Patrick Cortis is a worship leader and song writer who lives in my home town. I have the privilege of rubbing shoulders with him on a weekly basis through the worship room and at Cornerstone Church. Here is his second song, “Regardless”
worship
PREPARING OUR HOMES PT. 2
As 2024 began The Lord gave Cornerstone Church a directive we are calling the congregational sentence. It reads: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“
Over the course of the next several weeks these seven “prepare statements” will be broken down into 21 weekly devotionals. This is devotional number 8 in our series. It is entitled,
Prepare your infrastructures (your structures, infrastructures and plans)
There is a certain sense, when we talk about preparing our structures that we understand we are talking about very practical activities. We understand it means to clean our bathrooms before company arrives. It means to stock up on some extra groceries in expectation of guests. We can even understand the very practical nature of preparing our hearts to be more intentionally welcoming when guests arrive at our church door(make sure you introduce yourself to the new people). But what does to mean to prepare our infrastructures? What even is an infrastructure?
Infrastructure-the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities of a community.
In community/ church life there are three kinds of Infrastructures we are concerned with preparing:
1. SOFT INFRASTRUCTURE- THESE ARE OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEMS. IN PREPARING THESE WE ARE STRENGTHENING THE CONGREGANTS HEART OF GENEROSITY AND THE LEADERSHIP SYSTEMS CONCERNING STEWARDSHIP OR GIFT MANAGEMENT. AS WE PREPARE WE CONFRONT THE STRONGHOLDS OF POVERTY, SELF-CENTEREDNESS AND ENTITLEMENT.
2. HARD INFRASTRUCTURE-
THESE INCLUDE OUR CHURCHES FACILITIES, ACCESS AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS.
HOW EASY IS IT FOR OUR PEOPLE TO GET INTO AND OUT OF THE CHURCH BUILDING? HOW EASY IS IT FOR NEW PEOPLE TO FIND THEIR WAY AROUND THE BUILDING?
WHAT IF A PERSON CANNOT DRIVE OR HAS NO CAR? CAN THEY COME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY? CAN THEY COME TO YOUR DLT GROUP? HOW?
HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE IMPORTANT NEWS IN OUR CONGREGATION? IS OUR METHOD EFFECTIVE?
3. CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE- THESE WE WILL DEFINE AS OUR EMERGENCY PROCEDURES. HOW DO WE FUNCTION IN AN INTERNAL EMERGENCY? HOW DO WE RESPOND TO AN EMERGENCY A COMMUNITY WIDE EMERGENCY?
WHAT ARE OUR SECURITY PROTOCOLS?
SHOULD OUR COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE SOME SORT OF DISASTER ARE WE PREPARED TO INTENTIONALLY HELP? HOW?
IN LIGHT OF THESE QUESTIONS WHAT QUESTIONS COME UP IN YOUR HEART? WHAT ARE YOU PRAYING FOR TODAY CONCERNING OUR INFRASTRUCTURES?
KEEPING THE FIRE BURNING.
I remember as a teenager I gave up piano lessons because I hated the practicing.
My Aunt took me aside, way back then and told me, that I shouldn’t quit.
I laughed and asked, “Aunt Joan, what possible use is piano playing going to have in my future?”
Of course, it turned out she was right. A large part of my portfolio as a pastor has involved leading worship and piano playing through the years….Go figure!
Anyway, worship was a such a large part of what I did as a pastor that many believed I could never give it up. I actually continued leading worship for about 6 months after I became lead pastor, but I did give it up.
Then back in September I was called to lead worship again with a ministry called, The Worship Room House of Prayer.
This ministry is dedicated to building round the clock worship and prayer in our region to empower the church and release the grace of God over our region. It is patterned after the thought in Leviticus 6 of never letting the fire go out on the altar: The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offeringson it. 13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
I believe that if the church is to move forward it will do so from the position of prayer. So when I saw a need I offered my abilities such as they were. I do a devotional hour of worship from the piano on Monday nights from 5-6 P.M. The first month I sounded like a rusty old gate when I sang, and I played more wrong notes than right notes. Even six months into this I am still so weak in this gift of worship, but it is not about me. It is about raising up a prayer that will help the church in our little town move into its next stage of growth. I have to admit It is great fun playing and worshipping again even if the gift has aged in me.
Notes From the Vicarage 