Worship Happenings @ NHCC

Christmas In July

bbasquez — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:58:21 +0000

Ok, so this is sort of out of place, but this video brought sheer delight to me this morning and I wanted to share it with my dearest friends so that they could experience the same depth of wonder and amazement as I did. This video is the opening piece from this pst Christmas services at Fellowship Church in TX (Ed Young’s church). It’s pretty stinkin’ sweet if you as me!

Check it out here.

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Made It!

bbasquez — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:20:16 +0000

Hey everyone- just wanted to send a quick note to let you all know that we made it to KS safely. We arrived at about 3:00 am. Thanks for your prayers!

Thank you!

bbasquez — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:09:23 +0000

Thanks everyone for the little birthday surprise last night. You guys always go above and beyond my expectations. The gift money was extremely generous- it will come in handy on my trip to KS.

Again, many thanks to you all!

New Songs

bbasquez — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:15:47 +0000

So it’s about time to introduce a new song to the congregation. I’m always keeping a list of songs that I think will work ok for our band and our congregation (there are countless songs that I’d love to do, but we always have to think about what will work in our setting, you know?) So here is a short list of songs that have made it past my initial screening. Some of these are songs that some of you have recommended, others are my own recommendation. What I’d like from you guys is some thoughts on which you think would work well for us. You need to consider the following: Is this song singable? Does it fit the style we’re shooting for? Will people be able to recall the melody? Does the song’s lyrics help connect people to God?

Here are the songs in no particular order- a couple of them aren’t on the iPod’s yet, but you will have them all the next time you update. Let me know your vote and the reason you selected that song. Try to think past which one is your favorite and more to which one will work the best for our people. Thanks!!

1. How Can I Keep From Singing – Chris Tomlin

2. No One Like You – David Crowder

3. Majestic – Lincoln Brewster

4. Everything Glorious – David Crowder

5. How He Loves Us – Kim Walker

6. Salvation’s Chorus -Todd Fields

7. O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing – David Crowder

8. Let Me Sing – Todd Fields

9. Beautiful News – Matt Redman

10. Breathe On Me – Todd Fields

11. We Shine – Steve Fee (Just kiddin’ on this one, but it’s so cool!)

Some Videos

bbasquez — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:14:48 +0000

Want to see some of the music videos from the Drive conference we went to? Go here and check out the three music openers they did at the conference. Scroll about half way down the page and you’ll see them. The lighting and video they used was incredible!

Made it back

bbasquez — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:38:50 +0000

Hey all,

We made it back last night- got into bed around 2 in the a.m. I’m beat today! But thankfully I made it back to my family safe.

The end of the conference was very good- filled with lots of great thoughts and ideas. I left my notebook at home, but here are some of the quotes that stuck with me from Andy’s last session:

“To reach people in our city that no one else is reaching, we have to do things that no one else is doing.”

“When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is in sight.”

“Momentum can carry you 100 mph into irrelevancy.”

“We need to be a reaching church, not a keeping church.”

“The moment that the fact that there are unreached people in your city quits bothering you, you have a problem.”

“The next generation of products (or in our case, effective ministry ideas) never come from the previous generation.”

There were many more incredible insights that he shared, but I’ll have to get to my notes to share them with you. Thanks to all who prayed for safety. Can’t wait to see you all soon!

End of day #2

bbasquez — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:40:59 +0000

Well, it’s the end of day #2, and I’m officially worn out. I mean, zombie style worn out. So this post is just going to be general highlights plus one huge surprise that we had.

First, a guy came up to me and possibly gave me the creeps worse than the “sunshine on a cloudy day” guy. He came up and said “Can I just tell you, you have by far the all-time coolest glasses I’ve seen. ” Then he goes on and on about how they fit my face and go well with my eyes/skin color/hair. Awkward!…

Anyways, we started in breakout sessions- three of them to be exact, and they were all real good. I basically went to sessions that dealt with service planning and creative planning which were all very good. I got to speak with NPCC’s staff and ask lots of questions, so it was worthwhile. Then we had a main session with Andy Stanley again which was incredible. It was all about leadership and taking what Jesus said about how if you want to be the greatest then you’ll be a servant. Jesus, who was the greatest person ever on earth, didn’t come to be served but to serve others to the point that he gave up His life as a ransom for many. So if you want to be the greatest, learn to be the greatest servant. Ask this question “How can I help you?”

