Immanuel Worship

I can't wait for tomorrow. It is Sunday and I love worshiping with our people at Immanuel. I had a guy come in my office this week to meet with me. He told me that his life had been a waste up to this point. He said that he had sensed God calling him to Himself. He said "I need redemption and I know the only way is through Jesus. I need His forgiveness and salvation. What do I do?"

Well, that was an easy one. So, I walked him through some scripture that answered that question. He went on to say that the choir and the music had convicted and encouraged him during the services he had attended at Immanuel. That is what it's all about! Bringing glory to God through our worship and allowing Him to work through that in people's lives. Amazing!

David Phelps in Concert

Sunday night, December 6, Immanuel will host DAVID PHELPS in concert with the Immanuel Choir. This will be his "O Holy Night" Christmas Concert, and is going to be amazing. Tickets are still available at the church office or ONLINE at itickets.com . Below, you can hear "O Holy Night". This is one of the songs the Immanuel Choir will be singing with David that night. You don't want to miss it! Get your tickets today.

Christmas with David Phelps and the Immanuel Choir

David Phelps is going to be in concert with the Immanuel Choir on December 6, at 7pm at Immanuel. David is one of the most prolific voices in Christian music today. His Christmas CD is my favorite one of his. Although, I have to admit that Christmas music in general is my favorite. So, it should come as no surprise.

We haven't even begun rolling radio spots yet. However, we are already getting a lot of phone calls and emails. Some of the stranger locations people are calling and emailing from are Montana, Las Vegas, and Northern California. I can't wait to see all of the places we end up having represented that night.

One of the emails we received was hilarious. This lady is a "Super-Phan" of David Phelps. You'll understand why I spelled it that way when you read the email. Check it out below:

Jeff,

I invite you to come to www.davidphelps.com and get a taste of DP. We are a Christian bunch of phans (we spell it that way) and we praise together, pray together, stand awestruck at The Curly One's talent. Yes, I guess, we are groupies. Come join the phun.

Are you kidding me?

Sugar Highs and Lows

Last night was another great rehearsal. However, I had been suffering from a really bad headache all day. Toward the end of rehearsal it became apparent to me that my sugar was off. So, I quickly made an exit and went home. I'm so thankful to have a staff that can just pick up things for me and run with them. They always do a great job. So, I've been recovering since last night. The headache is still with me, but overall, I'm feeling much better. Crazy huh? Maybe the government slipped something in my water. Hmmmm?

Sunday Rehearsals

Wow. I didn't realize that yesterdays blog would generate such great response. "Thanks" to each of you for your input. Some were unable to log on to comment and sent me emails instead. Cool. But, on to a different subject.

The Immanuel Choir has been so blessed over the past several months. We've been the recipient of so many new people into the ministry. Praise the Lord! We've also been doing some research among our congregation and have come to realize that there are others who say they would love to be a part of the choir, but that their mid-week schedules keep them from attending rehearsals. Well, we've just fixed that for them. Beginning Sunday, September 16th, we will be adding an additional rehearsal to Sunday afternoon. That rehearsal will start at 3:30 and will be a condensed version of Wednesday nights. If you've been unable to attend previously, this will give you the opportunity to still be a part of the work that God is doing through the Immanuel Choir.

I hope to see you there. In the meantime, each of our choir members are working on bringing one person into the ministry. I believer that there are numerous people within our church that need to be connected and make an investment in their own ministry. What better place to be than in the choir? I'm praying for God to add 50 new members this fall. Join with me as we believe God for huge results.

A Few Loose Ends

I've got a few loose ends to tie up today for worship in a couple of weeks. I try my best to stay two weeks ahead. It really helps our staff to have plenty of time to prepare. It also gives me more time to live with the songs, the scripture, and the worship concept as a whole before leading our people in worship.

Wednesday night, I challenged our people to bring just one person into the Immanuel Choir by our fall kickoff date in mid-September. They all seemed to accept the challenge, so I'm very excited to see more people invest in this ministry. One of our altos even gave me two names and phone numbers of people that she has been talking with about joining. I called both and as a result I believe that they both might join soon.

As I explained on Wednesday night - it's not about seeing how many people we can get into the choir. It is so much bigger than that. The more people that come into this ministry, the more people there are that are investing in the life of the church. It also enables us to accomplish greater things. Our circle of influence is also expanded. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. We all get so much out of being a part of this ministry. Why not get others involved, allow them to make the investment and enjoy the rewards just as we do?

I'm so excited about what God is doing and is going to do.

Fall Kickoff

The Immanuel Choir will be having our Fall Kickoff in September. We are encouraging every current member to invite and enroll one other person. If that were to happen, can you imagine the blessings we would receive from doubling the size of our ministry. Think of the number of families that would be directly involved in the ministry, in addition to the new abilities we would discover and see God use in our church and community. Share the blessings! If you fill blessed to be a part of this choir, then allow others to share in those blessings by involving them in the ministry. I'll be posting more details as we get a little closer.

