July 16th, 2006 - Sunday Service

In the announcements today Debi talked about the youth gathering and what she heard and experienced over the web last week. She talked movingly about what the future call the youth were given by the speakers in San Antonio. She also gave a snippet of the stories and the background of the presenters that they heard as well.

Matt gave the Children's talk. Specifically he sang Bill Staines "All God's Critters Got A Place In The Choir", teaching the children the chorus while he sang the verses. This was in part to let them know the Oregon Zoo will be coming by with animals in a couple of weeks. Hearing a Bill Staines song at Creator felt right and tied my Creator experience with the folk music crowd in Seattle where Staines was viewed as a songwriter's songwriter

Pastor Fred talked about John the Baptist in his sermon and focused on the pressure that Herod found difficult to fight when he gave his word that his niece could have whatever she wanted after her dance. Pastor Fred commented that this was a tough piece to write a sermon on and it felt hard as Pastor Fred talked about personally caving in and standing up to peer and social pressure (the latter by leading a Civil Rights march in Baywood, Illinois when he was in college).

There was a special power in David Lee's Sanctus that caught our attention and then our breath. Joy And Thanksgiving was the sending song and energy built on energy. There are times when it is hard to tell if your energy and love for the music is felt in the congregation like it is with the musicians but people gathered around us at the end and someone told me how they loved to watch when the love of the music was so clearly there.

I could not agree more.