Togetherness

Greetings, Houston First Church of God!
I was thinking about the culture of our church today, and the first word that came to mind was togetherness.
In the worship ministry, I often smile when I see three generations of family serving together – a grandfather on piano, with his adult daughter and granddaughter singing just in front of him. Have you noticed that one couple serves together nearly every Sunday in the back of the church, ensuring that scripture and song lyrics are projected on the screen, and that musical equipment, sound, and all-things-IT are in order before service? Their daughter has recently become a rotating worship team member, and on the days she sings, their entire family is serving at once. When I first came to experience the church, seeing families serve together in ministry let me know that the idea of inviting my own sons to serve with me as instrumental musicians would be welcomed and encouraged at H1. My daughter has joined the worship ministry, too, and she reminded me that she and her eleven-year old friend joined the ministry together. She encouraged her friend to sing confidently for the purpose of God’s glory, and they walked on to the platform side by side, stronger together. Togetherness really is part of who H1 is.
As I have reflected on our corporate focus on multiplying, I thought a bit about how a church with a culture of serving together might spread the message of Jesus in pairs or small groups. I thought about how people might patrner to co-lead new learn groups, and multiply the reach of the word in team fashion. I thought about how I myself could team up with our youth pastor to expand the Sunday worship ministry to include teens who have given their lives to Christ, and reciprocally, how he has invited me to bring worship music to the youth meetings on Wednesdays from time to time. I thought about the upcoming ladies retreat, in which the children’s pastor invited me to partner with her to reach women through worship music that supported the theme of the weekend. Each of us can reach people individually, for sure, but given the culture here… I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many reported sightings of multiplication of the word that’s done with a little help from our friends.
I would like for you to partner with me in inviting your friends to a community worship night on April 20. We will be combining prayer, worship music, and the word of God in a powerful way that may be new to some. Please come with hearts that are open to participating in prophetic, faith-filled songs that are sometimes composed right in the moment – in response to the intercessory prayers that are being lifted and the encouraging words that are being spoken over our lives right from scripture. If you have friends or family members who have been hesitant to seek God in church or small gatherings, partner with me to spread the message of Jesus to them through worship music. Invite them to come to H1 from 6:30-8:30pm that special night. I’ll partner with you by praying for those who are invited, starting now. It’s a way that we can multiply together.
Hosanna! Let our King be lifted up!
 
Anita Cook
 
PS
Don’t forget to set your clocks AHEAD one hour when you go to bed this coming Saturday night!
 
 
Also, as a reminder, if you are interested in getting some of the information from the active shooter training we will have the video available this Sunday at 9:30am in Room 200 upstairs.