Weekend Recap Nov. 3-4

Series: The Thing from Another Planet
Message: The Leeches that Wouldn't Let Go
Speaker: Mark Beeson
Worship Leader: Dan Vukmirovich

Prelude:
The Simpsons Theme by Green Day
We pulled this one out again, though we used it back when the movie came out. The tie of parenting and Simpsons seemed tight. Also, the idea of getting more mileage than one weekend out of a song is a good thing.

Worship Songs:
Mighty to Save by Hillsong (Ben Fielding/Reuben Morgan)
Running with Your Heart (Charlie hall)
We did a medley of these two songs using a track to flow from one to the next. This particular medley was a little different in that Mighty to Save is within a few clicks of being half as fast as running with your heart. So we went from a slow song and then basically double-timed it to keep energy flowing. This seemed to work. However, I realize that our crowd is used to more upbeat songs that are clap-able. These two were not, so I think the crowds energy lacked a bit.

Media/Drama:
The Daughter of Frankenstein - an original drama written by our own Kristin Baker. Very fun idea of what it would be like if Frankenstein and his bride had a "normal" daughter. Brought out some good issues of picking your friends wisely.

Song Special:
True Friends by Shannon Curfman
This was a fun, kinda Bonnie Raitt style song. It's actually pretty old - 1999 release date. Dustin Maust, my brother in programming, and I were having a impossible time of finding a song about friends that wasn't "And a friend's a friend forever..." or "You've got a friend in me...". So through a long chain of events, including a look at Hannah Montana songs (yes, you read that right - she has a song called True Friend). Kim Stewart really was in her sweet spot this weekend. Great energy and attitude.

Message:
Most memorable moment, that will stick in most people's memory for a long while was Mark Beeson putting two leeches on his arm each service. Yeah, the blood was flowing. Not for the faint of heart! Great message all in all about helping our kids choose their friends carefully. More influence as they are young.

Song Special:
There Goes My Life by Kenny Chesney
Yeah, we went country. The highlights of this were Tim Prugh singing also in his sweet spot, country. And Chuck Smith playing pedal steel which cranks the authenticity factor up about 10 notches.

OBSERVATION FOR FELLOW ARTS LEADERS:
Find songs that fit your people's sweet spots. No one can sing everything well. The days of having people sing any old "special music" are over, but the idea back then was that the singer would find something they could sing and do it well. Now, we sometimes find the perfect song for the message and can forget about the messenger who has to deliver it. They need to be able to communicate the song authentically. This sets our people up for success which is what we all want.