This was the second week of Go Ahead, Ask! We also celebrated communion this Sunday.

The questions answered today were:

• How would you define lukewarm?
• What happens if we don’t make budget each week?

This was the first week of Go Ahead, Ask!, where people were invited to ask questions of the pastors of Pin Oaks. Questions answered today included:

• How did the canonization of scripture come about?
• What are our thoughts on the second coming, tribulation, rapture, etc.
• When does a person become saved?
• Predestination

Pastor Phil finished out the series Finish The Race, talking about the end of 2 Timothy 4.

Pastor Phil walked us through the first of the Finish the Race series, going through 2 Timothy 4.

Phil started the first week of Finish the Race, focusing on 2 Timothy 4:3-5.

Music this week was:
Our God – Chris Tomlin
When Heaven Came Down – Dutton
Madly – Steve Fee

Each week on the worship blog we will list the songs that we have sung so that if you want to include them in your own personal worship time. The songs include links to iTunes where you can purchase them and download them.

In addition to a list of songs, we will include a brief recap of the service and what was taught or if any special events took place. It’s something to get an idea of where we’ve been, and so that we can see how God has moved among our fellowship.

Please, send an email to worship@pinoaks.org if there is something else you would like to see on here. I’d love to hear from you!

I wish I could take credit for this but I can’t. It flows right into what I’ve been writing on my own website in the Call to Worship series.

I will sing if for no other reason than to honor the Scriptural exhortation to sing; singing in worship is a spiritual enterprise, not a musical exercise.

I will vigorously sing the songs I “like” and are most meaningful to me because it’s good for my soul, and because in so doing I may encourage another person to sing as well.

I will also energetically sing the songs I “like less” because in so doing I may affirm another person in an expression of faith that’s meaningful to them.

I will gladly learn a new song when the worship leader asks me to, for in doing so I may discover something new about my personal faith.

I will sing again the songs I know “all too well,” recognizing that someone close to me may be hearing that song for the first time and I can assist them in learning it.

I will be responsible for my own participation in singing; I’ll not depend on anyone else in order for me to be in the proper “mood,” nor will I allow anyone else’s attitudes or actions to prevent me from fulfilling my role as a worshiper before the Lord.

When given the opportunity, I’ll speak to these issues; otherwise I will hold myself, and no one else, accountable for these standards.

Hat tip to Creator Magazine, by way of Saint Andrew’s Church.

December 13, 2009 will be a day that will always be etched in the minds of Aaron and Whitney Pratt. But it was a decision almost exactly a year earlier that brought them to one of the greatest days of their lives.

In Ethiopia, the Pratt family was introduced to the third member of their family, Mekele, on that fateful Sunday. That day marks the beginning of an exciting journey for the Pratt family, but the journey to that day was just as stirring.

Whitney, who was a teacher for McKinney ISD until leaving to take care of Mekele, graduated from Marcus High School in Flower Mound. Aaron graduated from McKinney High School in 2000 and has worked for McKinney ISD since 2004.

He currently teaches World Geography and Humanities at McKinney High School, his alma mater, and coaches for FC Dallas academy teams.

The two have been married and have resided in Anna for almost five years.

Whitney worked for McKinney ISD from 2003 until this last year. She was first hired as an Elementary Special Education teacher. It was at the school that she met and fell in love with Aaron. Two years later, she accepted one of MISD’s Preschool Supervisor positions, and the two talked of kids filling their home.

“We were ready to start a family after two years of marriage, and when that didn’t happen, we knew God had other big plans for our family,” Whitney said. “After prayer, God opened our hearts to the needs in Ethiopia, Africa where five million orphans are living.”

On December 22, 2008 the family decided to adopt internationally and a week later found All God’s Children International and submitted a pre-application. After the beginning of the year they submitted their official application and were approved on January 12.

Adoption has always been near to Whitney’s heart. Her big sister was adopted domestically as an infant and they have good friends who have adopted through the foster care system.

“Learning that there are 147 million orphans in the world changed our hearts, and we knew God was calling us to build our family through adoption,” Whitney said. “Our passion for loving orphans began a desire in us to provide a loving home and be a child’s forever family.”

By the end of February, there had been three home studies and the process seemed to be moving along. As March concluded, the fourth home study was complete. April brought an adoption seminar and the completion of all of the required education courses.

In June the two were informed that they were on the waiting list, as number 11 for a boy and 38 for a girl. Just six weeks later, the Pratts found out they were number five on the waiting list.

