We want to see You in Pictures!

Recently, we started showing a photo-slideshow before the Connections Worship Service. We desire for it to reflect the many people who are involved with Connections and with First Baptist.

We need your help.

In order to show a wide variety of activities and people, we need a lot of pictures. That's where you come in. If you have any pictures that you would be willing to share with everyone, get them to us and we will use them.

If you have them digitally, that's great. Just put them on a cd and give them to any member of the Connect Team.

If you are like me.. (still holding on to film for personal photography) then bring either prints or negatives in an envelope with your name on it and I will scan them into the computer and make sure that you get your prints or negatives back safely.

Either way, please let us know some details of the images (what's going on... events, etc.)

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or head over to the Connections Google Group where I have started a conversation called Connections Photos and join in the discussion. You're more than welcome.

God Bless.
Thomas

Communion Service

This is a reminder that we will be having a Communion service on Sunday October 19, 2008 in the Christian Life Center (gym). Please join us and then stay for lunch as we break bread with the Lord and then with each other.

How Does Our Worship Music Measure Up

In our Connections worship at First Baptist, we hope the music we share helps us focus our attention on who God is in our lives and how much we need him. In addition to modern worship songs, we include classic hymns as a way to connect with the strong traditions found in worshiping communities all over the world. An article by Matt Odmark (Jars of Clay band member) in CCM Magazine brings perspective to the use of hymns in modern Christian music.

Excerpt from May 2005 "Hymns" issue of CCM magazine:

" " One reason I feel really connected to hymns is that I feel hymns are written for people, basically good people, that need a way to express how much they love God. That's me, people who have limped into church, knowing they really don't deserve much from God. Hymns are written to those kind of people."

It is this phrase "basically good people" that I have found myself wrestling with. You see, I have found that hymns are a particular grace to people who don't feel all that "good." Instead, they meet us in that crucial moment when we first enter church and are reminded we have not been who we had hoped to be throughout the week. "I was not near as faithful, patient, kind, or compassionate as I wanted to be and knew that I should have been." The best hymns confront this need head on, and not only express how great our need is, but what a great Savior we have for our need.

We are at a crucial moment in western church history, and we need more art and music that meets us in this way. Most of our modern "Christian" music assumes too much. We are anything but a group of "basically good people" who just need a new and interesting way to express how great we think God is. We are broken and rebellious people who most often can't hear or see God, much less want to be changed by Him.

Shouldn't the art whose primary purpose is to draw us into worship start here? In fact, if we really begin to unpack much of what Jesus said in his parables and preaching, isn't it this feeling of basic "goodness" that is most often the primary barrier to true spirituality? As American Christians, this should profoundly trouble us and reveal that we must cling to the mercy of God perhaps more than other Christ-followers in the world.

Hidden in this truth is a clue as to why I feel the church right now is hungry for hymns. There is a unique and transcendent beauty in a worship that has its roots connected to the ongoing and ever present work of Christ in the world, yet gives us wings to envision a future even more perfectly shaped into the kingdom that Jesus himself promised would come. When our churches can begin to sow this reality into our hearts, whether it is through teaching, preaching, painting, or song, then it is my belief that we will all taste afresh the freedom that truly makes us free. "

Three Weeks and Counting!

Three weeks into the revamped Connections worship service, I've a few impressions I would like to share.



Strong Attendance--We're averaging about ninety-two participants each week. That's an outstanding beginning. Guests are joining us in each service as well. We're trying to make contact with each guest, while not making a nusiance of ourselves.



A Hard-Working Team--The planning team has met weekly to talk through ideas for each service. The readings, video clips, drama/monologues, lighting, props and a good bit of the music we've experienced have emerged from these conversations. The worship team and others meet each week to rehearse as well. Our greeters and ushers have been in their places on time, warmly welcoming both members and guests. Connections Worship is a team effort.



More to Come--Phil Potratz and Vickie Willis will soon start to put together our Connect Teams, groups with a mission to connect to guests and members and build fellowship. If you are interested in helping, contact either Phil or Vickie. Don't be too surprised if one of them calls you.

We're also planning the next sermon series, looking toward a service built around the Lord's Supper, and thinking about Advent (yes, it will be here before you know it!).



A Request--Pray that the worship services will continue to glorify God and reach additional persons for God. Take personal responsiblity to meet and get to know guests (or even members you've not met yet). Arrive early and stay late each week. Partnering with one another, and never forgetting to rely upon God, we will connect with God, one another, and God's work in the world.

