Taking Steps at NEXT

We are experiencing a great week for NEXT worship this week. On Monday, Andrea Ryan started as the interim children's director for NEXT and Micah Burdick started as the NEXT Worship Leader. In addition, Chad Cooper started as the Director for Student Ministries for the church. Each one of these individuals have a crucial part in helping develop ministries for NEXT. In the same way, each person participating in NEXT has the same crucial role in developing ministries of invitation, welcome, learning, serving, and worshiping. Angie and I are excited as the team continues to grow and new opportunities to minister begin.

Let us support one another in our ministries. Pastor Steve mentioned during a staff meeting that we need to help people succeed in their task by giving them what they need to succeed. Micah is already moving quickly to connect with potential worship team members. Andrea is working with Angie and the church's children ministry team to move forward the children's activities during NEXT. She recently found curriculum for this fall that will be a valuable resource in teaching our children about Jesus.

Now, I ask what do you need to succeed in your ministry? Come and share with us your thoughts, your hopes, and your dreams. Let us continue to work together and with God to flourish the ministry of NEXT!

See you Sunday at 5pm as we join together in fellowship and worship. We will be discussing a powerful way to share Christ with others.

Live Life Loud

Angie and I (and several others from the church) had the great opportunity to lead a church camp this past week (July 5th-9th). The camp was for incoming 5th-7th graders. We enjoyed an awesome week of interacting with the campers, getting inspired by God, and avoiding the extremely high temperatures for at least awhile. One of the highlights of the week is always the theme song for the week. This year we used Hawk Nelson's "Live Life Loud" (listen here). This was a great song for the campers to connect with since it calls them to live life loud. We directly connected this song to living life for God. The beginning of the week they were hesitant and quiet. By the end, they were yelling the song and have continued singing it since camp (this comes from reports of the parents).

One of the amazing impacts I see after camp each year is how the theme we used can speak to us all. How many of us are careful when we express our faith? When do we tell others that we are Christians? This continues to be a topic people ask and how to do it respecting others while also sharing the love of Christ. I've come to realize each person will be comfortable at different levels of expression. For some, they naturally talk about their faith and talk about it quickly in a conversation. For others, they would prefer their actions to speak about their faith. No matter your comfort level, the important lesson is that we are sharing our faith. God calls us to live life loud so that our actions, words and thoughts express the love of Christ that we have experienced and desire to share. The reality is that people are watching. When they see us living out our faith, they will begin to ask why we live the way we do. Therefore, we can share our faith at any moment of our lives because we are living our faith. This is living life loud!

In order to help us live life loud, we are speaking about knowing our faith story and sharing our faith during our Sunday evening gatherings. We begin at 5 p.m. and you're invited to join us. Dinner and childcare provided.

I'm excited as we all live our lives loud for God!

"Suitcases" and Packing

On the radio there is a new song by Dana Maclean that says, “you can’t run when you’re holding suitcases.” (listen to the song here) This image really struck home and made us wonder. Are we all carrying too much? Sometimes we carry overwhelming debt; guilt over harsh words; uncertainty about the future; fear of failure; physical pain; illness…you add your burden. Do you worry if you are a good enough friend, spouse, son/daughter, parent, employee... Add in God to the mix and many of us carry uncertainty about what we believe.

This last weekend, our family moved. If you have ever moved, you know the stress of purging, organizing, and packing. You know the stress of asking people to help, because moving pianos and wrapping plates is not something people just look forward to doing. Yet, this past weekend we literally had people holding our suitcases. They concretely took our burden on for themselves. This is what we hope for NEXT.

NEXT will not only be a worship service, but it is a worship gathering. As we come together, we invite you to come just as you are and not try to be anything you are not. This is a burden you don’t have to carry. We hope to create a place where others will literally help you carry your burdens and dance, laugh and shout when you experience joy. As we sit down for a meal after worship and in small groups, we long to have a place where people can ask their deep questions about life, religion, and Jesus Christ. In this gathering, we know the Holy Spirit will meet us there to offer lessons for life, forgiveness, encouragement, and inspiration.

One of the lines in the suitcase song says, “there’s nothing holding you back now, just run.” NEXT let’s run together.

Curtis and Angie Olsen