On September 10 they received the phone call that changed their lives and the next day the two were in a complete daze all day with the knowledge that they had a son. In November the Pratts were approved by the Ethiopian courts and were able to start making plans to go meet and bring home their son.

Close family friends generously offered frequent flyer miles to the Pratts to travel to pick up their son. The miles took care of travel to London and the return trip home to Dallas. They also traveled from London to Addis Ababa, with a layover in Istanbul, Turkey.

“On September 10 we received the call from our agency, with news of our son, born with the birth name of Aaron, just like his Daddy,” Whitney recalls. “We knew he was meant for our family, and by December 13, he was in our arms in Ethiopia! We are now blessed to be first-time parents, and to get to spend each day of our lives with our sweet boy.”

The day that families are officially introduced to their adoptive child is called “Gotcha Day” and Whitney said that on the night before their big day the two didn’t sleep much.

“We woke up at 10 a.m. to a perfect day – beautiful, sunny and peaceful,” Whitney recalled. “I pushed open the window of our third floor hotel room and caught my first glimpses of Ethiopia in daylight.”

Whitney explains that their first few minutes together were like a dream.

“He was sitting on the lap of one of his orphanage nannies, taking a bottle,” she said. “Only he was too mesmerized by the families walking in to meet their children to take his bottle. It was his turn to meet his mommy and daddy.

“The orphanage director introduced us, and those big, beautiful curious eyes looked up at us. We reached down to hold his soft, squishy body, and praised God that we were together as a family. We spent the rest of the week getting to know each other and experiencing his beautiful culture- the foods, the music, the people,” Whitney added.

They got home on Saturday, December 19 and had family and church friends waiting at DFW airport to greet the family. The day after they got home, Mekele turned 7 months old.

The family attends Pin Oaks Christian Fellowship in Anna, a church that has been actively involved in helping children locally and out of the country by supporting missions like Clothe a Child and orphans in Honduras.

I’ll always remember the church that I grew up in. It was a new building, at least compared to the buildings around it in the little town I grew up near. A friend of mine and I were the first babies baptized in the new church building in 1976. The sanctuary still has the same carpet, the pews are the same, nearly everything is original right down the the big iron bell out front. That congregation has stood in some form or fashion for 125 years.

My grandfather’s funeral a few weeks ago was held at the church my mother grew up in, where my grandfather was a deacon. It’s a much older, much bigger building, built in the 1920s. Like most buildings in Kansas, this church has a very large basement where I remember having 4H banquets, family gatherings, and visiting my grandmother when she was quilting with other ladies from the church.

I think this is the primary reason why I fall in love with old church buildings. Each one of them has a such a unique history. These buildings were the dreams of the congregations that built them, who poured blood, sweat, tears, and money into them, often sacrificially so. These buildings were where the community came together at least once a week to share their joys, their sorrows, and many times their food. These buildings held the dreams of parents who wanted to raise their children in a Christian environment. These buildings represent the starting line for couples who were married there, and the finish line for those whose lives are celebrated at funerals. These buildings are where people first come to know Christ, and where people grow in their knowledge of Him. These buildings are more than brick and mortar, wood and nails. These buildings are the heart of communities, the single strand around which everyone’s life intertwines. These buildings are built to be houses of worship, a place where we commune with God and with each other. These buildings are special.

Our church doesn’t really have that sense. We meet in an old bank building, which is nice, but it doesn’t have the history, the gravitas that a church building does. Our church is growing more rapidly than our building can hold us. It’s painful, difficult, and frustrating, but it is the situation that God has us in. However, because of the people in our congregation, our building is special. Our building is where we worship together. Our building is where we’ve had small groups meet. Our building is where we fellowship, enjoying each others stories and recipes. Our building is where people have been baptized, where people have accepted Jesus. Our building has been the starting point of service to our community. If and when we move out of this building, it will be missed.

I guess my point is that the church building is important, but yet it isn’t. The place where we meet is only as special as the people who meet there. The heart of the church isn’t the building, it’s the people and the faith we share that makes the building what it is. The old church building is a representation of the Christian heritage that we all have, a demonstration of the faith declared by those who came before us. Each building is infused with the memories, the joy, the pain, the laughter, and the tears of the people who have passed through it. When this is combined with the Spirit of God, these buildings transcend their earthly materials and become beacons of light that shine into the darkness of the world around us. The church building is special because the people of God are special.

That’s why I love old church buildings.