Contract Signing

I signed the contract on my first publishing deal today. It was an amazing feeling...having a dream come true. I had to have someone sign as a witness that wasn't related to me, so I chose my Pastor. He has been very supportive and encouraging ever since I've known him. So, I asked him for the honor of having him on my first publishing contract. He actually left his house just to meet me for it. Be in prayer for him this week as he is going to Decatur, AL to preach. He asked me what business casual looked like in Alabama. I laughed and told him that it looks about like it does out here. He is going to get to preach in a Tommy-Bahama shirt and slacks. He was so excited!

Alright Immanuel Choir. It is time to start inviting and encouraging others to join us. We are gearing up for our fall kickoff and enrollment campaign in September. Get an early jump on it and get people thinking and praying about joining us now. I'd love to see an influx of new choir members this fall. I'll give you some goals to shoot for over the next couple of weeks.

Twice as Nice?

One of the issues we are facing as a choir is that God has been blessing us to such extremes that we've outgrown our current rehearsal facility. Leading up to the summer, the room has been packed out...and when I say packed out, I mean packed out! What a great problem to have. Every rehearsal is high on energy and that makes for an incredible worship experience. We are praying that the Lord will carry this momentum over into the fall. However, with this comes a need to create a solution.

We are seriously considering creating a second rehearsal time. Sunday afternoon seems to be the obvious solution. I'm thinking that those involved in other Wednesday night activities that keep them from participating in rehearsals may be free to attend a Sunday afternoon rehearsal. It may also lend itself to be more convenient for some of those currently attending Wednesday night. The chance we take is in diminishing the energy level and excitement of Wednesday's rehearsals.

Part of being a leader is making those decisions that have the potential for both success and failure. That's my role, so it is ultimately my call. I'm totally trusting God on this one!

Leading in Worship

I received an encouraging email this morning about our worship services over the past few months. The writer of this email said that they had noticed a change in the choir and that they seem to be "expressing worship" as they lead." They went on to say that they are often so drawn in to the worship experience that they are still consumed with a flood of thoughts and emotions when our Pastor comes up to preach. That is the whole point! When we are in the Lord's presence we can't stay the same. We are left reeling with emotion and overcome with a sense of awe. Just as Isaiah said "woe is me" when He was in the presence of the Lord, we too will see ourselves for who we really are when we see Him for Who He really is.

The email went on to say that the one critique they have of me is that I dress too conservative. However, their idea of the way I should dress was to "come out one day in red blazer and shock the congregation". That ain't happening. First of all, I don't do blazers. Secondly, even if I did, it wouldn't be red.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

Jody and I are taking off today for the great city of San Antonio. This will be our first time flying XPress Jet, so we'll see how good this new airline is. The cool thing is that the flight is a straight shot and is only supposed to take about 2 1/2 hours. I will probably be on a temporary leave from the blogging world for a few days while we are there. However, if you want to watch the convention live, go HERE. At this site, you'll have to look around for the link to watch the convention live. The Immanuel Choir will be singing at various times throughout Wednesday morning, as well as with the combined choirs on Wednesday night. We will be singing for approximately 15 minutes at 8am (Central Time) Wednesday morning, again for 5 minutes at 10AM, and then again just before the Pastor preaches at 11:20. I'll give you low down on all the happenings when I get back!

San Antonio or Bust

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Jody and I are flying out for San Antonio, TX tomorrow afternoon, and I can't wait for the rest of the choir and orchestra to get there. I am meeting with Scott White on Monday to make sure everything is set up properly and all that we need is in place. Scott White is the Minister of Music at the great FBC Woodstock in Woodstock, GA, and is serving as the Music Director for the Southern Baptist Convention this year. Scott and I have been friends for about 5 years, and I've loved getting to know him better. I'm looking forward to getting to hang out with him a little, though I know he'll be extremely busy. Travis Cottrell will be leading worship on Wednesday night, and The Immanuel Choir will get to lead with him. That is too cool.

To all who are going on the trip: Have a safe flight (or drive) and I can't wait to see you in TX. It is going to be a blast. A lot of work, tiring days, and long hours - but there is always excitement when our hearts are right and we're working for the Kingdom. See 'ya in San Antonio!

That Little Treat I Promised 'Ya

Okay, okay. I've heard the outcry and am hear to answer your request. Below you will find the video link to watch The Immanuel Choir singing Mountain Mover. Enjoy!

Sunday's Report

I'm sorry I am Monday night getting a report out on Sunday's worship services. I've been in meetings most of the day and preparing for San Antonio. Things are going well and I am sure that the trip is going to be a great one. However, on to Sunday -
We had an incredible time of worship yesterday. Any time you are in the presence of God things happen, but yesterday was unique. We brought the entire choir in for our worship services, and the difference was explosive. For those of you who may not be aware, our entire choir does not sing in each of the worship services on Sunday morning. Instead, we have about 50% who sing in both services, and the rest sing in one or the other. For one reason, we don't have the choir loft space for comfort for the entire choir. Secondly, it affords the choir members the opportunity to plug into Bible Study classes during one of the service times, which is important for a worship leader.

