The Wonder of the Cross

First Baptist Church Leesburg, FL

Choir and Orchestra

April 5, 2009

This past Sunday, our choir at First Baptist Church Leesburg, performed our Easter Cantata - "May We Never Lose the Wonder of the Cross".
It was a spectacular arrangment of songs that began with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and ended with his resurrection.
Kudos to Stephen Wolgamott, our worship leader, for his outstanding leadership in bringing this historical event to life through song.
Before the first performance, Stephen served communion with all those who were in the choir and orchestra........a very profound moment for all. The presence of the Lord was evident from that moment on.

Bill and I just relaxing between performances

Oh nooooooooooooooo....it's Mr. BILLS!

Below are photos of some of the group sharing laughter and FOOD of course - we're Baptists afterall........ :)

Then there were those who needed to "take 5" between performances...lol

The Alto section raises a toast!

You just can't have a function at a Baptist church, where we don't involve food......

Below is our Pastor Cliff Lea and a couple of his boys

One More Day

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday - the day we as believers celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, where his followers waved palm branches, shouting "Hosanna".
We at First Baptist Church, Leesburg, will be celebrating as well tomorrow, as we
perform our Easter special - "May We Never Lose the Wonder of the Cross".
It is an outstanding cantata....and we have one awesome worship leader, who has worked so hard with us, to get us to where these songs are as he says, "are not just black words on paper" - but that they come from our hearts.
I am so excited about not only being able to be part of the choir, but also in how this music and the story of Jesus is going to impact those who attend.
I am blessed that some of my sisters are going to come to the performance....that means the world to me!
This Holy Week that we celebrate is a week that changed history - I pray that during this week to come, you will take time to reflect on your life and let the Lord speak to your heart.........

Blessings,
Janelle

The Revelation Song

I just got home from a very powerful service at church, and the song during the time of giving of the tithes and offerings brought the presence of the Lord into the sanctuary; a song I'd never heard before, but can't get it out of my mind or my heart.

My worship leader emailed me the name of it, and I found it on You Tube....ENJOY!! The presence of the Lord will surely fill the room as you listen and watch this video!

What Do You Follow?

Good Monday Morning! Brrrrrrr...it's only in the 40s here, and we folks in Florida just aren't used to cold weather!

Today I start in Chapter 8 of Jeremiah, and it begins with God referring back to what he said in the last part of Chapter 7 - the total destruction of the people of Judea and Jerusalem. He continues to point out specifics of their sins, and today it speaks of the sin of following after the stars of the skies.

8:1-3 "At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord".

The Lord allowed desecration of their graves, which was common practice in warfare in those days. It was an insult to the conquered people, and sometimes it was done to uncover any thing of value that might have been buried with them.

He is very clear in these passages that the worship of anything other than himself, will suffer the consequences of that sin. He specifically points out the worship of the stars and moon - astrology.

There are many places in the Bible where he says we are not to follow or worship the stars; we are not to seek them for direction, but there are many - even people in the church- who talk about what "sign" they are. Even looking at a horoscope, which might seem innocent, is forbidden by God. It opens the door to getting into the habit of reading it, which then becomes a form of worship.

If you want direction in your life - seek God. He will lead you down the path that he has for you; a path that ends in eternal life with him in Heaven. He will be with you on that path, when there are obstacles of life in the way, and will get you through them. None of the stars in Heaven can do that - they are created objects, and have no life in them; they have no means of guiding one's life.
What do you follow? The Great Shepherd, Jesus, says, "My sheep follow me and they know my voice". Do you know His voice, and are you following him, or do you wander through life aimlessly, following any and everything but him?

Finding God

I continue in Jeremiah 7: 21-26. God has told Jeremiah the judgments he is going to bring on the people of Judea and Jerusalem because of their sinful ways. He also told him to stop pleading for them; to paraphrase it - enough is enough! He has given them many chances to turn back to him, and they just kept getting worse in their actions and attitudes.


Today's passage says this:


"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ' Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: "Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you". But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their wicked hearts. They went backwards and not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again, I sent you my servants and prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers".


For God to tell them to eat their burnt offerings, which was supposed to be burnt in its entirety, meant that the sacrifices meant nothing to him. They were continuing to practice the ordinances of offering burnt sacrifices, but continuing in their sin.


How that can apply today is that one can go to church, sing hymns, take part in the Lord's supper, know scripture, teach Sunday School, sing in the choir - participate in all the things in the church; but then to walk out the doors of the church and willfully live in sin, gives no credence to one's religious practices.


We hear a lot of people say, "Oh he/she found religion". God doesn't want us to "find religion"; he wants us to find HIM! There's a HUGE difference in being religious and having a personal relationship with the Lord.


God gave the laws for our own good, contrary to the belief of some that He did so because he's a mean and hostile God. He gave the laws of what foods to eat or not eat, because he knew that some things would interfere with good health. He gave laws of keeping sex only within the bonds of marriage, because he knew other sexual activity would bring diseases and other consequences; he gave the laws of how to sacrifice perfect lambs, as an example of the perfect sacrifice he was to bring to us in Christ Jesus. To offer an animal anything less than perfect, was a useless sacrifice.


Worship is an intimate and holy offering to the Lord; it's a time for us to humble ourselves before Him, and acknowledge who he is. When one truly worships God and gets into his presence, the desire to go out and willfully sin, leaves. It makes us want to follow him and his plan for our lives and be blessed in doing so.


Search your heart - are you a "religious" person, or do you have that personal and intimate relationship with Jesus that brings you into the presence of the Lord Almighty? Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth, THE life; no one comes to the Father, but through me".


If you're searching for truth, and have taken many paths other than the ONLY path to God through Christ Jesus, turn around and call out to Him to show you the way. He will meet you where you are; the emptiness and feelings of hopelessness will leave you, and they will be replaced with His peace, and a knowing that you were a precious creation from His heart, and there's a purpose for you in this world.