I serve an amazing body of believers.
I woke up this morning with a less-than-godly attitude because I was up too late and didn’t get much rest. I know better than to stay out late on Saturday nights, yet I continue to do so. The Celebrate Recovery curriculum would call this a textbook example of “insanity”, ie doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. The one bright side to the morning at this point (around 6:30a) was that I had volunteers in place for every position for all three levels of childrens’ services; meaning I had no specific responsibilities. So, I had planned on checking in on everyone before the 9a service just to make sure everything was squared away and then retiring to my office/cage to nap selfishly. However, on my journey up the tower, I made it to the 4th floor (called The Deck). The Deck is home to Student Ministries and it was abuzz with staff and students preparing for Wake–our Jr. High service. The Wake service just switched from 11a-only to 9a-only in an attempt to relieve the massive congestion in our main adult service at 11. It had been awhile since I hung out for Wake, so I decided to do the “right” thing and stay and encourage my volunteers serving there.
I couldn’t have made a better decision.
I have to give major props to Penuel, Bode (Bo-Dee), and Co. for a service that blessed me more than just about anything in the last year. Wake is crazy. From the music, to the games, to the hilarious skits with Bode’s infamous characters…I had a blast. But see, that’s not even the most awesome part.
I have been blown away by our Sr. High kids who serve faithfully every week at Wake. You talk about kids leading their younger brothers and sisters by example. Man oh man. I immediately became convicted over my earlier selfishness and at the same time became inexplicably excited about being humbled by teenagers who didn’t have a clue how me-centered I was this morning but were just there serving the Lord. The stage and tech booth were crowded with high schoolers making sure the sound/band, light programming, and graphics (ProPresenter ftw!) were all in shape in order to serve the Jr. highers with excellence. Hawesome.
But that’s still not even the best part of the morning.
I used to have three freshman guys who volunteered for me. Their names are Jake, Ryan, and Scott. All three were once quiet and timid kids. But over the last year and a half since I’ve been on staff at Watermark, Jake and Ryan eventually began phasing out of Tech Arts and into Jr. High worship. If you were to walk into Wake on any given Sunday morning, you would find Ryan leading the Jr. High worship band in worship with Jake playing lead guitar. Scott is now one of Wake’s tech producers and lighting gurus. All three have not only matured physically (and boy have they grown up), they have become what we alumni of Camp Ridgecrest would call “studs.” Studs are kids who who are all about being awesome in service, leadership, and four-square. While I’m not sure of their four-square prowess, they have the first two nailed. Watching this maturation take place has been an incredible blessing. Seeing them demonstrating Christ-likeness to their younger peers is downright humbling.
To pull a “Perry“: “YEAH GOD!!”
And that’s still not the best part.
The most amazing thing about being at Wake this morning was not the craziness of the music or absurdity of Bode’s “Interruption Guy.” After all this, the band, led by Ryan and Jake, brought the atmosphere of worship and Penuel brought the challenge. He used the time-tested Watermark analogy of comparing what it means to be on a battleship as opposed to a cruise ship. The church should be the former. I’ll write more about this later, but this is what I love about Watermark more than anything. From the adult services right down to On Your Mark (1st – 3rd), we expect MORE from this body. Our mission is to call all members of our body to become fully-devoted followers of Christ. Not just followers of Christ, fully-devoted followers of Christ. We don’t water down the scripture to get people in the door and improve our marketing angle. We don’t remove all symbols or vestiges of our faith because we’re afraid of seeming too “churchy.” We do what God expects those of us called to full-time ministry to do: Equip the body to advance the Kingdom and hold them to it. If we were just “doing ministry,” we wouldn’t be doing our jobs. We’re called to equip others for ministry.
And the crazy, most awesome thing about it is this: The body abides.
If you serve them, they will come.
And when you challenge them, they will serve.
How. Amazing. Is. That.
So all in all, it was a fantastic morning. When the second adult service was over (it was Spirit-filled as well), I was headed to Chipotle for a quick lunch before getting back for Connecting Point when, on the way there, the perfect morning took another twist: One of my front tires exploded.
Exploded.
It’s only 12:30p by this point people. More on this incredible day tomorrow.
Oh, and the title of this post is actually a slogan on a tshirt Student Ministries made to get kids excited about the time change for Wake. My other favorite shirt said something like “9 is the new 11.” Those guys are so creative.
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