A New Look, A New Group.

The Connections Worship Service has a new logo!

In designing the logo, I took into consideration the principles we are focusing on in the Connections Service and did quite a lot of research, thought and prayer before I decided on the visual approach to take.

In the Connections Worship Service, we desire to Connect to God, each other and the community.

I used the circle of people to show our connection to each other. It is also a symbol that I believe shows fellowship. I chose to have the word "Connections" reaching outside the bounds of the circle to show openness within the group and a desire to reach out and connect to the community. Since God is very difficult to portray visually and even harder to confine to a logo, I decided to have the connection with God implied. I felt that including "First Baptist Church Murfreesboro" within the circle of fellowship both implies a spiritual connection and gives the sense of place and belonging.

In addition to a new logo, the Connections Worship Service now has a Google Group. Along with the blog, it should provide a good place for everyone involved with Connections to get to know each other better. It will also provide a central location for discussion about many different topics. Check it out here.

Thomas Williamson

CBF

Thomas and I went to CBF assembly and a family reunion last week. I like a lot of things about the assembly. I enjoyed the combination of different types of music (choir, contemporary, jazz, varied instruments, etc) and the use of different forms of art such as dance and sign language. I also loved the inclusive feel of age and gender along with the representatives from the world who joined in the worship. It felt so very open and loving that it inspires me to see the local church reflect that diversity.
I think my favorite speaker was Chuck Poole (a pastor from Mississippi I think). He gave short little monologues at each service about what it means to build bridges. My favorite story was when he told of taking food and water to group of people who were homeless and staying in an abandoned house. He said one the men wanted to know what church he was from. Chuck pointed out that this man understood church by what the church is!!
How often do we lose that focus. I was touched, because I knew that this wasn't an empty illustration. I have meet those who also identify church by the actions of people both good and bad. I'm sure we all have.
The family reunion was good. We made Thomas's grandmother very happy by being there for her and that made even the drive the Mississippi worth it!

vacation

I am looking forward to the rest of the summer with great anticipation and a huge desire for it to slow down and last as long as possible. Summer is such a unique time of the year when your not in school and it has been a long time since I have not had school commitments.
Thomas and I plan to go to Memphis to the CBF assembly next weekend and then go to his grandmother's to visit. I also will hopefully be starting a part-time church position at a small church. I hope to maybe get away from work a few more times this summer for short trips to unknown places and to find time for the multiple fun house projects that I have in mind.
I am also reading fiction...as much and as quickly as possible. I have to make up for all I have missed from school reading.
Please post your summer plans and trip information. I would love to know what everyone else is doing. I hope it's fun!!

Wow.

I was talking to a peer the other day about how churches have a certain act of service that they give to the community in which they exist. One church may have an awesome music ministry, another may have an incredible foreign missions department, or one may be geared towards children. First Baptist Murfreesboro has the unbelievable ability to make one feel "at home" and part of a loving community. Let me explain a few things.
When I first came to Murfreesboro, I was a college student wanting to find a home church where I could be active in helping others and serving in some capacity. I found a church where 400+ college students gathered one day out of the week and worshiped to great music. This setting would have been appealing to me if I would have been a little more noticed. Each week we had to wear a name tag so that people would know who we are. I wanted to be used, appreciated, and accepted into a larger whole. The fact that I had to wear a name tag told me that they had not learned my name after some time. The name tag wearing crowd never went below the surface of "Hello, how are you?" and I found myself looking for a new church after a year and a half of membership there.
Luckily I found First Baptist Murfreesboro soon after that. I went to the Connections worship hour and a younger married couple started talking to me. This was something I had been looking for in the previous church experience. Later I found myself eating at this couple's house and being asked to participate with some reading parts during the worship service. I felt like I finally had a home. The Connections family had made me feel that I was a part of something, and that is what I feel is the special gift of the Connections congregation.
This Connections worship service is coming into a new season. The upcoming Sabbatical gives us time to hear your feedback and plan any changes that you might want to make things better in the service. We welcome your input as active participants in the 11:00 service at First Baptist Murfreesboro.