However, having the entire choir there together made an obvious difference. As soon as they took the platform they brought with them an electric atmosphere. I often say that the congregation is a mirror image of the choir; and it's true. They modeled what their worship leaders were exemplifying and true worship took place. It was amazing to hear from people throughout the day yesterday and even this morning. I have received numerous emails and phone calls about how God showed up and spoke to people's hearts. And as I told people in response to those statements -God doesn't show up just to say "what's up?". When God speaks He means business. Sell out fully to Him. You can't give Him a portion of anything. He deserves it all.

Continue to give your all for the cause of Christ and watch in amazement at how He will choose to use you. Check back tomorrow for the treat I promised you. Lord willing, I'll have it posted before the end of the day.

Tomorrow is Sunday!

I am really excited about church tomorrow. Okay...I'm always excited about church, but tomorrow is really going to be awesome. I can't wait to meet together with each of my brothers and sisters at Immanuel to worship. I love it when we sing together, pray together, and study God's word together. It truly is a family experience. But, the Immanuel Choir is doing a great song called Mountain Mover, and this choir and orchestra knock it out of the park. Anne's solo is incredible too; but when is she not? Some friends of ours are coming out from Tennessee and will be in the services tomorrow, as well. The choir is growing tremendously and will be in full force, so, it will be an exciting day.

If you are in Southern California, make plans to be at Immanuel tomorrow morning. It is going to be awesome!

The Immanuel Choir

We had another awesome rehearsal again tonight. We are only 13 days away from our trip to San Antonio to lead worship at the Southern Baptist Convention, and are people are pumped. We sang a song tonight called Mountain Mover in preparation for Sunday morning, and it flat out rocked. I can't wait for Sunday Morning. Please continue to pray that God will heal my voice. I still can't talk much louder than a whisper with no relief in sight. I'm praying also that when my voice comes back I will sound like Larnelle Harris.

Taking the Hits

It has been really interesting to see how God is using this blog in the lives of others. I've had several, both verbally and in writing, share different stories with me about how the blog has encouraged them, or how someone they told about the blog enjoys reading it, etc. It has recently been brought to my attention that we have readers in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina - all in addition to California. What an awesome honor that is. I hope that each of you continue to find something here that inspires you, encourages you, and that makes you laugh.

Along those lines, something that we have recently begun within the Immanuel Choir is servant teams. Each of these teams have different responsibilities with the worship ministry. We have a team that comes in to help pull all of our music once a week. This team is responsible for getting all of the orchestra's folders prepared for rehearsal and worship services, as well as getting the praise team's music put together. Another team is our welcome team. This team greets all of our choir members each week at rehearsal, but more specifically, they meet and greet first time visitors. Part of their responsibility includes registering our first time guests, partnering them with another choir member, and helping them to get their music. By partnering them with another choir member, this guest immediately feels welcome and no longer feels alone in a room full of strangers.

The purposes behind servant teams are many. The top 3 would be:
1) For people to make an investment in their ministry. I have found that when people cease to be one of the many and actually take ownership in their ministry, they will become more faithful. We have seen proof of this at Immanuel.
2) To serve the Lord. How simple is that?
3) To enable the people to do the work of the kingdom.

When your people feel validated in what they are doing, they will do it with excellence. Empower your people to lead and you will see a ministry take off to regions you would have never before imagined.

Ministry Highlight

I had the opportunity to meet by phone with Lavon Gray today. Lavon is the Minister of Music at First Baptist Jackson, MS. He will be the worship leader for one of the worship sessions with our choir and orchestra in San Antonio, TX at the SBC. During our talk we discovered that we had one year in common when we were both at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. I seem to run into "Southwesterners" more often than you may think. There are many of us in the ministry, praise the Lord! Lavon is leading his choir to St. Petersburg, Russia from May 31st - June 9th. Lavon, I am praying for you as you minister in the name of Jesus. I can't wait to hang out in San Antonio and hear about what God did on that trip.

I hope our Immanuel family knows what a great Pastor God has blessed us with. We seem to take for granted people and things over time. The things that we've been experiencing and witnessing at Immanuel are not happening everywhere. We should marvel in the presence of God at what He is allowing us to be a part of. Serve Him with everything you have this week. Do not allow negativity to creep in to any aspect of your life. A negative attitude is the beginning of destruction. Stay positive, giving thanks to God in every situation.

I Still Believe

Many have asked for a copy of this past Sunday morning's video of the Immanuel Choir singing I Believe. I felt the easiest thing to do would be to post it online. You should check it out. Let me know what you think.
Just click on this link: The Immanuel Choir sings I Believe

I Believe

Wow! What an honor it was this morning to sing a song that the Lord had chosen to write through me. Immanuel Choir and Orchestra - thank you so much for indulging me and pouring yourself into it. You "sold it" and really made the difference. People have shared with me today how encouraged they were by your ministry. It is an amazing feeling to sing a song that was birthed from your heart and to hear others use it to convey a message. Each of you are the reason I do what I do. You are such an awesome blessing and I thank God that I get the opportunity to serve alongside you. See 'ya Wednesday!