The Power of Prayer

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”  He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.  Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep.  He said to Peter, “Couldn't you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away* unless I drink it, your will be done.” When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

Matthew 26:36–46 (NLT)

Take a look at this week's video blog: http://youtu.be/4zxZIqgLU4c

When it comes to prayer, there is a mystery that has always excited me. The connection and power available to us through this discipline has always intrigued me and I know I still have much to learn about this dynamic of faith. 

Prayer is as simple as taking to God and listening for His voice, and yet we are told throughout the Bible that when we ask of the Lord He responds in interesting ways. In the Old Testament we even see pictures of how prayer changed the direction of what the Lord may have done (a mystery to me).

So this week, as we move toward Easter, I want to talk about how prayer effects our ministries. Read the passage above that we will be looking at this week in the message and think about these questions:

1. How and when do I currently pray?

2. How does prayer affect the way I serve?

3. Since God is waiting to move based on prayer at times, in what way do I think He wants me to pray for the church, my leadership, and the Easter Services coming up? What other ways may the Lord be asking me to pray?

Announcements:

• ORBC Worship Retreat
• ORBC will be gathering May 2-3. Please block off the evening of of May 2^nd from 6:30 to 8:30PM for an evening of worship and fellowship. Then we will be doing worship leader training from 9 to 4:30PM on Saturday with our Guest Speaker: John Sarno. 
• We will have a Chili Cook-off for lunch! Let me know if you would like to cook for lunch? I will be preparing my own Chili for those that like it medium hot and worship arts will be judging the winner. This is event is for everyone serving in worship arts (tech and performance) on both campuses (Seaford and Salisbury). I will be creating an event shortly and sending you an invite that you will need to register for.
• New Worship Candidate in the Live Venue
• This week we will be hosting a guest (Jeff Hill) and his wife (Nikki). Jeff is interviewing for the position of worship pastor in the Live Venue and will be leading in that venue this week.
• Please be praying for your leaders and for Jeff and his family that God’s voice will be clear with regards to Jeff’s calling to ORBC.
• Devos This Week
• Larry is leading in the Live Venue
• Neil in the Video Venue
• Liz in the Ridge
• Thomas at Seaford
•  Worshipplanning 5.0
• Please let me know if you are having any problems with the new software. We are in testing phase with it and would want to let the manufacturer know. You can also create a trouble ticket as a leader inside the software.

Satisfied In Christ

Philippians 4:11-13: “I am not telling you this because I need anything. I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength.”

Take a few minutes and check out this week's video blog: http://youtu.be/A9QjAXJy6Vc

This week I wanted us to focus on the concept of being content. Personally, these last five months have been filled with a busy, sometimes hard schedule that has had me running around like crazy. I'm really learning the importance of being content and satisfied in my walk with God. 

Keeping that in mind, let's take a look at how this concept aligns with our value of God-honoring living. Make sure you read the passage above (Philippians4:11-13) and come ready to share with the team what your thoughts are.

Here are a few questions to consider to better prepare you for Thursday's devotional time:

1. Am I applying this to my life currently?

2. How can we learn to rest in God to be content in all circumstances?

3. How does this correlate with our value of God-honoring living?

Announcements

• ORBC Worship Retreat
• ORBC will be gathering May 2-3. Please block off the evening of of May 2nd from 6:30 to 8:30PM for an evening of worship and fellowship. Then we will be doing worship leader training from 9 to 4:30PM on Saturday with our Guest Speaker: John Sarno. We will have a Chili Cook-off for lunch that day, so please let me know if you would like to cook for lunch.  I will be preparing my own Chili for those that like it medium hot and worship arts will be judging the winner. This is event is for everyone serving in worship arts (tech and performance) on both campuses (Seaford and Salisbury). I will be creating an official event shortly and sending you all an invite that you will need to respond to and register for.
• Larry Out of Town This Week
• I will be out of town this week from Thursday morning through Sunday evening. I will have limited access to phone and e-mail.
• Devo this wk
• Anna is leading in the Live Venue
• Neil in the Video Venue
• Liz in the Ridge
• Thomas at Seaford
• WorshipPlanning 5.0
• Please let me know if you are having any problems with the new software. We are in testing phase with it and would want to let the manufacturer know. You can also create a trouble ticket as a leader inside the software.

Bugging Out On Legacy

Make sure to check out this week's video blog: http://youtu.be/PkJNzz1EozI.

