Notes From My Church
PLACE: Lakewood Church-Houston, Tx
Joel Osteen, Pastor
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 2007
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
THE MUSIC: The worship service was led by Cindy Ratcliffe & Steve Crawford. Da’dra was not in attendance and she was certainly missed. Among the songs sung this week were “Salvation is Hereâ€, “Mighty to Save”, “He Reigns” and “You Are Good”. The popular song “Because of Who You Are” was also performed and was a definite audience favorite. The chorus of this song is a favorite of mine. It is awesome to sing this along with so many other believers. Just in case you want to peep the lyrics……………….
Jehovah Jireh
My provider,
Jehovah Nissi
Lord you reign in victory,
Jehovah Shalom
My Prince of Peace,
And I worship you, because of who you are.
Singer extraordinaire, Aimee Beard, favored us with the beautiful Rachel Lampa song “I Am Blessed”. Thanks to Greg at FaithBasedBlog.com you can hear the talented Aimee for yourself. Go to the Video Vault at Greg’s blog and select “Blessed.” The lyrics to this song are beautiful.
As always, the worship was wonderful. The worship leaders, ensemble members, choir and band work together so well. I hope they realize what a difference they make in the lives of others, not only here in the States but all over the world.
THE MESSAGE: Scripture references: Luke 22:41-42, Luke 22:43, Matthew 26:41, Psalm 141:3
Pastor Joel spoke on how to deal with our weaknesses. He said a weakness could also be labeled as something that keeps coming back again and again. Some examples are lack of focus, bad temper, drug addictions, low self-esteem or lack of discipline. Pastor Joel explained that many times we don’t always overcome these weaknesses, we must learn to control them. He said we must first acknowledge what our weaknesses are.
A strategy that Pastor Joel provided to triumph over over weaknesses was to pray ahead of time that we not fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41). We all want to do better, but we need to strengthen our inner man through prayer. The audience was admonished not to wait until they were in the situtation to pray. He said if you pray ahead of time God will provide the strength to overcome (Luke 22:43). Praying about your weaknesses everyday will help to keep the inner man strong and built up. Many people don’t experience victory because they don’t take the time to pray for help.
We always seem to be tempted in the area of our greatest weakness. Scripture calls this a foothold. It is important that we don’t ignore our weaknesses. Learn to think power thoughts such as: I am more than a conqueror and I am a victor and not a victim. Thinking power thoughts will help us to focus on the good and not the bad.
THE ATMOSPHERE:At the conclusion of each service Pastor Joel speaks a blessing over the congregation and the choir sings a portion of “Salvation is Here”. The blessing is an awesome way to end the service and begin a brand new week. The blessing is found in Numbers 6:24-26. It was given to Moses by God for Aaron and his sons to bless the children of Israel.
The LORD bless you
and keep you;The LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;The LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.
……..and that is what happened in my church this week. You can always watch live and archived services at http://www.lakewood.cc/ or http://www.joelosteen.com/.
What was it like in your church this week? The entire universe is filled with God’s love and grace. We would love to hear about your church service. Post a comment or e-mail me at dominique@1800gospel.com and tell us all about the music, the message and the atmosphere at your church.
Dominique
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