Overwhelmed by the response to Sunday’s message as we recast RC’s vision and kicked off our “I Am RockChurch” series. The Holy Spirit’s presence was evident during our time of passionate worship that included the following songs:
- Glory to God Forever
- I Belong to You (RockChurched up!)
- How He Loves
- With Everything (Aaron Gillespie)
I especially loved the song “With Everything.” Our worship pastor (Lance Van Tine) had no idea how fitting the lyrics would coincide with the nucleus of my message. I love when the Holy Spirit brings things together.
I really enjoyed the “I Am RockChurch” video that led into the message. Ah, the church is the people, not the building. This is the main theme we will be driving home during this series. Here are some of my notes and thoughts about the message. By the way, for those of you who use the Bible appYouVersion, click HERE to view our set up from Sunday.
I Am RockChurch (Part 1) | Running With The Vision
- No vision = people perish (Proverbs 29:18)
- RC Vision = To reach and impact the Peoria area and world by delivering the Word of God through relevant worship, discipleship, relationship, and stewardship.
- Staggering statistic: 66% of American adults say religion is losing influence in American life. I believe one of the reasons for this statistic is because a lot of churches can no longer relate to people. They have become monuments or museums instead of movements. The message is relevant, but their style is not. I read an excerpt from Outreach Magazine entitled Then vs. Now. Watch the video podcast for more on this.
- I spent some time explaining RC’s worship style and why we worship.
- Psalm 9:1 says, I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; The Hebrew word for praise in this verse is yadah = throwing forth of the hands. This is why we raise our hands during worship. (This word in the yoda version is translated as, “Praise Him ye must.”)
- Psalm 22:22 says, …in the congregation I will praise you. The Hebrew word for praise here is halal = make a boast, act clamorously foolish before the Lord. Now you know why some people “get into it” during our worship service.
- Psalm 34:1 says, I will extol (bless = barak = kneel before) the Lord at all times; His praise (tahilla = act of public praise) will always be on my lips. This explains those who feel compelled to kneel during worship and why we worship corporately.
- Psalm 63:3 says, Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify (praise) you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. The Hebrew word for praise in this verse is shaback = shout unto the Lord, glory, triumph, congratulate . This is why people get excited and shout out the occasional, “Woo-hoo!”
- I also shared our mission to: Reach the unchurched for Jesus, to teach the unchurched about Jesus, to build the church and make disciples of Jesus.
- I ended the message with another staggering statistic: There are 70,000 unchurched people in the area. What I have since found out is this number only includes Tazewell county! There is enough room for every church to be full!
I closed the service by simply stating, “There are people in our community who are going to hell because we don’t have room for them. We have plans to build a new sanctuary that will seat between 500-600 people but we can’t build it until we add a 4th service (hopefully on Saturday nights), but we can’t add a 4th service until more people step up to serve. Will you serve?”
Tonight we honor our amazing volunteers and leaders at our annual Team RC Banquet. We would love to have YOU join us next year. Will you consider serving? If so, click HERE.
We need you. The world needs you. Jesus needs you.
On The Rock,
~Chuck
