News for Sunday Morning, March 1

OUR LAST WEEK – THANK YOU
I can't tell how emotionally charged this week is going to be for me and Andrea. As I've been busy trying to tie up loose ends and prepare our team for the upcoming transitional time of the next few months, I haven't really had time to dwell upon the actual fact that we won't be worshiping with all of you regularly.

But this week, it's starting to hit home.

It has been such a blessing to serve and worship with each one of you. I hope that I have stretched you and challenged you to step outside of where you are comfortable – and that you can see the fruit of that effort. Andrea and I have also learned and expereinced much through the celebrations and the challenges of the past four years.

As you know, one area in which I have been greatly challenged is to make an impact for God's Kingdom with the young adults in Helena. It is an urgent calling for Andrea and I and so we, too, have been drawn out of our area of comfort. We believe the effort of reaching this generation is borne directly out of our time here at Hannaford.

And so, we simply want to say thank you. Thank you for making our work here easier. Thank for for being our friends, rather than just our volunteers, Thank you for pursuing God's vision to be leaders in worship at Hannaford. And thank you for the passion to continue that effort. Thank You.

"SENDING OUT" FOR THE POWELLS
As you may know, our last day leading worship will be Sunday, March 1. We've discussed with Pastor Crosby and the elders have agreed for that day to be a special "sending out" service.

During both morning worship services there will be a short prayer time for us and this new ministry God has called us to (see here and here). There will also be an opportunity to help us by giving to the vision for this new church plant through a love offering and a short cookie and refreshment time will be held after each morning service.

INSIDE-OUT WORSHIP - READING FOR MARCH 1
For our last Inside-Out Worship discussion, I'd like us to skip ahead one section. For Sunday, March 1, we'll discuss the section "Congregational Worship As A Journey" by Matt Redman, page 163-164. Check out our Inside-Out Worship Discussion Blog for previous discussions.

ROTATIONS FOR SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 1

• Rotation this Week: Rotation 4 for 03-01
• Rotation next Week: RJ Chambers for 03-08
• Vocals: Andrea, Amber, Angie, Corinne
  
• Band: Eric-Keys, Jesse-Guitar, Greg-Bass, Mike S.-Drums
  
• Sound: Jeff-Sound
• Video: Lance-Video
  
• Lights/Camera: Amanda-Lights/Camera
  
• Rehearsal: Thursday Evening, February 26, 6:30pm
• Warmups: Sunday Morning, March 1, 7:15am

PHONE TEXT
Text Info: For 3-1
Andrea, Amber, Angie, Corinne, Jesse, Greg, Mike S., Jeff, Lance, Amanda. Rehearsal 2-26@7:15am, Warmups 3-1@7:15am.

Check out the charts, lyrics, and song samples here. Make sure the downloads are for this week by checking the date. They are usually uploaded by Wednesday evening.

Materials for Sunday, March 1

CHART AND LYRIC DOWNLOADS
> Order of Worship (pdf - 150kb)
> Band Charts (pdf - 800kb)
> Vocal Lyrics (pdf - 400kb)

SONG SAMPLES

Click here for the song sample archives.

PLAYER OPERATION: Select song or press play button - be sure to scroll to see all songs. This player requires free Flash plug-in.

DOCUMENT VIEWING: Downloads are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here to select your version and download one for free. Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for most computer operating systems. Be sure to select and specify your specific computer's operating system when downloading this software.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All music contained on this site is copyrighted by companies not related to Hannaford Street Bible Church. Licenses available upon request. Making copies of this music is illegal. The music is provided on this page for the sole purpose of allowing Hannaford Street Bible Church Praise Team members the opportunity to practice and learn the songs. These songs (all in low resolution mp3s) should be listened to while connected to this webpage. It is illegal for you to download, share or copy these files to - and/or store on - your local computer, except in the manner necessary for your audio player to play them.

A Stirring Deep Within My Heart

Please excuse this long post, but I want to share with you something that has been on my heart.

For the past year, I feel that God has been moving me to take a risk on a passion that He’s planted deep within me. Not knowing what this risk might entail, Andrea and I have been praying and patiently waiting for God to show us more.

Some of that “more” has involved what Bill Hybels talks about in his book Holy Discontent. Hybels says that God places within us the ability to see “broken things” in areas that we are passionate about. God is not calling us to complain or fret over these “broken things,” but to let them serve as fuel for action based on His leading.

CALLED TO BROKEN THINGS
Having not grown up in the church, I have the ability to see what we do in ministry from the un-churched person’s point of view. I see the ways that our churches struggle to connect and share the life-giving message of Jesus with people who, for the most part, see church as irrelevant. I have also seen the way the church has had difficulty speaking into the lives of our young people. Essentially, our churches are effective at reaching certain groups of people, but with those I have the greatest heart for — our effectiveness is “broken.”

God has been calling me to step out and attend to this “broken” thing.

More specifically, God has given me the vision and desire to reach out to people that “traditional” churches in Helena are not effective at reaching; what I call “this generation” and “those who are far from God.” I desperately resonate and identify with those who are not familiar with or who do not connect with traditional church models — who see traditional church as lacking or irrelevant at best, and repelling at worst.

BEING COMFORTABLE IS EASIER
Through many small steps, Andrea and I have seen God directing and preparing us to follow His lead. And after much prayer and seeking His guidance, we feel strongly led to plant a new church here in Helena – for young people and for those who are far from God. We definitely know this is God's working because, frankly, a lot of things would be easier if we remained where we are comfortable.

We have been greatly blessed by serving in worship at Hannaford and feel we have a promising future there. We have made many friends and in many ways have just begun to build this ministry. Several times we have asked God why He has thrown us this “curve ball.” We’ve asked, “why prepare us in worship ministry for so many years and then ask us to change directions?”

Rick Warren says that “neither past nor future generations can serve God’s purpose in this generation.” What we’ve realized is that God has been preparing us for such a time as this. This is not so much a new direction, but a wider emphasis. Now God is asking me to encourage people to worship God not just with song, but with their whole lives.

As we have explored this calling, we’ve learned that planting a church would also be easier somewhere else other than Helena. Some church planting groups would be much more likely to foot the bill for this whole venture if we planted in a larger metro area like Southern California, Reno, or maybe even Billings.

But that is not where God has shown us a great need for a new church community to connect with the younger generation and those far from God. God is not calling us to plant where it is easy, but where there is a need, and specifically where I have a heart for the lost.

I often quote Craig Groeschel in saying "In order to reach people that no one is reaching, you have to do something that no one is doing." That is exactly what Andrea and I have been given a vision to do. We feel like this is such a large endeavor, we can't possible do it. And that really is the best situation to be in — one where you know you will fail UNLESS God makes it happen.

WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
As God brought us closer to the realization of where He is leading us, we began to ask Him how. There have been a great many resources we have studied in coming to this point, but feel strongly that God’s direction right now is a direct outgrowth of Hannaford. It is God’s desire to see His people working together to enlarge His Kingdom.

We want to hear from and speak personally with as many of you as possible. So, please be sure an try to make our get-together this Saturday, January 17 @ 7pm. Please RSVP. If you cannot make it, please also let us know so we can schedule another time to talk.

To know more about the vision that God has given us, and to know more about our journey so far, we invite you to check out and possibly subscribe to our new blog over at EncounterHelena.blogspot.com. (Remember it's a blog, so you may want to read through it from the end to the beginning.)

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this stirring that God has placed in my heart.