Connections and Worship—Jim Whitaker

As we work on reforming the Connections service, it made me wonder what it all means. That is connections and worship. Dictionary.com indicates that worship is a “reverent honor and homage paid to God…” “to render religious reverence and homage to [God].” “to feel an adoring reverence or regard for [God]…” and “to attend services of divine worship."

Did you every think about that? “Divine Worship” Worship is an opportunity for us to come closer to God in a dynamic and “divine” experience. Think about what it is that can make worship more “divine” for you; then when you do, let us know. This process is a two-way communication about what we can do to enhance your worship experience as well as your spiritual growth.

Back to dictionary.com, and we find out that connection has a lot of definitions: “the act or state of connection.” “the state of being connected” “association” or “relationship” “a circle of friends or associates or a member of such a circle” or “a religious denomination.”

I find it fascinating when you start to look at words and what they mean. Connections, as we envision it, is a way to connect with the Lord, the church and with the community (in the broadest sense). As a connection (a religious denomination) we are trying to find ways to help you plug into or connect (the act or state of connection) with the Lord, with the church and with the community as a whole. We hope these connections (relationships) will help to strengthen why it is that you are a part of First Baptist Church and the Connections service.

We are looking at ways to help people come together, worship together, spend time together and minister together in a way to transform what it is that we have done in the past and to make connections something you are a part of rather than something you just attend. We sincerely hope that you will visit this blog and comment on things that you think about, talk about or that come about to you. Your input is valuable to us and helps us to move in a positive direction in the reformation of the Connections service.

Pray for us. Talk to us. Help us.

God bless.

We Need Your Help

The Connections Ministry Team's goals are simple to describe. (1) Step back and think through the range of support structures needed to support and strengthen the Connections worship service. (2) Recruit, train and deploy men and women to serve in the various roles we identify. (3) Work as a team to imagine and plan worship services that take advantage of the skills among us and the range of resources available in the Christian tradition. (4) Develop various ways of helping Connections Worship participants connect to God, one another, and the broader church.



Other team members might phrase our goals a bit differently, but all of us are committed to dealing with the general areas I've outlined above.



We need your help!



First, please pray for us each day. We've willingly undertaken a large task, and we hope our work will be prove a blessing to many. Still, it's a big job, and we'll have days when we feel a little overwhelmed. We need strength and wisdom from God. Pray that God will guide us, and that we will be senstive to his leadership.



Second, give us the benefit of your suggestions. Perhaps you know of various worship resources, printed or on line. Maybe you have a great idea of how we might help people meet and connect with others. You may be in touch with a mission or ministry project we could undertake, one that would benefit those to whom we ministered and bind us together as well. You may have gifts and skills you want to offer. We want to hear from you. Feel free to post comments on this blog, to send any of the team members emails, write us a note, or simply talk with any of us face to face.



Finally, mark August 3 on your calendars. That's the day we will launch the second edition of Connections worship, put into play various support structures, and renew our commitment to serve God alongside each other.



I look forward to hearing from you throughout the summer.

Testimony--Jim Whitaker

Three years ago when I moved to Murfreesboro, I though that I would have to spend 40 days in the wilderness in order to find a church that would suit me and my family well. I came to FBC Murfreesboro in the beginning because it was First Baptist Church. I remember coming with my son and we walked into the wrong building (we tried to stay since they had donuts) but we were taken to the right place. We were plugged into good Sunday school classes and then we came to the service. Having grown up in a traditional service with a time of 11:15 for the start, I thought I was going to come into a traditional service. I was surprisingly wrong. It was the contemporary service (now the Connections service). I was blessed to have been able to come here first and experience this service. I knew at the end of the day that I had found where I needed to be and where God wanted me to be. This church has blessed me with the salvation of my son and his baptism and also the support in the birth of my twin girls. It has also deepened my call from the Lord and allowed me to pursue my Masters in Divinity through Central Baptist Theological Seminary. My spiritual growth has come a long way in three years and it has been directly impacted by the Connections service and First Baptist. I know that during this time that we re-examine the Connections service and how we can better worship God that we will come through it with an experience that will be awesome for all those who attend.

Connections Worship Summer Sabbatical 2008

The FBC Connections Ministry Team in consultation with our pastor has determined to take a “summer Sabbatical” and focus our energies on revamping the worship experience and developing support structures to bring new possibilities to the ministry and outreach of Connections. This six week period will run June 22 through July 27. Services will resume August 3, 2008.

We need and desire the prayerful support of our church family in this endeavor.