Take some time to read Matthew 6:19-21 and consider the questions below:

• Where do I currently spend most of my time and treasure?
• How does where I spend my time and treasure effect my long term spiritual legacy?
• Is there a dream I have for impacting others that I have not investigated yet?
• When I get to heaven, what do you Jesus will be celebrating about my life?

Please be praying for this week’s worship venues, our visiting worship pastor candidate (Jeff Hill) and for Pastor Brian as he prepares for the message this week.

Announcements:

• Jeff Hill will be visiting to lead worship the week of April 6^th.
• Please be praying for his wife (Nikki) and kids as they are considering whether ORBC might be a match for their ministry.
• Please be praying for your staff as they pray and work through Jeff’s candidacy for the worship leader position in the Live Venue.
• Ridge Audio Tech Needed
• The Ridge currently does not have an experienced tech to help with rehearsals or to train the band and future audio techs. If you have a heart for and are an experienced audio tech, please let me know so that we can better support what is happening in the Ridge.
• Saturday Recordings
• We currently record the weekend message in HD on Saturday from 3-5PM. If you would like to help with this process we could utilize folks with gifting in audio, HD recording, and lighting. Please e-mail me if you are interested in being added to this rotation. This process currently enables ORBC to be able to provide a technical solution for the message to be delivered to the Seaford Campus that puts them on the same week without any delay.

When You Haven't Had Your Snickers

This week's blog post was written by Liz Elliot.

True confession: My life is a Snickers commercial.  The thing is, I try very hard to keep it inside, but the inner-diva still rages on.  From the time I get up until the time I fall asleep I am a soldier in the battlefield of my mind. And guess what, so do you!

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  It’s a process; if I’m not vigilantly standing watch fueled by spiritual sustenance, I am not victorious. 

Let’s look over some of the topics we have discussed in devotions since the beginning of the year: 

• Having humility
• Being servant-hearted
• Being creative
• Being authentic
• Having balance
• Where we go to seek refreshment and renewal
• Focusing on the win

Forgive me if I missed one or two, but as I look at this list I see that since the beginning of the year (and most likely before that) God has tried to shift our thinking.  Every one of those topics are qualities we battle for and are trying to achieve in the war of our hearts and minds.  

As artists when we act like divas or divos (male version, according to Google) sometimes people give us a free pass.  I’ve heard such things as, “Well wouldn’t you expect that kind of behavior from an artist?” or “Isn’t that typical of musicians?”  I’ve literally had those very words spoken to me about this ministry.   

I’m going to unapologetically say that giving emotional artists (and technicians who are artists in their own right) an excuse for their bad behavior is both demeaning and enabling.  I’m going to bring Rory Noland’s thinking about this on Thursday.  The thing is as a Christian we have the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16).  So when we act out there’s really no excuse other than to realize our fault and our sin.  And nobody gets a free pass. 

So what do we do when we face our thoughts of pride, self-righteousness, negativity, not seeing ourselves for who we really are, out of balance, off track?  What do we do when we are acting like a diva or a divo?  Take a moment this week and meditate on Psalm51 and see if you can find out what we can do when we haven’t had our Snickers. 

Here are some resources that will help you be victorious in renewing your mind:

Battlefieldof the Mind – Joyce Meyer

TheHeart of The Artist – Rory Noland

Effectively Busy

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38–42 (NIV) 

Check out this week's Video BLOG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1597sWt-dk.

And now, check out the text version of the blog below, for the "Old Fashioned At Heart": 

This week I was thinking about how easy it is to get busy. I have heard it said by many people that if you want something done, find someone who is busy. I have grown to really hate that idea the older I get and the more I understand about leadership.

However, it is easy to confuse being busy with being effective. I think that your effectiveness is connected to your mission and goals. Many times they are found in what you celebrate at the end of the day.

This week I want you to think about what we celebrate as a church, as a worship arts ministry. Read the passage above and think about the questions below. Come ready to have a conversation about:

1. What’s the WIN for ORBC?
2. What’s the WIN for ORBC Worship?
3. What is your role ORBC’s WIN?
4. How often do you communicate the WIN to those around you? 

Announcements:

• Worshipplanning 5.0
• Please let me know if you are having any problems with the new software. We are in testing phase with it and would want to let the manufacturer know.
•  Production Conference (March 15^th)
• We are always looking for opportunities to train and learn as a ministry. We would like to discuss if there is an interest to attend a local production conference. Before Thursday night please take a look at the conference http://www.887thebridge.com/events/worship-production-conference-2014.html.  Then come ready to talk about if it is something you would be interested in attending this Thursday night.