Amplified Thoughts

Easter is great (but I'm glad it's over)

Wow, what a crazy weekend! A great weekend, but chock full of stuff. It started on Thursday night for me, with the final practice for the Good Friday Service, which I co-led with another pastor. Everyone except our drummer was there, so it was a good chance to figure out exactly what songs we'd be doing friday morning, and what exactly the arrangements should be.

Friday: I wanted to sleep till at least 6am, however by 5:30am I was wide awake. I arrived at the hockey rink at 7:15 for set up, with our sound check at 8am. Everything went very smooth, with the only trouble coming from the fact that we were not allowed to take down the plexiglass boards, due to a hockey tournament over the weekend. This have us a pretty nasty echo! When the drummer was playing his kit, the echo from the snare was pretty much coming back to us on stage on the off beat!! However, the SW guys did their best to make things sound as good as possible, and the show went on.

The service itself was terrific! I only wish that there wasn't 50ft between the stage and the people, and that the lights didn't make it so I could only see the first row of chairs lol! Overall, it was a terrific morning, with over 3,000 people attending! Awesome to see!

That evening I took in a rock show that my roomate put on - probably the loudest show I've ever heard in my life!!

Saturday: came into the church in the morning to get some work done for our Easter Sunday morning. Went home, watch some Jays, then back to the church to finish up some tasks. Once I got home, I got a call from my cousin wondering if I'd like to come out to their church in Enderby to play some guitar - and of course I said "yes"! So I rushed there, had some great supper, played at church, then had some sherbert ice cream and tea afterwards.

Sunday: Back at the church for sound check/ practice at 8:30am. We had a great time with lots of different instrumentals and solos with Pastor Gary and Kyle interjecting with sermonettes. Afterward, I got to have lunch with the Meiers, which was fantastic! I always have such a great time hanging with Darrin Rebecca and the kids!! Then, I went home, walked to Blockbuster and back, watched War of the Worlds and then to bed!

Monday: At the church once again at 9am - started work on our monday night Amplify gathering. We were going to be setting up our own version of "stations" of the cross. Some with interactive elements (lighting a candle, nailing a card with your name to a cross, and writing out a prayer as a part of a communal art peice), and reflective prayer elements as well. We spent the whole afternoon setting up our downstairs. The night itself was incredible! I was blown away seeing teens, young adults, and pre-teens walk through the different stations, spend time in prayer, hang out watching the Passion of the Christ, take communion etc. It was amazing to see them worshipping God without us "directing them" or any worship band playing, and with no preacher preaching! We ended the night off with Darrin leading worship.

After cleaning up, it was off to Bean to Cup to chill for a bit and have an awesome Chicken Caeser Wrap!
Phew, and that was my weekend. I think I'm ready for a holiday lol!!

Here are some pictures from the Good Friday Service.

posted by Jesse @ 2:25 p.m.