In my morning prayer time today the Lord brought something to my attention I think I’m supposed to share with you.  This is something God taught me that dramatically altered and blessed my worship experience.

Years ago I was having a negative reaction to my weekly worship experience.  I wasn’t leaving the worship event angry or bitter, but I was disappointed, disillusioned and empty.  I was coming to worship every week with a report card mentality.  I was grading and rating everything and everyone.  My measuring stick was me, what I got out of the experience.  I was leaving every week disappointed because so much didn’t measure up.  It irritated me.  It didn’t bless me.  The worship leader was unprepared, neither gifted nor called to lead.  The song selection was out of touch with what I liked.  The communion prep was too long and too shallow.  You get the picture.

In the middle of that experience God convicted me.  He brought to mind a thought I’d read by Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard.  Kierkegaard said that in the drama of worship we tend to think of the worship leaders as the actors, that God is the prompter of their lines, and that the congregation is the audience.  No, contends Kierkegaard.   The more accurate understanding of the sacred drama of worship is this: The people of the congregation are the actors. The worship leaders are the prompters.  And God is the audience.

God is the audience!  That line, that thought, changed me.  Worship is for God, not me.  I am the actor, not the audience.  That day God’s Spirit taught me my worship isn’t about me.   It’s not about what I get out of the experience.  Rather worship is about God and what he gets out of the experience from me.   What did I give to God himself?  The Holy Spirit taught me it wasn’t my job to grade any other person.   I can only grade me.  How did I do?  Did I see God for who he is?  Did I give Jesus the praise he deserves regardless of the circumstance or behavior of others?  Was my heart right?

God brought Romans 14:4 to my mind that day, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?  To his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”  My report card mentality was wrong.  I couldn’t control what any other person was doing or giving or how they were doing it.  And it didn’t matter.  It’s not my job to evaluate others.  Only God can do that.  And we are all covered by his grace.  He makes us stand.  My job is to evaluate and control me.  That’s what God wanted.  He wanted me to give everything I have to him in worship.  He is my one and only audience in worship.  I remember vividly crying in the pew that day as God’s Spirit wrestled with me.  That day I promised God to change my way in worship.

Discovering that worship is about what I give to God, and not what I get, revolutionized the way I worship.  It still does.  And I discovered that when I focus on seeing Jesus and giving to Jesus something amazing happened.  It didn’t matter what the worship leader was doing.  It didn’t matter what songs we sang.  It didn’t matter if someone else had a wrong heart.  All God wanted was for me to pour my heart out to him.  And when Jesus became my focus worship became wonderful again

I think God is prompting me to share this because I need the reminder.  I’m very human and I find that worship experiences and the people who lead them can still disappoint me.  And I find I regularly disappoint myself.  But Jesus never does.  I’m never disappointed when I just pour out my heart in praise to him.  He always lifts me into his very presence when that happens.

This side of heaven we will never be led in worship by anyone who is worthy enough or good enough or holy enough for the responsibility of leading us into the presence of our Holy God.  David, the best worship leader of all time, was a polygamous adulterer, a murderer, a liar and a thief.  His family was mess.  His kids were a disaster.  Even his wife Michal though he was just going through the motions and putting on a show.  And I’m no better.  None of us are.  But that’s not the point.  God is always worthy of our praise even though the people and experiences that point us in his direction never will be.

God bless you with great joy as you pour your heart out to Jesus in worship.

-Jeff Metzger
Lead Pastor

None of the pundits picked the Denver Broncos to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the January 8, 2012 wild card round of NFL playoffs. The Denver victory was highly unlikely, and certainly newsworthy. But Denver’s Christian quarterback, Tim Tebow, created the real media buzz. Tebow was the star of the game throwing the winning touchdown on the first play of overtime. After the game ended, Tebow’s name was being mentioned in an amazing 9500 tweets per minute, the highest such total ever recorded.

But here’s what really has the pundits buzzing. In the victory over Pittsburgh, Tebow threw for a personal best of exactly 316 yards. He averaged exactly 31.6 yards per catch.

What’s the big deal? Many are asking if this is more than chance.

Tebow reports John 3:16 is his favorite Bible verse. In college he frequently wore John 3:16 on his eye black (the NFL prohibits such messages). When John 3:16 appeared on his eye black during the 2009 National Championship Game, the term “John 3:16” was searched for on Google more than 90 million times.

Connect the dots to Sunday’s game – 316 yards and 31.6 yards per catch for Tim Tebow, Mr. John 3:16. The result was that John 3:16 was the most searched Google search term on Monday. And hundreds of more newspaper reports and TV news spots connected the dots and asked if this is divine intervention is at work. Amazing!

What do you think? I’m certain God doesn’t really care who wins football games. I’m equally certain that God really does care that his people draw attention to Jesus Christ. He wants us all to do that. Tim Tebow is doing it.

Tim Tebow’s parents raised him to be a disciple of Jesus. They raised him to preach. On the national stage for years now, Tim Tebow, the missionary, perfectly disguised as a football player, does everything he can to point the whole world to Jesus. I think that makes God smile.

And when you do what you can to point someone to Jesus, God’s smile is just as big!

-Jeff Metzger
Lead Pastor RHCC

It’s a bit strange, but true. Herman Ostry, of Bruno, Nebraska moved a nine ton barn by hand! But, he didn’t do it by himself.

After buying a farm and a barn, a nearby creek rose, and the barn was flooded. He half-jokingly said to his family, “I bet if we had enough people, we could pick up that barn and carry it to higher ground.”

His remark prompted Ostry’s son Mike to think. He counting the number of boards, timbers, and nails and estimated the barn weighed about 19,000 pounds. Mike figured three hundred forty-four people would only have to lift about fifty-five pounds to carry the barn to higher ground.

But how do that many people get a grip on the barn to lift it? Mike designed a grid of steel and attached it to the barn. This provided handles for the barn raisers. Herman Ostry then suggested a barn moving event as part of the Bruno centennial celebration. Word of the “barn walk” spread far beyond Bruno.

On July 30,1988, nearly four thousand people from eleven states showed up. When everything was ready, Herman gave the signal and 344 people lifted together. The barn rose like nothing at all! The crowd cheered as the nine-ton barn walked fifty yards up a hill in just over three minutes. You can check out what happened on YouTube.

At River Hills we believe life is a team sport. We are on mission for God together. We are one team. Jesus is our captain and our goal is please him. As we all lift together we are seeing God’s Kingdom come.

-Jeff Metzger
Lead Pastor RHCC

January 1, 2012 – January 29, 2011
LIVE DANGEROUSLY! Here is a challenging question. Do churches do to people what zoos do to animals? Are we guilty of making people safe when Jesus died to make us dangerous? Disciples are called to live dangerously for the cause of Jesus. I want to teach and model this motto with my life: live dangerously for the cause of Christ.