Talent:  Your natural and spiritual gifts.  Do you recognize what talent, or talents, God has gifted you with?  Are you utilizing your talents?  Are you appreciating them?

Discipline:  Your devotion to investing into your talent for the purpose of getting better.  It's one thing to know that you have have a gift, but it's another to ignore it, sit on it, and let it run dry.  The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 is a great example of what it means to be obedient by investing into the gifts that God has placed in our lives.  Great things come forth when we make the effort!

When all three of these areas are moving forward together, you are making the choice to allow God to take you further and use you for great things in His Kingdom.  It won't amount to gaining the spotlight, or achieving greater status or success, but rather, it will bring a supernatural, transcendent glory and praise to Jesus Christ ... and that's an infectious state of being that is only possibly by the grace of God!

Together as a team, let's hold each other accountable and commit to a greater purpose in achieving excellence in our lives, only by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen?!

Blessings to you friends,

Matt Till
Director of Worship
FriFridayAugAugust19th2011 Excellence in Ministry
Posted Friday, August 19 2011 @ 6 AM
Dear Loved Ones,

Many thanks to those of you who made it out to our training / vision casting meeting last week!  I had a great time being together and truly felt the Lord's presence in the midst of us and our ministry ... I hope you felt the same!

As a recap for those that attended, and a brief overview for those that missed, we spent our night focusing on what it means to participate in and see excellence in ministry.  If you recall, we defined what excellence is by starting with what excellence is not:  mediocrity or perfection.  Mediocrity comes out of a spirit of fear, lack of faith, or just simple laziness.  We saw this clearly in the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25:14-29.  Also, excellence is not perfection, contrary to what the world and Satan wants us to think!  Perfectionism breeds pride and insecurity, yet God's word once again sets us straight from this kind of thinking in Psalm 119:96, "To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless."  Worldly perfection will never achieve the limitless excellence that is found only in the Lord!

Excellence is not mediocrity, disengaged ministry, perfection or professional ideals, because at its very core, excellence is not, and has never been, a man-centered reality.  Rather, excellence is a state of transcendent superiority made possible only by the power of Jesus Christ!  John Piper put it best by stating, "The human heart was made to stand in awe of excellence.  We were made to admire Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

The days of selling-out our hearts to self-reliance, prideful achievements, status, careers, pleasing others, laziness, self-preservation, or disengagement, MUST come to an end.  Romans 9:16 says, "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy."  Friends, excellence in ministry can ONLY be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit acting in and through obedient followers of Jesus Christ!

I'll pick that thought up next week with HOW we obediently follow Christ to achieve excellence, as shared by Pastor Mike at our meeting last Friday ....

Looking forward to great days of ministry ahead with each of you!

See you on Sunday morning!

Matt Till
Director of Worship
ThuThursdayAugAugust11th2011 Training is Tomorrow Night!
Posted Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 4 PM
Dear Worship Ministry Team,

I'm getting excited for our time together TOMORROW NIGHT.  We'll be eating, hanging out, worshiping (courtesy of Curtis Pierce), and opening up God's Word together ... you won't want to miss out on this important event!

Remember, this is for EVERYONE in the ministry. If you haven't already, it's not too late to RSVP and let us know that you'll be coming!  Here are the details, one last time ... 

Friday, August 12, 2011
6:30p - 9:00p
Harvest Bible Chapel Ministry Center
15 Commerce Drive, Suite #115
Grayslake, IL 60030 

R.S.V.P. to Rachael Chmielewski by phone (360) 630-0424 or email christianrachael@gmail.com. 

If you would like to volunteer to bring a dish to share, please reach out to Sarai Usry at saraiusry@yahoo.com.

Looking forward to spending a great evening with all of you tomorrow!

Blessings,

Matt Till
Director of Worship
Harvest WorshipRegular updates and news from the Worship Ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel.

Offices & Ministry Center
15 Commerce Drive #115
Grayslake, IL 60030
(847) 752-8818

Service Location
15 Commerce Drive #105
Grayslake, IL 60030

Worship Services
Sunday 8:30 & 10:30am

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