Yesterday's service: WOW!

The Catalyst conference last week was really, really challenging and inspiring, but I will write more about that tomorrow. I hope you were at Freedom yesterday. We had a Lord's Supper service that was amazing! It was so cool to see Dads and Moms leading their kids in the receiving of the bread and the cup. I couldn't help but think that this will be the kind of service that these kids will remember for a long time. When we were planning this service, one of the things we wanted to accomplish was for parents (specifically Dads) to lead their families in this important tradition. Too often parents (again specifically Dads) think that the spiritual development of their kids is the church's responsibility. Nothing could be further from the truth. If yesterday was the first time you led your family in prayer or read scripture to them, don't let it be the last. Begin a new tradition in your home where Dad (or Mom if Dad is no longer around) leads the family in a closer walk with Jesus. Thirty years from now, you'll be glad that you did.

It was also cool yesterday to see teenagers whose parents weren't there taking the Lord's Supper together, as well as three generations of Greene's (Tom, Scott, and Stephen) at the table together, and a grown brother and sister celebrating the Lord's Supper. I could go on and on about how powerful it was to witness.

Every week at Freedom, lots of hard work goes into making the service a reality, but this week there were some extra things that had to be done. Let me take this space to thank a few folks:

- Jake Ticknor: Jake built the crosses that were used down front. I told Jake that I wanted them to be sturdy because the last thing we wanted was for one of them to fall on someone. They were sturdy, and they looked awesome.

- Ted, Chad, Mark and the rest of the set-up team: There were lots of changes to the normal set-up yesterday, and Ted's crew handled it all smoothly and with a great attitude.

- Band: They do a great job every week of being prepared and working hard to lead us to see Jesus, but yesterday was something special. I thought I was going to explode when they led us in "Mighty to Save", I was so jacked up! By the way, they looked and sounded great up on the stage didn't they?

- Debbie Bateman, Lisa Wilson: These two ladies always make sure we have enough bread and juice, and that they are presented in a way that looks good.

- Donny and Blake: I had the idea of doing the Lord's Supper in a different way, and as I talked the idea out with these two guys they did a great job of helping figure out ways to do it smoothly and with meaning. There are so many things about yesterday's service that would have been done differently without their input, and the result would not have been good.

This post is too long already, but let me share one more cool thing about yesterday. After the service we went to Rock's for lunch with a family who are fairly new at Freedom. It was great to talk with them about what kind of church we want Freedom to become, and to find out how their first impressions have been. It was also cool to see so many tables there filled with other families from Freedom all eating together and just generally having a great time.

Don't be afraid to leave a comment about how yesterday's service affected you and your family.