Month: August 2024

Night of Worship Outline based on Ephesians 3:14-21

Opening Worship Set and Prayer

  • Song
  • Song
  • Prayer – Inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to lead us as we worship together 

Empowering Section (When we pray, God empowers us through His Holy Spirit)

  • Song – Holy Spirit, You Are Welcome Here  
  • Scripture and Sharing – “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.” (Ephesians 3:14-16)
  • Prayer – Asking God to continue empowering us through His Holy Spirit

Understanding Section (When we pray, God gives us glimpses of His infinite love)

  • Song – How He Loves, Reckless Love, Goodness of God
  • Scripture – “Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.” (Ephesians 3:17-18)
  • Prayer – Asking God to help us understand His love for us and for the world.

Experiencing Section (When we pray, we experience the love of Jesus and the power of God in our lives)

  • Song – Same God
    • Scripture – “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God”. (Ephesians 3:19)
  • Prayer – Asking God to allow us to experience His love and power.

Accomplishing Section (When we pray, God allows us to see Him accomplish more than we can ever imagine)

  • Song – I Speak Jesus
  • Scripture – “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
  • Prayer – Asking God to continue to accomplish more than we can ask or think in our lives, our families, our church, and our country. 

Closing – Encourage the people to keep on praying because God can do miracles. 

Upbeat Closing Song

*Photo courtesy of Ben White

by Categories: Church and Christian Life, Creativity, Devotion, Uncategorized, WorshipTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Olympic Dreams

So here’s one more thing to consider when evaluating the 2024 Olympics… the absence of pickleball. 

Yeah, I know. I’m disappointed as well. 

If you’re like me, you turned around and noticed that suddenly, people everywhere were playing this unusual game. According to APP, the Association of Pickleball Professionals, 19% of adult Americans played pickleball at least once from August 2022 to August 2023. The report didn’t share how many of them gave up after their first match. 

Where did pickleball originate? I’m glad you asked. Retirepedia reports that pickleball began when three dads from Bainbridge Island, Washington invented a new game to amuse their children. They lowered a badminton net, tried a wiffle ball but settled on a Cosom Fun Ball. They created paddles from plywood from a neighbor’s shed. Legend has it that a dog named Pickles used to steal the game ball so they named the game after him. Others claim the game creators combined various sports into one which reminded them of a pickle boat crew where participants are selected from the unchosen oarsmen of other boats. My theory is that they first played the game using a pickle for the ball. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. 

Speaking of opinions on Pickleball, Bill Gates once shared, “Everyone from the super young to the super old can take part. It takes minutes to learn the basics, games are short, and all you need is a net, paddle, and ball to get started. It doesn’t take much skill to hit the ball, either, because it doesn’t move as fast as a tennis ball. The best thing about Pickleball, however, is that it’s just super fun.” 

Even though I often ignore the ramblings of PC users, Gates does seem to have a point about Pickleball. It is now played in over 60 countries around the world. However, despite its growing popularity, Pickleball is seen more as a recreational sport and its global recognition still leaves something to be desired. This may be why it’s not a current Olympic sport.

Will pickleball make it to the 2028 Olympics? Probably not. What about 2032 or 2036? Only time will tell. Maybe if it didn’t have such a stupid name…

*Image courtesy of Amada Ma

by Categories: Humorous, Response, ReviewTags: , , , , , 1 Comment