Hey Gang,

Hope you had an awesome weekend.  I’m posting our worship service recap as a part of the weekly “Sunday Setlists” event hosted by TheWorshipCommunity.Com.

I was the primary leader this week at SSCC.   We had a great team and rehearsed Tuesday evening and then played outdoors for a handful of people (and thousands more on live radio) down in St. Mary’s at 89.3 FM on Friday afternoon.  As a result, we were even more rehearsed for Sunday’s music than normal.

Before I recap our songs I’ve got a confession.  It’s a pretty nasty one and the truth is, sometimes we all have to let our guard down a bit and just call it like it is.  That’s why my friend Carlos originally dubbed these Sunday recaps “worship confessionals” many years ago.

Here’s the deal:

I really, really, really struggled today.

Without getting into the details, suffice it to say that my wife and I have been in the heat of an absurd conflict with an adversary who seems determined to cause trouble for us.  The past two weeks have been very stressful as we’ve wrestled through some intense issues in regards to what I’ll just call a “local conflict” .  Since for the most part we have very little conflict in our lives with others, this has been tough.  I have a new sense of compassion for people who live and work in unhealthy, hostile environments.  I had the unfortunate position of being in the center of conflict both Friday and Saturday evenings.  I felt completely undermined and manipulated.  I haven’t felt so upset or agitated in a very long time.

It’s not easy to shake that off and feel in tune with the Holy Spirit.  On top of that, today was the day we celebrated Holy Communion.  This is a sacrament that I’ve learned to take seriously so I spent a good bit of extra time in between services on my knees at our altar examining my heart, confessing the sinful feelings and pain I felt, and releasing the conflict to God.  Thankfully, I felt a breakthrough and was released to receive God’s provision through the beautiful sacrament of communion and know that He is still helping me overcome the anxiety and stress that comes with conflict.

That being said, I executed well.  I felt a sense of freedom even as I worked through my own funk in the midst of leading through prayers of confession.

Listen, friends … I don’t share this stuff to try and make some passive aggressive statement.  The folks involved in this nonsense probably don’t even know this blog exists.  I’m sharing this because I know, like myself, that many of you have to show up and lead even when you’re experiencing pain and conflict.  Just because we are Christian leaders doesn’t mean we don’t experience conflict and it especially doesn’t mean that we very well may blow it.  I certainly lost my temper more than once.  It’s how we labor through and come out on the other side that counts.

Our songs:

“Washed by the Water” (A)
“Our God” (G)
“Doxology” (G)
“The Wonderful Cross” (D)
“It Is Well/No Matter” (A)
“He Ransomed Me” (A)

So enough of my story – what’s yours?  How did your Sunday go?  Click below and leave a comment and tell me about it!

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