After the main session, everyone was instructed to get in their vehicles for a road trip/road rally. We were told that if we skipped out on this, that there would be huge regrets because there was a great surprise awaiting us at our destination. So we all jump in our vehicles along with the provided map and we engage in a 20 mile trip/road rally on US 400. US 400 in Atlanta, during rush hour. 20 miles that should have taken 20 minutes to drive. Let me say, rush hour in Atlanta is a bit different than in Bryan. It was nuts. Anyways, we get to our destination which was Brownsbridge Church (NPCC’s third satellite campus) where there were tents everywhere full of food vendors and such. It was great. Then we went into the auditorium where it was obvious there was going to be a concert of some type. When things got kicked off they introduced a bluegrass band which I had never heard of and they took the stage and started playing. They were great, but it wasn’t the “big surprise” I had hoped for. They only played 5 songs and then were done. Then a car drove out on stage (this is the Drive conference after all) and out of the car came- are you ready?- Jeff Foxworthy!!!! He did a whole stand up routine for us which was hi-lareous. I laughed till I cried. Foxworhty actually attends NPCC and they asked him to come and do his act for us. It was such a treat. He had some really encouraging things to say to all of us, and it was very, very cool.

Well, that’s about it. The conference ends at 2 tomorrow- won’t be rolling into Bryan until after 2 am. It will be brutal. Pray for our safety if you think of it.

See you all later!

An end to day #1

bbasquez — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:39:06 +0000

Day one came to an end, and a what a great ending it was. First some general highlights, and then I want to share a few things that I picked up from when Andy Stanley spoke.

We walked in to North Point (hereby referred to as NPCC) to a crowded room of over 2300 pastors and church leaders for our conference. The session started with the band playing the song “Typical” by Mute Math (not sure if it’s on the iPod, but check to see- it’ll give you an indication as to what we experienced). It was off the chain! Then they followed up with some welcoming by Andy and then some incredible videos. Then Andy came out and did his presentation which was great (I’ll describe below) and then we had Communion and a time of AMAZING worship. (This was so refreshing to have a moment of worship without leading it). They did a lot of the songs we do, but the difference was that they’re the one’s who wrote them! So it was a great, great session.

As to what Andy shared- it was all about building trust in the organization. How trust in our church community is the #1 thing we need to work towards. Work to trust others and to be a trustworthy person. When someone breaks your trust, you can choose how you will respond, how you will fill in the gap between what you expected and what you experienced. You can fill in the gap with distrust and frustration, or you can choose to believe the best in the person and not jump to conclusions.

Here are some quotes to think about:

“The local church should be the best place to work/be at in your city.”

“The world should come to us when they seek advise on how to run their organization.”

“Our choices determine the integrity of our relationships.”

“There are 3 commitments that we need to make: 1. When there is a gap between what I expect and what I experience, I will fill it with trust. 2. When I observe someone filling a gap with suspicion, I will come to your defense. 3. If what I experience begins to erode my trust, I will come directly to you about it.”

“The consequences of confrontation are far less severe than the consequences of concealment.”

“Are the relationships in our staff/church worth exporting into the community?”

There you guys have it. Hope you can get something out of that. In the end, choose to trust and choose to be direct when that trust has been broken.

We made it

bbasquez — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:18:52 +0000

Well, we made it to Atlanta, or Hotlanta as I like to call it. This place is sweet. There’s so much going on in this part of the country. I can’t begin to describe all that’s around here. If you haven’t been to Atlanta in a while, check it out. It will blow your mind.

Anyways, we started off by registering for the conference at Buckhead Church, which is one of 3 North Point campuses. This church is like nothing I’ve seen. It’s right in the heart of all the shopping centers and high rise office buildings, and it looks incredible. We got to look through the facility (all four floors). Take a look at some of Buckhead Church:

Just to give you an idea, this is the area Buckhead is located in:

Well, that’s about all for now. Tonight we go to the first main session where Andy Stanley will be speaking. Suh-weet.

Yeah, that’s what we’re made of

bbasquez — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:10:14 +0000

Thanks so much to all of you who served during the services yesterday. I couldn’t have been more proud of our team than I was yesterday. Amanda Davis came up to me in her sweet little southern voice and said “ya’ll sounded amazing this morning. What a great job!” and I said, “yeah, that’s what we’re made of”. No idea why I said that, but it’s true. Yesterday was a good demonstration of everyone’s talent and passion for making the best music we can to help people take a step closer to God.

So thank you for all the energy, both creative and emotional that went into yesterday. Enjoy the week off from rehearsal. You deserve it.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!! Yeah Mexico!!!