The Family Altar

It was an emotionally charged Sunday at North Side.  In our 2nd week of Courageous, we discussed “The Family Altar.”

I had a pregnant lady in our church say that she was emotionally exhausted from the service and she needed to lay down.  I felt the same way, and I had no baby weighing me down!  It was an intense day as we focused on what God says for us as families.  Brooke Thompson also shared from Connie Maxwell by interviewing the Hjalmers on the need for foster care.  It was a powerful way to watch a young couple open up their home to children in need.

Today, we worshiped to:

While the band and singers sounded great, we also added a little something extra to today’s service.  While the band was building momentum through the chorus of “Lead Me,” they dropped out at the last chorus and we had a group of children sing out in the most precious voices, “Lead me with strong hands, stand up when I can’t, don’t leave me hungry for love chasing things that you could give up.”
When they finished singing, I could have given an invitation and gone home, but I didn’t 😉 .
My message focused on Eph. 6:1-4 where God singles out the role of fathers.  This passage has been a game changer in my life and I prayed it impacted many people today.
For application, I challenged the men in our church to lead a family worship service before coming back next Sunday.  I am providing them a guide on how to do that (I’ll post on this later), but I pray that families truly enter into worship because they have prepared their hearts together in the home.
Looking forward to North Side’s viewing of Courageous on Friday night!