"1st Area of Focus: Contemporary Worship"

I have found that if a company knows its mission or vision, they will be more likely to achieve it. After all, the book of Proverbs reminds us that “without vision, the people perish”. Vision is essential as it gives you focus and direction. It tells people where you are going. I have also learned for a company to accomplish its mission, it must decide on its main areas of focus and put its effort wholeheartedly into it. If a business is unclear about its mission and tries to focus on too many things, it will be inadequate at almost everything because it has spread itself too thin. Just like in the business world, a new church especially has to be clear about its mission, decide on the main areas of focus, and work toward being excellent under God in those areas. Our mission is to lead people to life, hope, purpose, and wholeness through Jesus Christ. We are striving to reach new people by connecting them to a relationship with Jesus Christ and to help people to grow in their relationship with God. We have also decided on four main areas of focus for The Fountain UMC. We are going to put everything we have into these four areas of focus (or “our big rocks”) in an attempt to offer our best to God and our community. Over the next few posts, I will discuss each area of focus in more detail. 

Our first area of focus for The Fountain UMC is CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP. Let me first say that I have a classical music degree and love that style as well, but I am convinced the best way to share the gospel story in our area is through a more contemporary style. That means that our music is going to be led by a band with guitars, bass, drums, and it will be very exciting. We will sing some of the newest Christian songs and even ancient hymns in a non-traditional style. But contemporary worship is more than music to us. 

We are going to do worship in creative and fun ways. There will be times when we will use skits, videos, art, and even come up with fun ways to bless people with radical hospitality in our worship experience. When you are intentional, worship can become so fun and exciting. I will strive to preach in relevant ways about how God can impact our lives and how we in turn can impact the world around us. After all, faith was meant to be lived out in the actual world. Our goal at The Fountain UMC is to help each person into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, so we want our worship to be relevant so that you can apply your walk with Jesus to your everyday life. No more separation between church stuff and real life stuff. The Fountain UMC is a place where church is an extension of and shapes your everyday life. Isn’t that what people want to see most through those who follow Jesus?

I can talk about it all day long, but words will not explain fully what you will experience at The Fountain UMC. The best way to find out is to come and see. Fortunately, you will get that opportunity this coming Sunday, October 2 at 7:30PM at Sharon Springs Park when The Fountain UMC holds our very first worship service ever. We are calling it our 1st Preview Worship Service because we are giving you a preview or a glimpse of what our worship will be like when we officially launch in early 2012. We will have preview worship services once a month leading up to our official launch. I hope that you are able to come and see how God is leading us...and maybe God will nudge you to be a part of this exciting journey with us as well.